Dr. Smith, an Atlanta native, is an academic hospitalist and assistant chief of medicine for education in the Medical Specialty Care Services Line at the Atlanta Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center. He graduated from Emory University in Atlanta and completed his residency at the University of California, San Francisco, with distinction.
“I was immersed in large hospital medicine programs full of terrific practicing hospitalists at both institutions,” Dr. Smith recalled. “It became apparent that, when I completed my training, I wanted to pursue an academic hospital medicine career in a large, urban setting. Being from Atlanta, I wanted to reconnect with Emory, so I accepted a position at the Atlanta VA Medical Center as a hospitalist.” (The Atlanta VA is an Emory academic affiliate.)
The recipient of numerous teaching awards, Dr. Smith is an associate program director for the J. Willis Hurst Internal Medicine Residency Program at Emory, is the chair of the Emory division of hospital medicine Education Council, and has been codirector of the annual Southern Hospital Medicine Conference since 2012. The Emory department of medicine has named him “Distinguished Physician” for his significant clinical contributions.
“I am lucky enough to have been surrounded by great mentors in hospital medicine, both during training and as early- and now mid-career faculty. Mentoring and professional development are really key elements to building a successful and sustainable career in hospital medicine,” he said. “Additionally, I am incredibly humbled and thankful to have the opportunity to care for veterans in my various clinical roles at the Atlanta VA.”
When asked about the field, Dr. Smith said, “In my opinion, hospital medicine is and has been vital for the successful operation of health care and the management of hospitalized patients for more than a decade now. Hospitalists not only provide top-notch care for inpatients but also play so many other important roles in medicine in areas such as quality improvement, practice management, comanagement, research, and education.”
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