Pediatric hospitalists' influences on education and career plans.

Background: Pediatric hospitalist (PH) presence is rapidly increasing, yet little is known about pediatric resident exposure to hospitalists, or how this affects resident education/career decisions.

Objectives: To determine resident exposure to pediatric hospitalists; examine resident opinions regarding hospitalists' roles; examine resident opinion of hospital medicine career training needs; explore how resident exposure to hospitalists affects career choices.

Methods: Survey of random sample of 300 residents from the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Residents database.

Results: Two-hundred seventy-nine pediatric residents surveyed; 120(43%) responded with variance by question; 90% work with hospitalists during residency. Of this national sample, 82% cite hospitalists as enhancing education. A majority (64%) believe pediatric hospitalists are better than primary care physicians at caring for complex inpatients; 28% felt PH provided better care for routine admissions. Over one-third surveyed are considering a career in Pediatric Hospital Medicine (PHM); 7% plan to enter the field upon graduation. Residents cited opportunities to participate in education, flexible hours, and better salaries as the top 3 reasons to become a hospitalist. Ten percent felt there was no difference between resident and hospitalist positions; 21% see PHM as a short-term job without long-term potential. Of residents entering Primary Care, a majority (59%) stated that the availability of hospitalists would positively influence their choice of a practice position; 7% said they were "less likely to choose to practice Primary Care Pediatrics because of hospitalists."

Conclusions: PH have a role in physician training. While PHM has become a career consideration for trainees, more work needs to be done to improve the perception of PHM as a viable long-term career.