“This is a tremendously useful resource, if you’re having problems with your administration—if the C-suite doesn’t really ‘get’ hospitalists,” Dr. Percelay says. “It helps readers understand the philosophy behind a highly successful hospital medicine program. If you were going to convert a hospital executive to hospital medicine with one book, this is the book to give them. It’s very useful to know about for this reason.”
Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High and Crucial Confrontations by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan and Al Switzler
“These books are more advanced and are targeted for those interested in developing their conflict resolution and leadership skills,” Dr. Percelay says. “They were recommended on the SHM practice management list serve, and they’re for both your personal and your professional life. These are the most useful leadership books I have read this year.”
The Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Pediatric Grand Rounds available at www.cincinnatichildrens. org/ed/cme/streaming-media/library/pgr/default.htm
“This is a pediatrics resource. Cincinnati Children’s Hospital has all of its grand rounds on the Web,” Dr. Percelay says. “For someone like me, who works in a community hospital and doesn’t have access to the latest and greatest research, this site provides free access to cutting edge, high-quality presentations. Some are very relevant to pediatric hospital medicine, and some presentations even offer free continuing medical education. Other hospitals do this, as well, but the Cincinnati site is the most user-friendly site I’ve found.”
Teaching Tools
Sylvia Cheney McKean, MD, medical director, Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Faulkner Hospitalist Service in Boston and SHM board member, uses several resources for dual purposes: to find the latest clinical information and to enhance and support her teaching.
PubMed available at www.ncbi.nlm. nih.gov/pubmed
The U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health administer the PubMed site, which includes more than 18 million citations from MEDLINE and other life science journals for biomedical articles dating back to the 1950s. The site includes links to full text articles and other related resources.
“I find that most of my reading is through PubMed,” Dr. McKean says. “I get the latest, most up-to-date information. … I generally proceed by first framing the question that needs to be answered and then looking for the best evidence. The key thing is to ask the right questions.”
American College of Physicians’ Medical Knowledge Self-Assessment Program (MKSAP) is available at www.acponline.org/products_services/ mksap/14.
“I find the ACP’s MKSAP syllabus very helpful for teaching and remaining updated,” Dr. McKean explains. “People use this to study for their boards, but it’s very helpful to teach residents … and for viewing clinical problems.”
The Journal of Hospital Medicine
“I look at each issue cover to cover,” Dr. McKean says, “because it’s the most relevant journal of any out there. It has new research, professional development articles, and articles based on the Core Competencies of Hospital Medicine.”
SHM online research rooms available at www.hospitalmedicine.org
“SHM provides valuable resources that are being regularly updated for new hospitalists, hospitalist leaders and practicing hospitalists with the Core Competencies in Hospital Medicine as a framework,” Dr. McKean says. “There are new resource rooms coming out all the time, while the old ones are constantly updated. What I find most valuable is the quality improvement primer, a downloadable workbook which crosses all QI topics and gives physicians who have not had training in QI projects a framework to start their own … in their hospital.” TH
Jane Jerrard is a medical writer based in Chicago. She also writes “Public Policy” for The Hospitalist.