Currently, SHM has four official international affiliations in various stages of development:
- Canada – Founded as an SHM chapter in 2001, the Canadian Society of Hospital Medicine is the leading hospitalist membership society in Canada and hosts regular educational conferences that include SHM leaders as faculty.
- Brazil – Hospitalists began organizing in 2006, creating the foundation for the launch of an official SHM chapter in 2016. SHM provides faculty for both on-site conferences in Brazil and webinars.
- The Middle East – An official chapter was initiated in 2016 with leadership from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. SHM faculty has participated in its regional educational sessions.
- The Netherlands – A government-funded pilot program has been training hospitalists in the Netherlands since 2012. Its official SHM chapter was founded in 2017. As the government reviews the training program pilot, SHM may help chapter leaders to define hospital medicine’s role in the Dutch health system.
“In addition to these official associations, SHM is cultivating relationships with other international organizations serving the hospital medicine community,” Mr. Gray stated. “This includes interactions with the Japanese Society, as well as the Society for Acute Medicine in the United Kingdom.”
Preliminary conversations have taken place with leaders in several other countries about establishing SHM chapters, he said, including Argentina, India, Panama, Portugal, Singapore, Slovakia, South Korea, and Spain. Discussions also include potential delivery of resources to providers and establishment of a venue for research sharing and networking.
As SHM expands its international activities, it is dedicating staff resources to international chapter development, including the facilitation of virtual communities on its Hospital Medical Exchange (HMX).
“Our goal,” Mr. Gray said, “is to learn from one another.”
Hospital Medicine in Japan
Tuesday, 12:45-1:30 p.m.
Grand Ballroom 12-14
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