SHM is the only organization solely dedicated to hospital medicine, the fastest growing specialty in the history of medicine. It is our mission to promote the highest quality care for hospitalized patients, as well as provide opportunities and support to hospitalists. We are committed to enhancing the practice of hospital medicine by promoting education, research and advocacy. A hospitalist is a clinician whose primary professional focus is the general medical care of hospitalized patients. Hospitalists engage in clinical care, teaching, research and enhancing the performance of hospitals and healthcare system. Hospitalists are focused around a site of care (the hospital) rather than an organ (like cardiology), a disease (like oncology) or a patient’s age (like pediatrics). Unlike other medical specialties, hospitalists help manage patients through the continuum of hospital care, often seeing patients in the emergency room, following them into the critical care unit and organizing post-acute care.
