An inpatient physician, also known as a hospitalist, is a physician who works exclusively in a hospital with patients who will be there for at least a day. They coordinate patient care, schedule surgeries and diagnostic tests, and ensure resources are available. Inpatient physicians typically have completed a residency in internal medicine or another specialty. Due to an expected physician shortage, hospital positions are expected to increase.
Also commonly referred to as a hospitalist, an inpatient physician is a physician who has typically been trained in the specialty of internal medicine and only works in a hospital with inpatients who will be there for at least a day. They typically do not work in private practice and tend to devote the service entirely to a specific hospital. General duties include case management and counseling with primary care providers. Hospitallers mark a shift in the way healthcare services are provided to inpatients, as this field is somewhat new in some regions of the world and the demand is growing.
The duties of an inpatient physician begin from the time a patient is admitted and continue through post-operative visits. As the primary case manager for a specific patient, the hospitalist is responsible for coordinating and scheduling major surgeries and diagnostic tests, as well as advising assigned specialists regarding their care. These physicians work to ensure that hospital supplies and resources are available to provide patients with optimal care and services. Some inpatient physicians also usually find themselves working as department heads, such as the chief of general surgery or internal medicine.
An inpatient physician’s training and education begins with a bachelor’s degree in any selected specialization and completion of courses in premedical sciences, including organic chemistry and physics. After medical school, which usually lasts several years, hospital physicians tend to complete residencies in internal medicine, although other specialties also qualify physicians for hospital positions. Other hospital specialties include psychiatry, oncology, and general surgery. Hospital medicine fellowship programs are emerging to train internists in this field.
The general surgeon is sometimes employed as an inpatient physician, performing a variety of surgical procedures in permanently staffed hospitals. Hospital surgeons are required to take a rigorous course of study, as they must successfully complete approximately 300 surgeries as part of residency training. To become such an inpatient doctor takes many years of education as the residency lasts for about five years, after the end of medical school.
Due to an expected physician shortage as of 2011, hospital positions are expected to increase as private practice physicians adjust to healthcare reform. Many of these physicians are outsourcing the care of their inpatients to inpatient physicians to free up time for their practices. As a result, FY2011 incomes for inpatient physicians are on the rise.
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