Published in the May 2013 issue of Today’s Hospitalist
ONE OF THE GREAT THINGS about covering hospital medicine has always been how young the specialty is and the doctors who practice it. But as several stories in this month’s issue note, youth has some downsides.
The most obvious pitfall is doctors’ relative lack of leadership experience. While the average age of hospitalists treating adults is 42, many physicians much younger are being put in charge of groups long before they’re ready to lead.
One story looks at what can happen when inexperienced hospitalists take on that role. Young leaders often struggle with dual land mines: Their former colleagues suddenly don’t trust them because they’re now “management,” and hospital executives may not take them seriously because they lack business training.
Another way that hospital medicine might be feeling the effects of its youth is explored in our cover story, which takes a look at how the growth of locum physicians is affecting the specialty. While hospitalists don’t have to be young to work locum, our data indicate that younger hospitalists are more likely to choose that option.
Some worry that as hospitalists get used to the perks of working locum “perhaps more money, flexible scheduling, less commitment “they will be reluctant to take permanent jobs. In a specialty where there’s already a huge shortage of physicians, anything that siphons off full-time candidates is a threat.
Finally, in this issue you’ll notice that we’re using special QR codes to connect you to content on our Web site. To use these codes, download a QR-code app for your smartphone, then simply line up the camera on your device with the QR code you want to scan. Hold the phone steady until the app can read the code and you’re there!
Edward Doyle
Editor & Publisher
edoyle@todayshospitalist.com
