Thank you for perusing and hopefully being intrigued and enlightened by our July 2022 issue of The Hospitalist, which covers highlights of SHM Converge 2022 in Nashville, Tenn.
None of us walking into Converge really knew what to expect, as this was the first in-person national conference many of us had attended in more than two years. But thanks to the meticulous and tireless planning of the SHM staff, who were “all hands on deck” in Nashville, the meeting went off smoothly.
This invisibly reliable behind-the-scenes work allowed Converge to do what it’s supposed to—let SHM members and fellows shine as educators, mentors, and friends. We hope the session summaries capture the excitement and passion of presenters speaking on a wide range of topics, from treating substance use in the inpatient setting to microlearning on the wards, to mental health boarding, to being an ally for gender equity.
And we can’t forget the all-important “Updates” talks, both in pediatric and adult hospital medicine, as summarized in this issue. With so many demands on our time as hospitalists, finding the high-value literature to inform and guide our care is invaluable. The summaries of the Updates talks given by Drs. Frank and Grant on the adult side, and by Drs. Shapiro and Sanyal on the pediatric side (written by the presenters themselves!) are a great jumping-off point for diving into the past year’s important literature.
For me, this issue also serves as a great reminder of what Converge 2022 felt like—a high school reunion, as SHM CEO Dr. Eric Howell put it. Seeing old friends, former colleagues, and the SHM staff stirred up great conversations and “catching up” in a way you can only do in person.
So let’s not wait another three years—see you next year (March 26-29) in Austin, Texas!
Dr. Chang, the physician editor of The Hospitalist, is a pediatric and adult hospitalist at Baystate Medical Center and Baystate Children’s Hospital in Springfield, Mass., where he is an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Massachusetts Medical School Baystate, chief of pediatric hospital medicine, and vice-chair for clinical affairs at Baystate Children’s Hospital.