What’s Ahead?
Based on the data I recently saw while at SHM headquarters, the Big Tent philosophy is a measurable success. Membership for NPs, PAs, and administrators is growing, with nearly 200 new members in those categories combined. Incredibly, we have ED physicians joining our organization—albeit, at a number dwarfed by internists—and the relationships with the specialty hospitalists are moving forward in a meaningful way. Looking at committees and committee chairs, there is plenty of ethnic, professional, and gender diversity.
What does all of this focus outside of internal medicine and physician groups mean for us internists? Will we be left behind? Fret not. Physicians make up more than 85% of our 12,000-plus members, with internists outnumbering—by a huge number—all of the other segments of our society combined. There is no Big Tent so large that physicians, or even internists, will ever be in jeopardy. We occupy plenty of space under this Big Tent and still have lots of room to spare for our colleagues. In welcoming others, we all strengthen our own standing, by elevating the entire field.
As a terrific mentor once said, a rising tide floats all boats. And the way to raise the tide of hospital medicine can be through partnerships whose gravity is a strong pull on the hospital medicine tide, as the moon pulls the ocean’s tides.
One area in which our society plans to place more effort in expanding the Big Tent is with trainees. Students and housestaff are one of the smallest groups in our organization, with the smallest growth. Those statistics are cause for concern. The need for future hospitalist growth, both in numbers and skill set, makes attracting this segment of paramount importance, in my view.
Fortunately, SHM is developing a strategy to make our society a valuable home to trainees. I have touched on those strategies previously, including a Physicians in Training Committee, free membership for students, $100 memberships for housestaff, and our “1,000 Challenge” to recruit 1,000 students and housestaff in the coming months.
In Sum
I am a firm believer in professional and personal diversity. I am proud to work in a society that also embraces this philosophy, places real value on it, and works hard to be inclusive. So, the next time you meet an NP, PA, student, or even a hospital-based OB physician, bring them under the SHM Big Tent, and encourage them to join us in making the hospital world a better place. They, we, and our patients will be better off for it.
Dr. Howell is president of SHM, chief of the division of hospital medicine at Johns Hopkins Bayview in Baltimore, and spends a significant part of his time and research on hospital operations. Email questions or comments to [email protected].
References
- Egan ME. Global diversity and inclusion: Fostering innovation through a diverse workforce. Forbes Insights. Forbes website. Available at: http://images.forbes.com/forbesinsights/StudyPDFs/Innovation_Through_Diversity.pdf. Accessed October 23, 2013.
- Kerby S, Burns C. The top 10 economic facts of diversity in the workplace. Center for American Progress website. Available at: http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/labor/news/2012/07/12/11900/the-top-10-economic-facts-of-diversity-in-the-workplace. Accessed October 23, 2013.