SHM announces National Hospitalist Day

The Society of Hospital Medicine is proud to announce the inaugural National Hospitalist Day, to be held on Thursday, March 7, 2019. Occurring the first Thursday in March annually, National Hospitalist Day will serve to celebrate the fastest-growing specialty in modern medicine and hospitalists’ enduring contributions to the evolving health care landscape.

Dr. Larry Wellikson

National Hospitalist Day was recently approved by the National Day Calendar and was one of approximately 30 national days to be approved for the year out of an applicant pool of more than 18,000.

“As the only society dedicated to the specialty of hospital medicine, it is appropriate that SHM spearhead a national day to recognize the countless contributions of hospitalists to health care, from clinical, academic, and leadership perspectives and more,” said Larry Wellikson, MD, MHM, chief executive officer of SHM. “We look forward to hospitalists across the nation contributing to the festivities and making this a tradition for years to come.”

In addition to celebrating hospitalists’ contributions to patient care, SHM will also be highlighting the diverse career paths of hospital medicine professionals, from frontline hospitalist physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants to practice administrators, C-suite executives, and academic hospitalists.

Highlights of SHM’s campaign include the following:

Downloadable customizable posters and assets for hospitals and individuals’ offices to celebrate their hospital medicine team, available on SHM’s website, hospitalmedicine.org.
A series of spotlights of hospitalists at all stages of their careers in The Hospitalist, SHM’s monthly newsmagazine.
A social media campaign inviting hospitalists and their employers to share their success stories using the hashtag #HowWeHospitalist, including banner graphics, profile photo overlays, and more.
A social media contest to determine the most creative ways of celebrating use of the hashtag.
A Twitter chat for hospitalists to celebrate virtually with their colleagues and peers from around the world.

“Hospitalists innovate, lead, and push the boundaries of clinical care and deserve to be recognized for their transformative contributions to health care,” said Eric E. Howell, MD, MHM, chief operating officer of SHM. “We hope this is the beginning of a long-standing tradition in honoring hospitalists and the noteworthy work they do.”