Sleep Is For Vacation
Staying with the hotel room theme, don’t sleep in. I realize San Diego in April can feel like a vacation, and truth be told, it should. However, you came to learn. It’s tempting to maximize pillow time instead of heading down to the first plenary session at 8 a.m.—after all, you stayed out late networking! Anyway, how interesting can it be? Very. Dr. Patrick Conway is going to lead off the meeting with a look at the implications of the Affordable Care Act for hospitalists. As a hospitalist and CMO of CMS, he should know. Come to this session, and so will you.
Declare a Major and a Minor
Remember college? Me, neither. But I do have a vague recollection of that kid-in-a-candy-store feeling of choice my freshman year. The rest is a blur of late nights, hungover Sundays, and weight gain. Just like the college course book, the HM12 agenda can be overwhelming. Choice is great, but how do you choose what to go to? Just like college, you need a plan. Spend time before the meeting charting your course. What do you want to learn? What knowledge gaps do you want to fill? Throw in something for fun. Peruse the website, print out or download the slide decks from the talks you are interested in, and have a plan to maximize your time in San Diego.
Divide and Conquer
Next, make a plan with your friends. Most attendees have at least one other group member attending the meeting. Don’t go to the same sessions. Why? You should share your findings with the rest of your group.
You’ll no doubt pick up a new method for patient handoffs, moving patients through the hospital more efficiently, creating an incentive plan, or developing a post-discharge clinic. Bring it home; share it; implement it.
Go to the RIV Sessions
“But wait,” you say, “I’m not a researcher.” Perhaps true, but you are a hospitalist. And this is the material that is coming down the pike. It’s the cool case you’ll encounter next month, the innovation that’ll help your patients avoid hospital infections, or the research that will inform the next VTE prophylaxis guideline.
Go Viral
Bring your business cards. And like a rhinovirus, give them to everyone. Entranced person next to you at the plenary? Card. New face at the Special Interest Forum for rural hospitalists? Card. Erudite-appearing character scanning the poster abstract on readmissions with you? Card. Bagel-versus-English-muffin-debating person in the breakfast line? Card.
The point is, don’t be shy. You are there to be part of the hospitalist movement—to learn, to share, to be part of the discussion, to help define our collective future. Do that. This isn’t the time to be a wallflower. Rather, say “hi” to the person next to you. Strike up a conversation; you never know where it may lead.
You Had Me At “Hello”
So tell your boss to “show me the money,” so that you, too, can utilize the HM12 toolkit. If he or she balks, tell them to “help me help you.” Because after attending the meeting, I’m confident that with a tear in your eye, you’ll sappily utter, “HM12, you complete me.”
Dr. Glasheen is physician editor of The Hospitalist.