To investigate the factors influencing career sustainability among hospitalists and the impact of financialization on their working conditions.
Approach:
Study Design: Mixed-methods investigation conducted through the Hospital Medicine ReEngineering Network (HOMERuN) focusing on academic hospitalists.
Key Findings:
Participants identified scheduling control, lower clinical workload, exemption from night shifts, seniority-related benefits, and opportunities for professional niches as important for career sustainability.
Financialization has altered how clinical labor is valued, making it difficult to maintain conditions necessary for career longevity.
Moral distress arises when clinicians face constraints that prevent them from delivering appropriate care, reflecting a conflict between organizational priorities and patient needs.
Interpretation:
The persistence of unmet needs in hospital medicine suggests that institutional constraints, driven by financial pressures, limit the ability of hospitalists to achieve sustainable careers.
Limitations:
The study included only academic hospitalists and did not sample late-career professionals, limiting insights into the longitudinal course of hospitalist careers.
Findings reflect participants' expectations regarding career sustainability rather than actual experiences.
Conclusion:
The study highlights the need for structural changes in hospital medicine to address career sustainability and the ethical challenges faced by hospitalists.
