The University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center Hospitalist Medicine will
become a leader in the field of inpatient medicine by
• Providing the highest quality of care to hospitalized patients
• Achieving excellence in inpatient education to students, residents,
colleagues, patients, and all members of our health care team
• Promoting the advancement of inpatient medical care through education and
clinical research
• Attaining a cohesive and sustainable practice model
• Innovating in the areas of quality improvement, hospital systems, patient
safety, palliative care, and resident education that will ultimately improve the
care of all hospitalized patients
A Brief Introduction to our Program
The field of Hospital Medicine is rapidly progressing and since 1997 the UNM HSC
Hospitalist Group has stayed at the forefront of this national trend. Our
program strives to excel as practitioners, educators, researchers, and
administrators. We have a cohesive group of providers that are passionate about
our field while providing role models for residents on how to balance work and
life.
Our primary responsibilities involve attending over resident medical teams as
well as running a medicine consult and ED Liaison service. Being in an academic
center, we strive to stay current on recent literature and best practices, both
to aid in our education of residents as well as each other. Besides advancing
the practice of inpatient medicine and rapidly implementing best practices, our
group is also taking a lead in hospital quality and efficiency. We take the
initiative by leading in issues such as medication reconciliation, patient
safety, emergency department overcrowding, mortality reviews, and quality walk rounds.
Studies have shown the quality of education that hospitalists provide to
residents. This mission is central to our program. Our group has been involved
in developing a comprehensive internal medicine curriculum, written and updated
by IM division members, and given as weekly discussions with each ward team
while on service. We are also actively involved in medical student education;
one of our physicians is the Director of Undergraduate Medical Education. We
also participate in the medical school’s problem-based learning curriculum by
facilitating tutorials. We recognize that the challenge of optimizing efficiency
while not compromising education can be a difficult one, but we are optimistic
that our plans for re-design and the addition of resources will help accomplish
this difficult task.
We have protected time to engage in activities that improve the quality of all
inpatients and aid in the health of our recently discharged patients. Members of
our group are medical directors of inpatient floors as well as the Coumadin
clinic. We have a close relationship with the ED and are actively involved in
the development of a Rapid Response Team. Our physicians are members and/or
chairs of many hospital committees focusing on the EMR, patient flow, medical
education, pharmacy, quality, and safety. Some of our members are also actively
engaged in research projects including DVT/PE, medical education, and infectious
disease topics.
The UNM Hospitalist Group is currently under significant expansion. Our current
group of 8 providers is actively seeking motivated providers with a passion for
teaching and a drive to continually improve our practice and those of our
colleagues. We have designed our program with sustainability and career/life
satisfaction in mind and besides for a manageable work schedule, we enjoy an
excellent mix of clinical, educational, research, and administrative activities
tailored to the interest of each of our members. We invite anyone who is
interested to join us to contact us or attend one of our monthly Hospitalist
Education/Practice Meetings. Our future goals include expanding to palliative
care consult services, advancing our group expertise in systems and quality, and
continuing our interactions with hospital administration to make UNM HSC a
leader in the field of inpatient medicine and the premier hospital in New Mexico
and a model for the country.
