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Society of Hospital Medicine Launches Nation's First Core Competencies Program for Hospital Medicine

Posted on: Tuesday, 14 February 2006, 09:00 CST

PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- The Society of Hospital Medicine (SHM), the premier society representing hospitalists, has published the nation's first comprehensive guidelines to assist medical schools, post-graduate training programs and continuing medical education programs in the development of standardized curricula for the teaching of hospital medicine. The guidelines are published in "The Core Competencies in Hospital Medicine: A Framework for Curriculum Development," which is being provided free to SHM members, deans of medical schools, and to internal medicine and family practice residency program directors nationwide beginning in February.

"'The Core Competencies in Hospital Medicine' was developed to provide a blueprint in the standardization of hospital medicine curricula and will help to better define this unique specialty and encourage educational excellence for hospitalists," said SHM's President Steve Pantilat, MD. "SHM's Core Competencies Program will become the 'gold standard' for hospital medicine training and ultimately will serve as a benchmark for assessing gaps in current training programs and planning for future credentialing or certification programs for hospitalists."

"'The Core Competencies in Hospital Medicine' is unique because it standardizes expected learning outcomes, yet provides flexibility for curriculum developers and content experts to customize instructional strategies, context and medical content," added Laurence Wellikson, M.D., FACP, chief executive officer for SHM. "We are asking educators to utilize 'The Core Competencies in Hospital Medicine' to develop new curricula and to assess and update their current programs. We hope review of these core competencies by the larger medical community will lead to educational reform that better prepares physicians to become hospitalists."

"The Core Competencies in Hospital Medicine" was developed by SHM in conjunction with more than 100 hospitalists and physician leaders from university and community hospitals, teaching and non-teaching programs, and for-profit and not-for-profit programs throughout the United States. The document was published as a supplement to "The Journal of Hospital Medicine," SHM's newly launched peer-reviewed medical journal.

For more information about "The Core Competencies in Hospital Medicine," visit the SHM Web site at http://www.hospitalmedicine.org/ and select "Education -- Core Competencies." The document can be viewed FREE online or purchased in print at http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/jtoc/111081937/. Questions about the document may be addressed to corecomp@hospitalmedicine.org.

Hospital medicine is the nation's fastest-growing medical specialty. There are currently approximately 15,000 hospitalists nationwide. This number is expected to grow to 30,000 by 2010. Hospitalists' activities include patient care, research, teaching and leadership related to hospital care.

The Society of Hospital Medicine was established in 1997 specifically to support and enhance the practices of hospital physicians and the patients they serve. SHM is the leading resource and voice for hospitalists across the nation. For more information about the Society of Hospital Medicine, visit http://www.hospitalmedicine.org/, or call 800-843-3360.

Society of Hospital Medicine

CONTACT: Lisa Freeman, +1-818-597-8453, lisaf@kevinross.net, for Societyof Hospital Medicine

Web site: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/jtoc/111081937

Web site: http://www.hospitalmedicine.org/

Source: PRNewswire

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