As the year comes to a close, we asked leaders of SHM’s Special Interest Groups (SIGs) what their groups accomplished this year, what was the best thing that happened to them professionally and/or personally, and what they learned in 2023 that they’d like to share with other hospitalists. Here’s what they had to say.
Academic Leaders SIG chair, Romil Chadha, MD, MBA, MPH, FACP, SFHM
Dr. Chadha
Chief medical information officer at the University of Kentucky Healthcare, associate professor of medicine at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Ky.
SIG accomplishments: We met monthly and discussed multiple vital topics like advanced practice practitioner (APP) integration, SHM’s 2023 State of Hospital Medicine Report, administrative harm, virtual hospitalist, leadership full-time equivalents, scheduling software, and distribution of teaching services. Our membership grew, and we expanded our network. We are close to starting a round-robin process for academic promotion letter writing.
Best of 2023: I switched roles from hospital medicine division chief to chief medical information officer for the University of Kentucky Healthcare. We took a family trip to India. Our son qualified for the state archery competition a second time, and our daughter transitioned to an independent swimmer.
Share: Goodhart’s Law: “When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.”
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) SIG co-chair, Areeba Kara (@areeba_kara), MD, MBBS, MS, FACP, SFHM
Dr. Kara
Associate professor of clinical medicine and associate division chief, division of general internal medicine and geriatrics at Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis
SIG accomplishments: We kicked off our year by hosting both diversity, equity, and inclusion, and women in hospital medicine special interest forum during SHM Converge 2023. Our group continues to grow, and we recruited a SIG secretary through an open-call process. The SIG hosted SHM’s second annual Pride mixer in June and led SHM’s participation in Spirit Day to express solidarity with LGBTQIA+ youth. SIG members delivered a webinar on unconscious bias and health care disparities (and what you can do as a hospitalist), planned a Tweetorial on gender disparities in pay, and held a DEI-focused Journal Club in November.
Best of 2023: Watching my mentees succeed has brought me immense personal and professional joy this year. Help someone else—it will make you happy at least twice!
Share: I rediscovered how much I enjoy reading fiction. Stopping the doom scrolling and the Netflix flitting has brought me calm. Go back and do something you used to love; you’ve probably forgotten how much fulfillment it brought you.
Palliative Care SIG chair, Elizabeth Gundersen, MD, FAAHPM, FHM
Associate professor, medicine-internal medicine, and assistant dean for student affairs at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora, Colo.
SIG accomplishments: It’s been a year of renewal for the Palliative Care SIG! Following the palliative-care mini-track and SIG meeting at SHM Converge 2023, we reconstituted our executive committee and planned a series of webinars for 2023 through 2024. Many of our members don’t have access to a robust palliative-care service and recognize that regardless of that access, palliative-care skills are at the heart of patient-centered care. Our past and future programs include discussions around communication, prognostication, and resources for those wishing to strengthen their palliative-care skills. That will take us to SHM Converge 2024, where we have another awesome mini-track and SIG meeting planned.
Best of 2023: I took a huge personal and professional risk and moved from South Florida to the foothills of Colorado. I’m now experiencing a brand-new set of challenges and rewards. It’s been difficult at times, but it’s been worth it! The personal and professional growth have been amazing, and I look forward to more of the same.
Share: Vulnerability is worth it. Moving across the country and starting a new position has required me to ask for help and say “I don’t know” more than feels comfortable. However, if I don’t ask, I’ll never learn! Having the courage to ask for help and giving myself grace when I don’t know something has made me a better person and a better doctor. I firmly believe that when team members can lean on each other, it makes the entire team stronger and our patient care better.
Hospitalists Trained in Family Medicine (HTFM) SIG vice chair, Krishna Syamala, MD, FAAFP, FHM
Dr. Syamala
A hospitalist at SSM Health St. Joseph Lake Saint Louis in Lake Saint Louis, Mo.
SIG accomplishments: Members of our SIG are concerned about the recent decision by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) to discontinue focused practice in hospital medicine boards by the end of this year. We’ve had extensive discussions among our SIG executive committee members and our counterparts in the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) and the American Academy of Family Physicians.
We planned three webinars this year that focused on hospital medicine fellowships, hospitalists trained in family medicine in academics, and leadership roles.
