Attendees appreciated the ability to access meeting materials prior to the event. “The Annual Meeting e-Community gave me a great opportunity to really plan out the sessions that I wanted to attend prior to the meeting,” says William Rifkin, MD, a hospitalist from the Yale School of Medicine.

According to Joy Wittnebert, AMeC project manager, the site was launched in response to feedback from past annual meetings. “Attendees have been consistently telling us that they want to be able to customize their experience and have more opportunities to network with colleagues before and after the event,” she says.

In the coming months, SHM staff will work with the Annual Meeting Committee to analyze additional feedback and begin making plans for the 2007 version of the site.

SHM Education Committee Launches 18-Month Strategic Plan

Helping our members and the hospital medicine community advance in professional growth and development has been on center stage as seen in the SHM Education Committee’s recent completion of an 18-month strategic plan. The plan is a framework designed to guide staff and volunteer leadership as they work to expand the society’s current slate of educational offerings. Inherent in the framework’s design is a focus on taking advantage of the myriad new channels that have come online for delivering educational content.

The plan is rooted primarily in the recently released Core Competencies in Hospital Medicine. The Core Competencies are a benchmark for the development of curricula within the hospital medicine specialty.

“One of the most exciting parts of this plan is its connection to the Core Competencies,” says Geri Barnes, SHM’s director of education and quality initiatives. “The connection means that this is one of the strongest educational plans that the society has put forward.”

A driving force in the creation of this plan was the committee’s desire to expand SHM’s educational offerings through a variety of technologic venues. “In the coming year, our educational offerings will truly become multi-dimensional,” says Scott Johnson, SHM’s director of information services. “As we expand into audio CDs, podcasts, and Web-based offerings, more hospitalists will be able to take advantage of these learning opportunities, which will have profound effects on the hospital medicine movement.”

With the education plan approved by SHM’s Board of Directors at its recent meeting, the Education Committee, chaired by Preetha Basaviah, MD, from Stanford University, will turn its attention to the first stage of implementation—a complete needs analysis. Some research has already taken place as part of SHM’s ongoing internal quality improvement processes.

“The key to the success of our plan is that we will be integrating feedback from hospitalists throughout North America as we move forward,” says Dr. Basaviah. “Ultimately, this kind of communication will ensure that we reach our primary goal: to provide tools and resources that help hospital medicine professionals improve the quality of care that they provide.”

Stay tuned to The Hospitalist for updates on the committee’s progress and an advanced look at new educational products.

Palliative Care: a Core Competency for Hospitalists

By Theresa Kristopaitis, MD, with input from Howard Epstein, MD, and the SHM Palliative Care Task Force

Palliative care is focused on the relief of suffering and support for the best quality of life for patients facing serious, life-threatening, or advanced illness, as well as their families. Palliative care is a general approach to healthcare that should be routinely integrated with disease modifying therapies. It is also a growing practice specialty for appropriately trained healthcare professionals dedicating their practice to the delivery of palliative care services.1