Academic Hospital Medicine 2.0: If You Aren’t Teaching Residents, Are You Still Academic?

Hospitalists can also leverage their expertise to build systems in which academic hospitalists are teaching each other, creating a culture of continuous learning. These activities may include case conferences, morbidity and mortality conferences, journal clubs, clinical topic updates developed by and for hospitalists, simulation exercises, and other group learning sessions. Giving hospitalists the opportunity to teach each other allows for professional growth that is not dependent on the presence of traditional learners.

Philosophically, a key question is “What makes ‘academic’ academic?” Traditionally, academic hospitalist positions were synonymous with resident teaching or, for a small number of academic hospitalists, significant funded research. In an era where teaching residents may no longer be part of the job description for many hospitalists at academic medical centers, what distinguishes these positions from 100% clinical positions and what are the implications for academic hospital medicine?

Although data regarding why hospitalists seek “nonteaching” positions at academic medical centers are lacking, we believe that these jobs remain popular due to opportunities that are perceived to be unique to academic medical centers. These include more flexible scheduling (academic programs may be less likely to have seven-on/seven-off schedules), exposure to research and cutting-edge technology, opportunities to care for tertiary and quaternary care patients, collaboration with academic peers and experts in the field, and interaction with a range of learners, including medical, pharmacy, advanced practitioner, and other students.

Understanding the motivation of candidates who apply for academic hospital medicine positions—aside from supervising/teaching residents—will be an important goal for academic hospitalist leaders to ensure future success in staffing growing programs and creating sustainable academic hospitalist careers. As resident teaching time decreases, implementing robust faculty or professional development programs to address the broader interests and needs of academic hospitalist faculty will be increasingly important. Sehgal et al. described one such program for faculty development,¹² and a more recent paper outlines a faculty development program focused on quality improvement and patient safety.¹³ These types of programs provide opportunities for academic hospitalists to engage in academic pursuits that are independent of residency programs.

Therefore, what do we tell the eager faculty applicant? First, we should not hide from the honest answer, ie, new faculty may not get as much resident teaching time as they would like or expect. Although we want hospitalists to maintain integral involvement in residency training programs, we also want to build a culture of clinical excellence, scholarship, and continuous learning that is not dependent on directly teaching residents. We should highlight the unique opportunities of academic hospital medicine, including teaching other learners, caring for tertiary/quaternary care patients, working with colleagues who are leaders in their field, and engaging in research and quality improvement work. By capitalizing on these opportunities, we can actively redefine what makes “academic” academic and ensure that we sustain academic hospital medicine as a desirable and rewarding career.

Disclosures

The authors have nothing to disclose.