The Society of Hospital Medicine continues to develop educational tools and resources for the Web site (www.hospitalmedicine.org). The first resource room, addressing the prevention of antimicrobial resistance, was created. Resource rooms provide links to guidelines and relevant CME on-line courses, reviews of pertinent literature, methods to create quality-improvement programs, fact sheets, slide sets and other important information to assist hospitalists in their daily practice. Several unrestricted educational grants have been secured through pharmaceutical companies to support the creation of additional resource rooms to be launched in the near future on topics such as DVT awareness, stroke, and geriatric inpatient care.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has extended their Cooperative Agreement with SHM for an additional year. As a part of this agreement, SHM will evaluate and revise the applied learning workshop, “Implementing Quality Improvement Programs to Reduce Antimicrobial Resistance,” by Dan Dressler. This revised workshop will be conducted at three different chapter or other local meetings. If you are interested in bringing this great workshop to your chapter meeting, contact Tina Budnitz at [email protected].
SHM has also received a substantial grant from the John A. Hartford Foundation to assist in the creation of educational symposia and enduring materials related to improving outcomes in older adults. The grant also supports the development of a discharge planning tool for hospitalists, and a demonstration project at three sites to implement quality improvement programs to educate members about important issues affecting outcomes in older patients. Members interested in participating in the creation of a discharge planning tool and supporting guidelines should plan to attend the discharge planning workshop at the 2005 Annual Meeting.
An outgrowth of the Hartford grant has been the establishment of the Leadership Academy. A Leadership pre-course for 100 hospitalist leaders was successfully included in the 2004 Annual Meeting. The next intensive workshop is scheduled for January 2005 under the direction of course directors Mark Williams and Russ Holman in Arizona, with a subsequent session scheduled for September 2005 in Vail, CO. The Leadership Academy was developed to provide the skills and resources required to successfully lead and manage a hospital medicine program now and in the future. In-depth training is provided on strategic planning, conflict resolution and negotiation, understanding critical hospital performance metrics, and leading and managing change.
SHM’s vision for hospital medicine education is forwarded through the development of strategic collaboration with organizations such as the American Board of Internal Medicine, Society of General Internal Medicine, JCAHO, the American Hospital Association, and other specialty societies such as the American College of Chest Physicians and the American Academy of Pediatrics. SHM continues its strong affiliation and relationship with the American College of Physicians. Relationships with these key organizations will enable SHM to refine its recognition program for members completing the core curriculum and further the recognition of hospital medicine as a distinct specialty.
In 2006, the Society of Hospital Medicine will launch its official journal, The Journal of Hospital Medicine. The journal will provide a vehicle for the dissemination of research and innovations in hospital medicine.
To further signify its commitment to education, SHM hired a Director of Education, Jane Mihelic, to establish a Division of Education in July of 2004. As the development phase of the core curriculum concludes, SHM will hold the second education summit meeting early in 2005 to develop the next phase of the strategic plan for education and establish new goals and objectives. Future plans will include implementing the core curriculum, becoming an accredited provider of continuing medical education, and developing additional interactive self-directed learning materials.