For the last several years there have been extensive discussions about creating a critical-care pathway for family-medicine-trained hospitalists. The recent turn of events by the ABIM has provided the headwinds to achieve the goal.
We are encouraging our SIG members to be part of local SHM chapters in leadership roles to help mitigate the hiring bias for hospitalists trained in family medicine.
We are also in the process of requesting ABFM to come up with a Maintenance of Certification focused on hospital medicine, similar to what ABIM is implementing next year.
Med-Peds SIG chair, David Fish, MD, SFHM
Dr. Fish
Assistant professor in pediatrics and medicine at Baystate Medical Center, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School in Springfield, Mass.
SIG accomplishments: Over the last year, our SIG has made moves to increase engagement opportunities for our members as well as provide additional opportunities for mentorship for med-peds hospitalists across the country. We have also actively been working on increasing our scholarly output as a group.
Best of 2023: This has been a busy year both professionally and personally. I’ve made a big career shift, changing institutions to Baystate Medical Center where I’m further advancing my career in medical education. We’re currently developing a fellowship program to create training opportunities in pediatric and med-peds hospital medicine. I’ve also had the opportunity to watch my kids develop into the amazing individuals they are. Most recently they decided to dive head-first into music; I have a little drummer and a singer!
Share: Over the last year, I’ve continued to be amazed by the resourcefulness of those in our field as we navigated yet another crisis with the respiratory surge of last winter. It really demonstrates the strength that we have as clinicians and leaders, and I think all hospitalists should be aware of the impact they can make at both the local and national levels.
Quality Improvement (QI) SIG chair, Harvir Singh Gambhir MD, FACP, CPL, CPHQ, FHL, FHM
Dr. Gambhir
Black Belt (Lean SixSigma); vice chair for quality improvement and patient safety of department of medicine, associate chief of quality of division of hospital medicine, associate program director of internal medicine residency program, associate professor, and hospitalist at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, N.Y.
SIG accomplishments: As a QI SIG, we planned our executive meetings in a structured manner to serve our QI members to share their QI work, so they have an opportunity to collaborate with the QI community.
Best of 2023: As part of the QI lead in my institute, we transformed sepsis care and management to impact clinical care and improve metrics. Personally, I got back to my fitness discipline and lost 20 pounds.
Share: We as hospitalists are uniquely positioned to lead in various domains, and we must learn skills to practice leadership every day to transform health care.
Patient Experience (PX) SIG chair, Hospitalist Well-being SIG vice chair, Swati Mehta, MD, FACP, CPXP, SFHM
Dr. Mehta
Director of quality and performance and national director of quality and experience for Vituity, a hospitalist at Common Spirit Health System in Redwood City, Calif.
SIG accomplishments: The PX SIG kicked off the year with the SHM Converge 2023 PX Special Interest Forum where members asked to have regular happy hours. We’ve met monthly and added a few new members. We shared new resources, such as the 6H model to connect with patients and several other initiatives that were the direct result of robust discussions during SIG meetings. Another request was to record the webinar, “Why is PX Important?” and our SIG is now working on that to galvanize our SHM members to begin the journey to excellence in PX!
The Well-being SIG was born out of the trials and tribulations of the pandemic which made it very clear that hospitalists need a safe space to discuss their challenges, share their individual and their teams’ burnout journey, and collectively look for solutions. The Well-being SIG hosted a webinar where an expert panel shared their experiences and journeys to well-being. We are also looking to partner with other SIGs (such as the PX and APP SIGs) as we realize that for any quality initiative to work at a hospital, clinician well-being is the core and foundational first step.
Best of 2023: I was able to present at CommonSpirit National Grand Rounds this year, not once but twice! I was able to represent SHM both times, first by presenting the work we did as a well-being taskforce, sharing the toolkit that was created, and second by discussing patient experience and how SHM is leading the charge in that domain as well. Personally, reading the book “Wonder Drug,” written by two physicians who tie well-being, patient connection, and compassion together, has been powerful for me, as that connects two of my biggest passions. We need to fill our cups first before we pour into others, and when we connect with our patients, our cups get filled! PX and well-being are two sides of the same coin!
Substance Use Disorders SIG chair, Susan L. Calcaterra, (@CalcaterraSusan), MD, MPH
Dr. Calcaterra
Director of addiction medicine consultation service, associate professor of medicine in divisions of general internal medicine and hospital medicine at the University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora, Colo.
