• Mark B Reid, Gregory J Misky, Rebecca A Harrison, Brad Sharpe, Andrew Auerbach, and Jeffrey J Glasheen.
• Denver Health Medical Center, Denver, CO 80204, USA. Mark.Reid@dhha.org
• J Gen Intern Med. 2012 Jan 1; 27 (1): 23-7.

BackgroundUnited States academic hospitals have rapidly adopted the hospitalist model of care. Academic hospitalists have taken on much of the clinical and teaching responsibilities at many institutions, yet little is known about their academic productivity and promotion.ObjectiveWe sought to discover the attitudes and attributes of academic hospitalists regarding mentorship, productivity, and promotion.DesignWe performed a web-based email survey of academic hospitalists consisting of 61 questions.ParticipantsFour hundred and twenty academic hospitalists.Main MeasuresDemographic details, scholarly production, presence of mentorship and attitudes towards mentor, academic rankKey ResultsTwo hundred and sixty-six (63%) of hospitalists responded. The majority were under 41 (80%) and had been working as hospitalists for <5 years (62%). Only 42% of academic hospitalists had a mentor. Forty-four percent of hospitalists had not presented a poster or abstract at national meeting; 51% had not been first author on a peer-reviewed publication. Factors positively associated with publication of a peer-reviewed first author paper included: 1) male gender, AOR = 2.38 (95% CI 1.30, 4.33), 2) >20% "protected" time, AOR = 1.92 (95% CI 1.00, 3.69), and 3) a better-than-average understanding of the criteria for promotion, AOR = 3.66 (95% CI 1.76, 7.62). A lack of mentorship was negatively associated with producing any peer-reviewed first author publications AOR = 0.43 (95% CI 0.23, 0.81); any non-peer reviewed publications AOR = 0.45 (95% CI 0.24, 0.83), and leading a teaching session at a national meeting AOR = 0.41 (95% CI 0.19, 0.88). Most hospitalists promoted to the level of associate professor had been first author on four to six peer-reviewed publications.ConclusionsMost academic hospitalists had not presented a poster at a national meeting, authored an academic publication, or presented grand rounds at their institution. Many academic hospitalists lacked mentorship and this was associated with a failure to produce scholarly activity. Mentorship may improve academic productivity among hospitalists.

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