Section of Hospital Medicine

Faculty Development

Mission  

The mission of the Section of Hospital Medicine in the VUMC Division of General Internal Medicine and Public Health is to: 

  • Provide high-value, patient-centered care 
  • Advance hospital care through research and quality improvement 
  • Provide rigorous training for the next generation of physicians  

Philosophy  

At Vanderbilt, we strive to maintain balance in our pursuit of excellence in clinical care, quality improvement, research, and education. We seek out well-trained physicians with excellent clinical skills as well as academic interests. We support those interests through hands-on mentorship, and tailored opportunities for professional development. The result is a diverse and exceptional group of faculty who will enjoy successful academic careers in Hospital Medicine.  

Roadmap

VUMC Hospital Medicine faculty and career development roadmap:


Annual Faculty Survey

This gives us an anonymous perspective on our global performance as a section across several domains, including:  

  • Job satisfaction  
  • Faculty and career development  
  • Leadership assessment  
  • Wellness and burnout  
  • Service line evaluations  
  • Free-text assessments of various initiatives  

Academic Sponsorship Team (AST)

The team is charged with reviewing the needs of our section as a whole, as well as each individual faculty and staff member, related to the academic mission of the section. For our purposes, we have defined "academic" as any intellectual pursuit outside of your regular clinical work. This could be developing expertise in a specific area of clinical medicine, education, QI, research, administration & leadership, etc. 

We will help develop individualized growth plans and advocate for resources at the section, division, or department level in support of the section's academic mission. The AST meets monthly and will discuss the needs of 8-10 faculty members at a time. Prior to meeting, you will be able to discuss your interests, goals, and barriers as they relate to academic endeavors. 

Professional development opportunities 

The last three stops on the roadmap represent a progression from sampling a breadth of career paths to exploring the depth of a particular niche, be it clinical (e.g., consult medicine, post-acute care, VTE prophylaxis practices) or nonclinical (e.g., health systems science, medical education). This is not a mandatory pathway. Many faculty prefer the variety of clinical challenges that come with a career in hospital medicine and do not wish to pursue any further interests. However, there is also evidence to suggest that the development of expertise leads to increased career satisfaction. If so inclined, we will provide a personalized version of the roadmap.  

  • Explore possibilities – The landscape of opportunities is sprawling, diverse, and often siloed. There are opportunities to explore interests within our section as well as at other levels, including institutional committees and project mentorship for residents and medical students.  
  • Build skills – As you aim to dig deeper into a particular niche, we’ll help identify specific training programs within VUMC, through national societies or through advanced degrees and certifications.  
  • Establish expertise – Once you’ve gained experience, you will need a new set of skills to establish yourself as an expert. These may include traditional academic skills such as writing and presenting, or they may include completely new skillsets such as intrapreneurship and entrepreneurship to ensure your ideas reach the right audiences. We’ll help you identify the skills needed and were to hone them.  

Mentorship 

We believe that the best approach for any individual faculty member is to have a team of mentors. We recognize that the best mentor for a specific situation, interest, or project may be external to the section or even the institution and we will leverage our networks to establish those connections for you.   

We view mentorship through 3 specific lenses:  

  • Clinical mentorship can come from any Hospitalist with more VUMC experience, not necessarily more career experience. Whether it’s confidence in clinical decision-making, clinical efficiency or navigating the idiosyncrasies of a new clinical environment, we can match you with someone to help you through the natural evolution of being a new faculty member.  
  • Career advising mentorship provides a broader perspective for your development. This can come from anyone, but it will more than likely be from someone with more years of experience – though it may be someone outside of the section as external perspectives are often very insightful.  This type of relationship can help identify career interests and opportunities and navigate work-life balance/integration challenges.  
  • Niche mentorship may be longitudinal or episodic. As you explore opportunities and career interests, we will help you identify individuals within and outside of the section to foster your continued growth. These relationships may be strictly for a specific project, or they may end up looking more like career advising mentorship relationships.