Sure, there are questions and a few concerns, and I’m not sure all the details have been quite worked out, but in the big picture, I think it’s good for pediatric hospital medicine and good for SHM. Stay tuned as the process develops, but I think SHM members are going to see the new opportunity to get involved directly in SIG projects and goals, collaborate with more pediatric hospitalists, and see some real dynamic and forward-thinking leadership in the SIG executive council … and opportunities to be on that Executive Council in a transparent, collegial way.
What were your main takeaways from Pediatric Hospital Medicine 2017? What can attendees expect at PHM 2018?
The annual Pediatric Hospital Medicine (PHM) meeting is always a bit of a whirlwind and our meeting in Nashville in 2017, hosted by SHM and our very own board member, Kris Rehm, MD, SFHM, was no different. There is always so much to experience and a diversity of offerings, which is really representative of how broad and rapidly growing our field is.
Of course, the “Top Articles in PHM” review is always popular and well received, and the poster and platform research sessions really show how far PHM has come and how much incredibly detailed and diligent work is being done to advance it further. There were some particularly thought-provoking plenary sessions last year on evidence-based health policy challenges and how some things we take as PHM dogma might not even be true! Left us all scratching our heads a bit. The final plenary on magic and pediatrics was inspiring and hilarious.
As far as PHM 2018, I suppose for full disclosure I should mention that I’m on the planning committee, so of course it’s going to be awesome! We really are putting together a fantastic experience. We had so many high-quality submissions for workshops, clinical sessions, research – truly spanning the whole range of PHM work. Whatever you’re coming to learn about, you’ll find it. We have some tremendously gifted plenary speakers lined up; some are sure to inspire, some will make you smile with pride about being a hospitalist, and at least one will almost certainly crack you up. We’ve shortened the length of many of the workshops to allow attendees to have more experiences while making sure the content is still meaningful. There will be several opportunities to mentor and be mentored in a comfortable, casual setting. I could go on and on, but if you take care of kids, come to Atlanta and see for yourself in July!
Do you have any advice for early-stage pediatric hospitalists looking to advance their careers?
This is an exciting time to be a pediatric hospitalist. Like it or hate it, subspecialty designation in PHM is around the corner, the new SHM pediatric SIG is going to open up a new era of opportunities, research in the field is gathering tremendous momentum, and fellowship training is only going to fuel that.