Hospitalist Fellowship Program

Program Overview

The HPMG Hospitalist Fellowship is a one-year training program and includes a combination of experiences that contribute to a rich educational environment. Our goal is to train physicians in the provision of outstanding and comprehensive inpatient care, in becoming superior medical educators, and to become future leaders in hospital medicine. The curriculum is purposefully divided into two major areas, core and elective, designed to encompass a body of knowledge of both universal applicability and individual focus. Clinical service is spent in block rotations, affording optimal continuity with patients and residents/students. Throughout the year time will be allocated towards the completion of a scholarly initiative, the content of which is selected by the fellow. A final component of the year is comprised of independent time to pursue study, vacation, or personal interests. The Fellowship is strongly supported by a number of unique resources within HealthPartners, the University of Minnesota, and other organizations. The heart and soul of the program is ultimately found in the HPMG hospitalists themselves, dedicating their professional lives to the care of hospitalized patients, teaching, and the promotion of hospital medicine as a future specialty.

Fellowship Training Component

  1. Core Curriculum
  2. Elective Curriculum
  3. Clinical Services
  4. Academic Project
  5. Independent Time
Core Curriculum
Estimated time commitment 10-12 weeks

The core curriculum represents the fundamental areas of learning during the program year. Most of the facets listed can be applied to any field or site of medical practice, underscoring the broad applicability of the principles that will be learned:

  • Physician leadership
  • Teaching skills development
  • End of life care
  • Expertise in different sites of medical care (ICU; subacute facilities; home care)
  • Quality Improvement
  • Health Economics (utilization management; cost effectiveness; health care financing)
  • Communication skills (difficult patient encounters; systems linking to outpatient settings)
  • Guideline development and review
  • Consultative medicine
  • Medical Ethics
  • Coding, Documentation, and Risk Management
  • Critical Review of the Literature
  • Evidence Based Medicine
Elective Curriculum
Estimated time commitment 4-8 weeks

One of the key aspects of the HPMG Hospitalist Fellowship Program is the ability to adapt the educational experience to the needs of the fellow. Dedicated time and resources within the curriculum have been provided to pursue unique learning opportunities. The intent is to enable fellows to customize their program, thereby attaining skills and competencies consistent with their professional goals. Examples of elective curricular pursuits include, but are not limited to the following:

  • Public health
  • Palliative care - advanced
  • International medicine
  • Pediatrics
  • Medicolegal aspects of hospital medicine
Clinical Service
Estimated time commitment 22-24 weeks

Clinical service will be conducted by the fellow at 3 metropolitan hospital sites, the primary location being Regions Hospital. Regions is a major academic affiliate of the University of Minnesota and is the owned hospital of HealthPartners Inc. While on service, the fellow will serve as the attending of record and will submit charges for professional work in the same manner as hospitalist faculty. There is ample opportunity for leading an inpatient teaching team of residents and students, as well as performing ICU care and medical consultation. Service occurs in 7 to 14 day block rotations, designed to afford optimal continuity with patients and residents/students.

Academic Project
Although there will be inclusion of clinical research principles included in the core curriculum, the program is not designed as primarily a research fellowship. There is, however, an expectation of all trainees a scholarly project to be conceived and completed during the year. The type and content of the project is flexible and will be agreed upon by the fellow, staff mentor and Fellowship Director. Examples of such work include submission of a peer-reviewed review article, creation of a clinical practice guideline, or completion of an abstract/poster presentation at a CME conference.

Independent Time
Estimated allocation 10-12 weeks

The purpose of this generous allocation is to provide adequate opportunity for reinvigoration given the challenging clinical and curricular activities. Demanding inpatient work naturally requires respite in many forms. Independent time is also effectively used to focus on completing the academic project.

Mentoring, Evaluation and Feedback
Evaluation and feedback will take place throughout the training year in a 360 degree fashion. All major elements of the program will undergo regular assessment, including faculty, fellows and program content. The Fellowship Director will serve as the overall professional advisor to all fellows, while a specific faculty member will be identified as a physician mentor for each fellow based on mutual interests and skills. Fellows will benefit from evaluation and guidance by the following means:

  1. Performance evaluations will include measurements of teaching quality, documentation and coding accuracy, clinical productivity, patient satisfaction and primary care provider satisfaction.
  2. Professional development self-assessment will be reviewed in the context of the program goals.
  3. Career planning results from close faculty mentoring guided by choice of elective curriculum and self-assessments.
Journal Club
Occurring weekly, these evidence-based sessions are designed to facilitate skills in reviewing the medical literature and to enhance awareness of new technologies, diagnostic and therapeutic methods, and current standards of care. Fellows will be expected to present articles and conduct discussions on a periodic basis with faculty assistance.

Frequently Asked Questions