SIG accomplishments: Among its accomplishments, the Substance Use Disorders SIG held three events:
A meet-and-greet at SHM Converge 2023 where we heard from many hospitalists about their efforts to provide evidence-based addiction treatment to hospitalized patients in private, academic, community, urban, and suburban hospital settings.
A presentation by Drs. Alex Logan and Marlene Martin, “Inpatient Management of Opioid Withdrawal in the Fentanyl Era.”
Presentation by Dr. Anna Maria South and Rebekah Joab, JD from the Legal Action Center, “The Americans with Disabilities Act and Its Applications for People with Substance Use Disorder—Advocacy Tools for Common Clinical Scenarios Encountered by Hospitalists”.
Best of 2023: I was invited by Drs. Katie Welter and Kevin O’Leary to give Grand Rounds in the Division of Hospital Medicine at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. It was a wonderful opportunity to connect with colleagues across the country and to learn of their efforts to expand access to medication treatment for substance use disorders in the hospital setting.
Share: The most satisfying part of my 2023 has been collaborating with colleagues across the country on various projects and publications. Developing these relationships has enriched my professional life. I’ve learned, not only in 2023 but over the years, that when I partner with others on projects or publications, the final products will be exponentially better and more impactful, and will likely lead to other opportunities for growth and collaboration.
NP/PA SIG chair, Kasey Bowden MSN, FNP, AGACNP, ACNP, FHM
Dr. Burden
Assistant professor of medicine, co-associate division head of hospital medicine at University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora, Colo.
SIG accomplishments: The NP/PA [nurse practitioner/physician assistant] SIG has hosted several webinars on topics such as split or shared billing, onboarding best practices for NPs and PAs, and a joint webinar with the newly formed Hospitalist Well-being SIG on enhancing physician-NP and physician-PA wellness in hospital medicine. Several members of our NP/PA SIG also collaborated to write an article for an upcoming issue of The Hospitalist outlining the similarities and differences among nurse practitioners and physician assistants, and how to optimize NP and PA utilization on hospital medicine teams.
Share: This year has reminded me of the positive power of teams and togetherness, both personally and professionally. With the field of medicine, and the world, in a constant state of flux, there’s never been a more important time to lean on others and lift one another up to create positive outcomes for ourselves, our colleagues, our patients, and our communities.
Physician Advisors SIG chair, Aziz Ansari, DO, FAAHPM, FACP, SFHM
Dr. Ansari
SIG accomplishments: Myself and the other leaders, Dr. Christopher Boyle, vice-chair, and Dr. Diana Childers, secretary, are very proud of the Physician Advisors SIG’s activities for 2023. We have a newly revitalized executive council that meets four times a year to plan, dialogue, and execute engagement activities for the year. Our goal is to have four activities between SHM Converge conferences. The SIG provides an excellent forum to learn from shared experiences and develop a more organized approach for physician advisors to optimize operational outcomes in their respective hospitals.
Best of 2023: Personally, 2023 has been an exciting year with a daughter starting college and a new chapter of life starting! Professionally, having a bigger role in running clinical operations at my medical center and having the privilege of chairing a recharged Physician Advisor SIG have been very rewarding.
Share: Take advantage of opportunities that come knocking on the door. And at the same time, protect yourself and continue the journey of finding the right balance of work and personal life that works for you!
Hospital Medicine Disaster Preparedness and Management SIG chair, Maria (Gaby) Frank, MD, FACP, FAOS, SFHM
Dr. Frank
Hospitalist in the division of hospital medicine, medical director of bio-containment unit at Denver Health Hospital Authority in Denver, and professor of medicine, director of faculty development and advancement in division of hospital medicine at University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora, Colo.
SIG accomplishments: Successful and well-attended Special Interest Forum at SHM Converge 2023, with recruitment of new executive members to our SIG.
Launched our webinar series on disaster medicine for hospitalists. Thus far we’ve had two webinars (“Everything Everywhere All At Once: Introduction to Disaster Response and Preparedness for Hospitalists” presented by Dr. Jason Persoff, and “Medical Management and Principles of Radiation Injuries” presented by Dr. Riley Jones), that are available in the SHM HMX SIG library for asynchronous viewing. Our goal is to offer quarterly webinars starting in 2024.
