Adult hospital medicine fellowships are neither required nor easy to define, making it difficult to communicate their existence and benefits to potential candidates. To help navigate the world of fellowships, SHM’s Hospital Medicine Fellowships Special Interest Group (SIG) provides information and facilitates dialogues regarding these programs.
Dr. Sankey
Many adult hospital medicine fellowship programs are funded by “fellows,” who work clinically to earn their salaries. This means that hospital medicine fellows are not, in fact, “fellows” in the traditional academic sense of the word, explained Christopher Sankey, MD, SFHM, director of hospital medicine at Yale School of Medicine, a 1,500-bed academic urban hospital in New Haven, Conn., and the former chair and now an at-large faculty lead of the SIG. They can work and bill independently, unlike traditional fellows in programs accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).
Given that no adult hospital medicine fellowships are ACGME-accredited, these programs are perhaps more accurately viewed as intensive, specifically curated junior-faculty development programs, Dr. Sankey said. Because adult hospital medicine fellowship training isn’t required to apply for hospital medicine positions, it’s even more important to share practices and experiences across programs nationally.
Dr. Latifi
To complicate this landscape more, the nomenclature around programs also varies by institution. “Hospital medicine fellowship” and “clinical scholars program” are used interchangeably,” said Niloofar Latifi, MD, assistant director of the department of hospital medicine at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, an urban, academic hospital with 1,215 beds in Baltimore, and chair of the SIG.
Because these heterogeneous programs lack ACGME accreditation, internal medicine residency directors may not fully understand their benefits. The SIG enables hospital medicine fellowship directors to collaborate on communicating the value of intensive junior-faculty training to residents, junior faculty, and program leaders.
The SIG is a collaborative and creative forum for fellowship leaders who want to enhance academic hospital medicine through shared purpose and collective expertise.
Dr. Katsnelson
“The group works to define and refine a unified mission for fostering growth of future hospital medicine faculty in specific areas, while also developing thoughtful strategies to increase visibility and engagement at a national level,” said Marcella Katsnelson, DO, who is program director of the academic hospital medicine fellowship in the department of medicine at University of California San Diego, an urban, academic hospital with 390 beds in San Diego, and vice chair of the SIG.
Equally important, the SIG fosters a supportive community where program leaders can exchange ideas, share best practices, and problem-solve common challenges. “By promoting collaboration rather than isolation, the group helps reduce silos across institutions and encourages greater alignment in program structure, educational priorities, and trainee experience,” Dr. Katsnelson said. “Through this work, the SIG aims to strengthen the overall quality, consistency, and impact of hospital medicine fellowships nationwide.”
One of the SIG’s goals has been to create a networking collaborative that communicates current curricular requirements and opportunities.
“This networking collaborative was on display in February 2026, when we hosted an online panel discussion with fellowship program faculty from across the country,” Dr. Sankey said. “The event showcased the diversity of program types and offerings, including clinical programs, research-focused programs, and hybrids, all in geographically diverse areas.” Attendance at special interest forums continues to grow.
The SIG is working on a national study to survey prior academic and hospital medicine fellows and their career trajectories and continues to collaborate on recruitment, retention, and curriculum development.
The SIG also provides resources for individuals or hospitals looking to start a fellowship or fellowship program. Interested parties can connect with others across the country with similar experiences.
Further, the SIG serves as a sounding board for ideas. “Our SIG leadership group functions remarkably well as fellowship-program thought partners with one another and with our respective programs, and we try to extend this to the SIG and its members,” Dr. Sankey said.
One challenge the SIG faces has been articulating the benefits of fellowship programs. “Communicating the reasons to choose fellowships is arguably our biggest challenge,” Dr. Sankey said. “Recruitment is mitigated by the salary differences between fellowship and non-fellowship positions, and because fellowships are not required, many opt for higher salaries and on-the-job training.”
Fellowship programs offer many potential advantages and provide hospitalists with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to function effectively and build satisfying, durable careers in hospital medicine.
Looking ahead, Dr. Latifi plans to introduce a long-term engagement strategy within the SIG for program directors and current fellows or scholars in advanced training programs in hospital medicine. The initiative aims to build community, encourage collaboration, and boost the scholarly work of trainees by organizing a national “scholar showcase” event.
This virtual showcase will feature the research and projects of fellows and scholars from various institutions, providing a platform to highlight their efforts, foster cross-institutional partnerships, and offer valuable national presentation opportunities that support academic growth and advancement for current trainees.
Another goal is to make SHM’s Hospital Medical Exchange platform, HMX, conducive to regularly asking and answering questions that arise from both potential fellowship applicants and hospital medicine faculty looking to start or augment their own programs, Dr. Sankey said.
Karen Appold is an award-winning journalist based in Lehigh Valley, Pa.