National Hospitalist Day recognizes the contributions of more than 60,000 hospitalists nationwide on the first Thursday in March annually. Hospital medicine is one of the fastest-growing specialties in modern medicine, and those who practice it are known as hospitalists.
Hospitalists manage patient care throughout their inpatient stay and have been proven to reduce readmissions while also serving as leaders in quality improvement and patient safety. Drs. Lee Goldman and Bob Wachter first coined the term “hospitalist” in a New England Journal of Medicine article in 1996.
Today, hospitalists include physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and practice administrators. They may be certified in a wide range of specialties, including internal medicine, family medicine, and more. Hospitalists continue to drive improvement in care as they have for the last 20 years. Hospitalists’ careers can take many different paths, ranging from a member of a hospital executive team to an academic leader at a medical institution.
Notable names in the specialty include former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, CMS Chief Medical Officer Dr. Kate Goodrich, and FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb.
What is National Hospitalist Day?
Occurring the first Thursday in March annually, National Hospitalist Day will serve to celebrate the fastest growing specialty in modern medicine and hospitalists’ enduring contributions to the evolving healthcare landscape. It was recently approved by the National Day Calendar and was one of approximately 30 national days to be approved for the year out of an applicant pool of more than 18,000.
In addition to celebrating hospitalists’ contributions to patient care, SHM will also be highlighting the varied career paths of hospital medicine professionals, from frontline hospitalist physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants to practice administrators, C-suite executives and academic hospitalists.
National Hospitalist Day History
In 2019, the Society of Hospital Medicine (SHM) founded National Hospitalist Day to recognize the growing number of dedicated hospitalists around the country. SHM is the leading non-profit medical society serving the entire hospital medicine care team, and its mission is to promote exceptional care for hospitalized patients through education, advocacy, research, quality improvement initiatives, and more.
DATES
4 March 2021
3 March 2022
2 March 2023
7 March 2024
6 March 2025
5 March 2026
4 March 2027
2 March 2028
1 March 2029
7 March 2030
