Life after Hospitalist?

[EDB]

I have a question for a hospitalist, or anyone else considering a career as a hospitalist. It seems like a good job for awhile and I can see the perks... but with the burn-out rate/high turn-over, what do you do when you get sick of being a hospitalist? Fellowship? Out-patient? While it's not a quantum leap, it just seems like it would be difficult to go back into academics or out-patient after 5-10 years of hospital medicine. I guess my question is, how difficult is it to get out of hospital medicine if and when you get tired of it and are there any mechanisms in place to smooth a transition into another field (ie, out-pt medicine).
Thanks

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[gutonc]

I don't know anyone who has done hospitalist medicine for 5-10 years (simply b/c the specialty has barely been around that long) but I know plenty who have done it for 2-3 years and then gone to fellowship w/o too much trouble.

Also, FWIW, I can't imagine going from a good paying, relatively low-stress job (being a hospitalist) to an underpaid, overworked job such as outpt IM.

I think that overall it would be easier to go into a fellowship than to a PCP gig. YMMV of course.

 

[nocdoc]

I am a hospitalist at a community teaching hospital.Been working here for last 3 yrs. Life style of Hospitalist is not bad, I still get a 4 weeks vacation, and 1 week CME and make about 200K. I think hospitalist is not a bad option for people who can handle few night calls.

 

[elwademd]

recent studies and surveys seem to show that the turnover/burnout rate in hospitalist medicine is no different than any other specialty. i.e., people "burn out" in all fields of medicine, as there are ups and downs in every specialty.

with that said, there are groups out there that encourage their hospitalists to get involved in committees, administrative roles, pursue other (advanced) degrees, pursue things outside of medicine in order to be well balanced during your time as a hospitalist, but also to have other avenues to branch out to if/when you choose to move on.

btw, doing urgent care from time to time would seem to be somewhat of a segue into outpatient medicine as far as staying abreast of the latest outpatient way of doing things...