EMSAVINA@HOSPITALMEDICINE.ORG

This is ironic because I was home this weekend and I was talking to my younger sister who is entering into her freshman year at NYU at the end of the month, and is going to be studying medicine. I asked her what she thought her specialty was going to be (even though she has a long way to go) and as she replied: “I have no idea yet” I found myself starting to push the idea of hospital medicine. Some of the points I was making were most of the perks- you get to explore many of the fields you learn, and you don’t have to commit to one specific area. Like Victoria was saying, one of the doctors pointed out about how much you forget when you go into your specialty, and I think that not getting bored of what you’re doing or disregarding what you spend so much time on in school takes away from your experiences. Another point I was selling to her was routine- in many specialties you fall into a routine more quickly than if you were a hospitalist. I know my sister and I’m sure many medical students will agree that they love challenges and not knowing what a normal day is. One of the hospitalists at Cooper was saying how no two days are the same and I think that’s a great selling point. Lastly, one big talking point is the freedom emotionally and literally. I think that as we see in many TV shows doctors can become very close to their patients and often times it can impair their judgment on certain decisions. I think that hospitalist help focus on your job and this is why they improve quality care- because they are able to make good judgment calls in seconds. Also, pushing the freedom point to students is important because doctors are often times unable to have hobbies outside of their career. Many of the hospitalist at Cooper said how they were able to have families, and personal hobbies outside their job because of the free time you are able to have as a hospitalist!