Things have changed over the last 20 years, with more hospitals using people with expertise in Hospital medicine, known as “Hospitalists,” to care for patients who are admitted for an inpatient stay. 

In the mid-1990s, as pressures to provide outpatient care to large populations increased for general pediatricians, it became less efficient for them to care for patients in the hospital simultaneously. The field of hospital medicine arose, with physicians who were dedicated to the complexity of inpatient care.  Fellowship training followed soon thereafter to prepare doctors further for excellence in the inpatient ward environment.  In today’s episode, we will talk with Mark Brittan, MD about the history of “Hospitalists,” “Hospitalist” training, and where the field is heading in the future.

Dr. Brittan is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics in the Pediatric Hospital Medicine section and the Fellowship Director for Pediatric Hospital Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.