Partnering with the Education Committee for the Rapid Clinical Updates, we will be contributing two expert speakers to discuss “Burn Management for Hospitalists” and “CO Toxicity Management” in January 2024.
SIG members collaborated on submitting a workshop and a didactic session for SHM Converge 2024. Although not accepted for presentation, it helped strengthen our SIG members’ collaboration and shared vision.
Best of 2023: Some of the most fulfilling professional experiences are those involved with developing partnerships, collaborations, and relationships. These opportunities included the many professional national meetings where we get to meet face-to-face with colleagues we normally only see virtually. I also had the honor of being invited as a plenary speaker for the Peruvian Society of Internal Medicine’s annual meeting. My topic was disaster medicine for internists and was very well-received. The highlight of that trip was meeting colleagues from many countries—Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Spain, Mexico, Colombia, and Ecuador—and growing a network of like-minded colleagues across the globe.
Share: I would like to share with hospitalists a thought. Even though it is not something I first learned in 2023, I feel it is worth highlighting. Unfortunately, several mass-casualty incidents have made the news during 2023, from man-made (such as the conflicts in Ukraine-Russia, Israel-Gaza (Hamas), mass shootings, etc.) to natural disasters (multiple earthquakes, wildfires, hurricanes, etc.). With hospitalists frequently being the largest group in most institutions, the need for disaster preparedness and management training for hospitalists becomes imperative. Our SIG will continue to aim to develop easy-to-use and easy-to-access resources available for all hospitalists.
Pediatric SIG chair, Klint Schwenk, MD, FAAP, MBA, SFHM
Dr. Schwenk
Pediatric hospitalist, University of Louisville School of Medicine at Norton Children’s Hospital in Louisville, Ky.
SIG accomplishments: In 2023, our SIG set a goal to find ways to connect with the other SIGs and combine efforts for education and advocacy. One of our open forums was co-sponsored by the Med-Peds SIG and focused on ways to incorporate health equity and patient-centered communication into clinical pathways. Our speaker was Dr. Rohini Harvey from Baystate Medical Center. In February, we plan to have a webinar about diagnostic errors, which will be relevant to many SHM members with hopes of finding additional SIG co-sponsors with which to network.
As both hospitalists and pediatricians, we hope to advocate for our patient population on a larger scale within SHM. We plan to continue to network with leadership within the SHM Public Policy Committee.
Best of 2023: Professionally, my biggest accomplishment this year was launching a new bronchiolitis and high-flow nasal cannula protocol at our children’s hospital with big goals to reduce the overuse of high-flow nasal cannulas. Personally, this year was about getting back on track. That included fitness and wellness goals, and a desire to travel and take personal time. I don’t know that I will ever achieve a work-life balance, but prioritizing yourself helps keep your professional goals in line as well.
Point of Care Ultrasound SIG co-chair, Benji K. Mathews, MD, MBA, SFHM
Dr. Mathews
Senior medical director, hospital specialty services, HealthPartners, Minneapolis/St.Paul, West-Central Minnesota, Western Wisconsin
SIG accomplishments: Our SIG, formed in 2018, boasts well over 1,000 members and has aimed to support the many hospitalists throughout the nation to support, learn, and network as they navigate the use of the powerful diagnostic tool with bedside ultrasound.
Dr. Gordy Johnson and I co-chair the group and this year we started a year-long journey of providing very practical simulive [simulated live] webinars for our hospitalist with Q and A sessions that allow lots of interaction. Many individual hospitalists and leadership teams are trying to navigate approaches to building programs, approaching credentialing and billing, and thinking through best devices. The goal is to provide quality educational content. The webinars include:
- Starting a POCUS Education Program
- Ways to Learn POCUS and Approaches to POCUS Training
- Starting a Procedure Service and Building Procedural Competency
- Which Device is Right for You?
- Credentialing and Billing
- Unique Applications of POCUS – Focus on VexUS
- Image Storage and Quality Assurance
Best of 2023: I had the opportunity to travel with family for a couple of weeks through the year and with friends on a ski trip.
Share: An important lesson that kept coming back this year was to embrace the challenge of uncertainty and change. We are in an era of constant change. When we feel uncomfortable, it means that we have the potential to grow and discover something new. It often means we have a chance to make a difference in ourselves and the spaces around us—often through innovations. Rather than ignoring or avoiding this feeling, amplify and lean into it. That is how we become better people, clinicians, and leaders.