National Hospitalist Day recognizes the contributions of more than 60,000 hospitalists nationwide on the first Thursday in March annually. Hospital medicine is one of the fastest-growing specialties in modern medicine, and those who practice it are known as hospitalists.
Hospitalists manage patient care throughout their inpatient stay and have been proven to reduce readmissions while also serving as leaders in quality improvement and patient safety. Drs. Lee Goldman and Bob Wachter first coined the term “hospitalist” in a New England Journal of Medicine article in 1996.
Today, hospitalists include physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and practice administrators. They may be certified in a wide range of specialties, including internal medicine, family medicine and more. Hospitalists continue to drive improvement in care as they have for the last 20 years. Hospitalists’ careers can take many different paths, ranging from a member of a hospital executive team to an academic leader at a medical institution.
Notable names in the specialty include former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, CMS Chief Medical Officer Dr. Kate Goodrich and FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb.
HOW TO OBSERVE #NationalHospitalistDay
Learn more about the hospital medicine specialty and how hospitalists are transforming patient care by visiting the Society of Hospital Medicine (SHM) website, www.hospitalmedicine.org.
On SHM’s website, you will find printable posters and flyers as well as shareable social media graphics on a dedicated National Hospitalist Day page, www.hospitalmedicine.org/hospitalistday. This page also features profiles of exceptional hospitalists from varied backgrounds making notable contributions to the specialty and to the healthcare landscape.
On social media, use #NationalHospitalistDay and #HowWeHospitalist to recognize a hospitalist you know, share your success stories and reasons why you are proud to practice hospital medicine.
NATIONAL HOSPITALIST DAY HISTORY
In 2019, the Society of Hospital Medicine (SHM) founded National Hospitalist Day to recognize the growing number of dedicated hospitalists around the country. SHM is the leading non-profit medical society serving the entire hospital medicine care team, and its mission is to promote exceptional care for hospitalized patients through education, advocacy, research, quality improvement initiatives, and more.
The Registrar at National Day Calendar® proclaimed National Hospitalist Day to be observed on the first Thursday in March annually.