When you know, you know—and Taylor Roberts, MD, knows the value of an SHM chapter.
So after a few trips to SHM Converge during her residency in Dallas, she knew when she moved to Maine two years ago, she had to get involved in the state chapter.
Dr. Roberts
“For me, the appeal is dedicating time to learn with my colleagues about things that are particularly relevant to our career,” said Dr. Roberts, now the incoming chapter president. “And having the opportunity to sit down with people outside of work, at an SHM dinner, and get to know people better, and get to know people’s career journeys better. As I’m young in my career, I really appreciate learning from other people’s examples and having that networking connection.”
As an earlier-career hospitalist, Dr. Roberts, who practices at MaineHealth’s Maine Medical Center in Portland, says that another benefit of being active in the chapter is seeing the pathways that lead to hospital medicine.
“Some of my colleagues have worked in hospice care. Some have run skilled nursing facilities. Some have been primary care doctors. Some have been hospital administrators. And some helped pioneer the concept of career hospitalists. I think it’s really interesting to learn about what skills people bring to the table,” she said.
Those skills don’t stop when the automatic doors close behind chapter members at day’s end, either.
“I love learning about the amazing work people do outside of their clinical work,” Dr. Roberts said. “The projects people are doing, whether it’s quality improvement, or research, or medical education, or helping to run our pre-op clinic, or homeless outreach missions in Portland. I think it is really interesting hearing where people invest their talents, and it inspires me to think about what possibilities there are for me to grow professionally.”
The chapter holds multiple in-person events a year, which Dr. Roberts believes is key to success. “Our chapter’s mission is to provide a hospital medicine home for its local members,” she said. “I want our chapter to be a place for hospitalists throughout the state to share ideas and resources.”
“My vision is that chapter members will get to know each other’s faces, get to know where our fellow members practice, and be able to respond together to challenges. Whether that’s the next pandemic, or a disaster event, or just sharing great ideas to improve patient care and career satisfaction.”
Like most chapters, a highlight of that camaraderie is the annual poster contest, which boasted 14 entries in 2024. Dr. Roberts sees the event as both a recruitment and an educational tool.
“For younger members like med students and residents, it’s really important to have experiences like a poster presentation for their residency applications or job interviews,” she said. “That’s definitely beneficial to them.
“Additionally, through the process of working with a faculty member on an interesting case or a project, learners get more exposure to what being a hospitalist means and what our lifestyle looks like. It is a way to grow interest in our field.”
Dr. Roberts says her top focus this year is to grow engagement throughout the state. Currently, the chapter has some 137 members, concentrated in the southern part of Maine, which makes sense given the population center that is Portland. Another focus, she says, needs to be hosting more informal meetings, dinners, and social events in other areas of the state, including more rural stretches that can be a five-hour drive away, to build a bigger tent (referring to one of SHM’s missions to cultivate an inclusive community for hospitalists and support career growth and well-being).
“This year we’re really going to work on reaching out to the other regions of our state and hosting a meeting outside of the southern region so we can get more involvement and bring together people practicing in different places,” she said. It’s “creating that sort of interconnectedness between the hospital systems in our state that we would like to invest time and energy into this year.”
Passion is not a problem for the chapter. Member Liz Herrle, MD, sits on The Hospitalist’s editorial board and SHM’s academic committee. Member Katie Liu, MD, founded SHM’s special interest group on environmental health. Meagan Clark, MD, was appointed to the trainees and early career physicians in hospital medicine advisory council. And member Claudia Geyer, MD, is an advocacy wonk who regularly attends SHM’s Hill Day. Oh, and 24 chapter members traveled to the most recent Converge conference. That’s nearly 20% of the group.
“I think there is a lot of energy here,” Dr. Roberts said. “And I’m really excited to see what the next year holds for Maine.”
Richard Quinn is a freelance writer in New Jersey.