Question 2: What portion of the current PHM new hires are fellowship trained?
The 2018 State of Hospital Medicine Report notes that over 50% of new physicians joining a group treating only children come directly from residency, while only 5.1% come from a hospital medicine fellowship. For groups that treat adults and children, this percentage is even more significant, with 63% coming directly from residency and only 2.2% coming from a fellowship program.
The residents who recently graduated in 2019 are the last to be eligible to meet the practice duration criteria (4 years) during the “practice pathway” temporary period, thereby allowing them to sit for the subspecialty board exam without completing a fellowship. Recent surveys have shown that over 10% of graduating residents in pediatrics plan to pursue a career in PHM (over 280 respondents), however only under 75 fellows graduate from PHM fellowships each year.3 As the current number of fellowship positions in PHM are not adequate to meet the demand of the rapidly expanding workforce, groups treating children will need to continue to fill staff vacancies with variably trained clinicians.
In the years to come, information from the State of Hospital Medicine Report will be increasingly important, as programs that care for children meet the challenge of blending their workforce to include members with variable board certification and eligibility.
Question 3: How do the “patient care hours” and “work hours for all PHM activities” requirements affect currently practicing hospitalists in terms of their board eligibility?
Because of rigorous ABP criteria to sit for the PHM subspecialty exam, especially those regarding the minimum clinical and overall work hours in the care of children, many part time and med-peds practitioners may find that they are not board eligible. Variations in clinical coverage needs at individual sites, as well as competing nonclinical tasks in the adult setting, may limit pediatric-specific work hours for med/peds trained hospitalists.
As noted above, in groups that treat only children and groups that treat both adults and children, the 2018 State of Hospital Medicine Report shows that over 40% had physicians trained in med-peds. These highly trained and capable physicians will continue to be assets to their group; however, they may wish to find other ways to achieve merit-based distinction. For these physicians, the Fellow designation through SHM may provide an alternate means of recognition.
With the increasing complexity of staffing a workforce for the treatment of children that the PHM board subspecialty exam brings, the SHM Practice Analysis Committee developed a task force of pediatric leaders from across the country to aid in the development of additional pediatric-specific questions for the 2020 version of the State of Hospital Medicine Report. The questions to be included in the 2020 version will request information about the number of clinical hours (rather than shifts) per year required for full-time faculty, the percentage of the workforce that is part time, and the percentage of personnel in each group that is board certified in pediatric hospital medicine.
It is our hope that all groups treating children will respond to the 2020 State of Hospital Medicine survey, as a robust response will provide meaningful information to direct the leaders of these groups in the changing days ahead.
Dr. Gage is associate division chief, department of hospital medicine, at Phoenix Children’s Hospital and clinical associate professor, University of Arizona, Phoenix. She is a member of the SHM Practice Analysis Committee.
References
1. American Board of Pediatrics. Pediatric Hospital Medicine Certification. 2019 Edition.
2. American Board of Pediatrics. ABP responds to pediatric hospital medicine petition. 2019 Aug 29.
3. Pediatric Hospital Medicine Fellows. 2019 Edition.