UNM Advanced Practice Provider Hospital Medicine Fellowship

Mission

To attract, train, inspire and retain outstanding advanced practice provider hospitalists who deliver exemplary patient care to a diverse patient population.

Goals

By the end of the program, the APP fellow will be able to:

1. Practice autonomously and collaboratively within an interprofessional team
2. Demonstrate synthesis of hospital medicine core competencies and clinical reasoning
3. Develop appropriate and effective patient-centered care plans
4. Communicate in a consistently professional manner to ensure safe and effective care
5. Manage a team of eight adult hospital medicine patients with a hospitalist physician
6. Perform adult hospital medicine admissions with a hospitalist physician
7. Seek and apply feedback and embrace self-evaluation of clinical practice
8. Demonstrate professional behaviors in all patient, family, colleague interactions
9. Identify and offer solutions to systems issues particularly to at-risk populations
10. Develop behaviors and habits aimed at self-care and work-life balance

Clinical

The twelve-month HMF consists of five clinical blocks:

1. HMF 101 - Orientation and APP Hospitalist Boot Camp—orients the APP fellow to the program and essential topics including feedback, documentation, common diagnoses, weeklong rotations on the antimicrobial and antithrombosis pharmacy services, and additional days with physical/occupational/speech therapy and physical therapy wound care.
2. HMF 102 - Introduction to the Role of the APP Hospitalist—the APP fellow is introduced to the role of the APP hospitalist primarily on the APP/attending hospital medicine service, with one rotation on a resident medicine ward service.
3. HMF 103 - Additional Roles for the APP Hospitalist—exposes the APP fellow to other APP hospitalist roles such as admissions, consults, and overnight cross cover, with additional weeks on the APP/attending hospital medicine service gradually increasing the patient assignment from four to six, and working directly with the attending physician with increasing independence.
4. HMF 104 - Specialties in Hospital Medicine—the APP fellow rotates on commonly encountered specialty services including cardiology, nephrology, oncology, infectious diseases, palliative care, and neurology/stroke.
5. HMF 105 - Refining the APP Hospitalist Role—the APP fellow returns to the APP/attending hospital medicine service, working independently with the attending physician from a patient assignment of six to eight. At the end of the fellowship, the APP fellow is ready to practice autonomously in collaboration with an attending physician.

Didactics

The innovative didactic curriculum runs throughout the year, supplementing clinical experiences, and includes weekly HMF Seminars focused on the Core Competencies of Hospital Medicine. Fellows also participate in a 4-week Art in Medicine series, a 4-week Work-Life Balance series, and a 5-week Clinical Reasoning series. We are pending CME approval for these offerings. A mentored APP Quality Improvement Practicum is currently in development and we hope to have fellows participate in 2023. 

Accreditation

Though we plan to apply in the future, our program is not currently accredited. It was built from the ground up based on the accreditation standards of the NNPRFTC which is the only accreditation program that currently accredits joint APRN/PA programs. We engage in bidirectional feedback with our APP fellows and preceptors throughout the year and complete an annual self-assessment and improvement plan to demonstrate our commitment to excellence and continuous self-improvement. 

1. Applicants must be an APP student, new graduate, or experienced APP who wants to retrain in a new specialty 
2. Must either be a licensed PA or APRN (FNP/ACNP/CNS) or will graduate from an APRN/PA program by May 31, 2022.
3. Must have a New Mexico APRN or PA license by August 2022. It typically takes two months to obtain a New Mexico APRN/PA license. New graduates must test by June 2022 to obtain their license by August 2022 and still have time to complete UNMH credentialing by January 2023. 
4. Must submit DEA license to UNMH Human Resources prior to the start date of January 9, 2023

​​Desired Qualifications: Our ideal candidate is an APP who expresses high interest in pursuing a career as an APRN/PA hospitalist. You are seeking an intensive and rigorous 12-month training experience as a learner. Any work experience, courses, or specific rotations that show your interest in and ability to excel clinically in the inpatient/acute setting would make you a competitive applicant. So would any community projects or experiences demonstrate your commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion as it relates to underserved or vulnerable populations. Your application is viewed as a whole (letters of recommendation, transcripts, personal statement, diversity experiences, etc.) and we do take everything into consideration. 

Expectations

APP fellows work 40-60 hours per week including some weekends. They also work a total of 6 night shifts during HMF 103 Cross Cover rotation. Like all UNMH employees, they are paid every 2 weeks and receive a standard benefits package. We encourage APP fellows to apply for permanent positions in the Division of Hospital Medicine or elsewhere in the UNM Health System. There is no guarantee of employment beyond the 12-month fellowship and graduates are not required to commit to positions at UNMH. There is a $10,000 sign-on bonus available for APP fellows who accept a permanent position at UNMH after they finish their 12-month program.  

Benefits

• $55,510- $92,300 DOE calculated by HR
• Health, dental, vision, life insurance
• Paid sick leave, holidays, vacation
• $1,100 continuing education stipend 
• See UNMH Employee Benefits for further details