For Rashmi Ganith, MD, FACP, SFHM, president of SHM’s Central Ohio chapter, involvement started as a wellness campaign.
Dr. Ganith
See, Dr. Ganith is the assistant director of wellness of hospital medicine at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. When she first got involved in the chapter a few years back, it was about improving patient care and developing a sense of community within central Ohio—not with an automatic eye on rising through the ranks and assuming the top job.
“Then, I found out it is so much more,” she said. “You gain leadership skills, then integrate with other chapters across the nation to expand your professional network and eventually collaborate on projects nationally.”
Dr. Ganith, an associate professor of hospital medicine and double board-certified in lifestyle medicine and internal medicine, said that rising through a chapter starts small.
“Expanding medical knowledge, professional development, communicating national guidelines, and advocacy are natural pathways to increasing the value of a chapter to its members,” she said.
“Starting as a member, I found value in being recognized for my contributions in hospital medicine by becoming a Senior SHM Fellow, and engaging with national leaders of SHM,” Dr. Ganith said. “Also, other attendees motivated me to gain a yellow belt in [quality improvement] and realize that educating faculty on wellness practices prevents burnout and thereby improves patient care.
“Additionally, I gave a lecture on ‘Maintaining Physician Wellness During the Pandemic.’”
Dr. Ganith said that she tries to engage all healthcare professionals across the hospital medicine spectrum, be they physicians, support staff, or learners.
“I like that our chapter can be a place where we can mentor learners and collaborate on research with colleagues,” she said. “For example, a resident won our chapter’s poster competition, thereby gaining entrance into the SHM national poster competition.”
Again, she sees the group starting small with the potential to expand its reach to help all medical professionals grow.
“As a chapter leader, you promote your members’ goals, advocate for hospitalist wellbeing, and serve as a bridge to leadership. For example, I created a network of chapter leads to write letters of support for those in our region going up for promotion.
“My president elect, Dr. Melanie Prestige, and I selected popular restaurants and topics to attract the foodies and intellectuals to attend talks on opiate use disorder, updates in medicine, infectious disease ‘Jeopardy,’ updates in cancer medicine emergencies, and updates in consult and perioperative medicine, to name a few. We are lucky to have had speakers from all institutions in central Ohio and even from Stanford University.”
The importance of varied topics can’t be overstated.
They are “essential to SHM Central Ohio regional meetings because hospital medicine is a broad, evolving field that serves physicians across different practice settings and career stages,” Dr. Ganith said. “A diverse agenda allows meetings to address not only clinical excellence, but also leadership development, wellness, quality improvement, and system-based challenges that hospitalists face daily. This variety keeps meetings engaging and inclusive, encourages cross-institution learning, and fosters innovation by exposing members to new perspectives and ideas.”
Dr. Ganith said the chapter is working to have more attendees at chapter meetings from different institutions in central Ohio, so they, too, can benefit as she has.
“We aim to expand our reach by emailing other chapter leads and encouraging attendance at our meetings,” she said. “Our goal is to share a meal and actively collaborate on patient care principles and share operational ideas.”
Diversity for the chapter also extends to its offerings. Clinical topics are obviously important, but sessions and social gatherings that address a more “holistic” approach to wellness are also part of Dr. Ganith’s agenda.
“Maybe members want to improve their financial wellness, so they come to our financial wellness talk. Or maybe they want to gain insight into the impact of infertility on men and women. I want to make sure our topics are relevant.”
A future goal is the creation of tracks, which Dr. Ganith sees as a method to broaden the chapter’s appeal for its individual members.
“I’d like to create tracks for learners versus faculty in the next few years,” she said. “I think it will diversify our options and engage more members.” Common tracks relevant to hospitalists would be practice management, updates in clinical medicine, workshops and lectures in education topics, wellness, and more.
Another goal Dr. Ganith has is to win a chapter excellence award.
“I think it would provide us validation that we’re helping our faculty, learners, and staff to grow professionally within central Ohio.”
Richard Quinn is a freelance writer in New Jersey.