July 11, 2018
Internal Medicine and Family Medicine Hospitalist Trends
The growth of hospitalist medicine has profoundly impacted the specialty of Internal Medicine, and the specialty of Family Medicine (though to a lesser extent). As of 2013, over 30% of all IM physicians, and over 7% of all FM physicians, were practicing as Hospitalists. 1
An increasing number of IM physicians practice as Hospitalists, and should continue to do so into the foreseeable future:
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Approximately 50% of medical students intending to specialize in IM planned to work as hospitalists, according to a 2015 AAMC Survey 1
While the training of hospitalists is predominantly Internal Medicine (IM), an increasing number of Family Medicine (FM) physicians are practicing as hospitalists:
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The percentage of Hospitalist Programs with at least one FM physician increased by over 42% from 2014 through 2016 2
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Over 84% of Hospitalist Programs had at least one FM physician in 2016 2
Finally, as the demand for hospitalists continues to outpace the supply, we anticipate a growing number of medical sub-specialists will gravitate into hospitalist roles.
Sources:
1 Association of American Medical Colleges Analysis in Brief Vol 16 Number 5
2 Society of Hospital Medicine 2016 Survey