What is a Hospitalist
A hospitalist is a physician primarily focused on hospital medicine, or the medical care of acutely ill patients who are hospitalized. It includes acute patient care, research, and teaching, as well as leadership in the delivery of hospital-based care. It is a field of medicine centered around an area (ie hospitals) rather than organs, diseases, or patient’s age (such as pediatrics or geriatrics).
Work Environment
Hospitalists, as the name and description imply, work in hospitals. These work environments can be clean and comfortably lit, but do have the potential to be quite chaotic and stressful. Every hospital functions differently, however the rate of physician burnout due to this chaos has been rising in recent years.
This chaos can be caused by many reasons; a hospitalist can encounter many different fields of medicine, from neurology to pediatrics to palliative care, in a single day. Further to that, some workplaces are poorly organized, or the support staff may have unclear expectations of their roles and duties.
Work Schedule
Hospitalists will generally work on a shift-based schedule, usually in ten or twelve hour blocks. Block scheduling is most common, with the physician working four or five 12-hour days in a row, followed by same number of days off. This work schedule can be quite demanding, however the amount of time off will offset this, as there will often be no on call time during the week of rest. The position also allows for a greater focus on medicine, with little to none of their time being taken up by the business side; they are generally employed by a hospital, which takes care of staffing, billing, marketing, and the like.
Hospitalist Job Outlook and Prospects
The job outlook for hospitalists is particularly rosy, with an expected 22 percent growth in the coming ten years. This is much faster than the average for all careers, and is due in part to the growth in the U.S. population, as well as the growth in the medical industry. Of particular note is the likelihood of positions in rural or low-income areas, as most physicians are seeking employment elsewhere.
Hospitalist Salary: Factors of Influence
The mean annual hospitalist salary currently stands at approximately $187,000, and is affected by numerous factors, not least of which is education; changes in hospitalist education have led to strong improvements to be had. Experience is also a definite matter for consideration, particularly given the hectic and often changing nature of the position. The geographic location also has significant impacts on wages, offering differences of more than $100,000.
Education and Specialization
Hospitalist education is an interesting matter for discussion. Like all medical doctors, a bachelor’s degree followed by a medical degree are required. On completion, it was once thought adequate for a hospitalist to complete a residency in general internal medicine. However, this has been found to gloss over many important subjects, such as neurology, consultative medicine, and hospice care. As such, some universities are moving towards a specialized hospitalist residency.
Those that have completed this specialized residency will be better suited to the position, and with a more focused training will be ideal candidates upon completion of their residency. They will thus earn higher wages than those completing a more general residency program.
The sub-specialty can also lead to higher hospitalist salaries; the majority focus on general internal medicine, so those who specialize in family practice or pediatric internal medicine will also be more desirable employees.
Experience and Position
Experience and position are both factors for consideration; new hospitalists can earn between $60,000 and $100,000, while those who have been working for more than 15 years can see wages above $250,000.
A higher position, such as heading a department or teaching residents, will also bring commensurate wage increases.
Industry
Due to the nature of hospitalists, there are few recourses for industry changes in salaries. While the type of hospital may offer some differences (general medical or surgical hospitals will often pay less than specialized or substance abuse hospitals, for example), all hospitalists will be employed in a hospital, reducing the number of potential industries.
Location
Location has a significant impact on a hospitalist’s salary, with less populous states offering higher wages due to a greater demand. Mississippi has the highest wages, at $240,000. South Dakota follows at $233,000, and Montana rounds out the top three at $230,000.
