The Hybrid Hospitalist Teaching Service: An Innovative Model for Individualized Learning, Patient Case-Mix, and Medical Student and Resident Education

Background. Alternative inpatient teams are increasing, but little is known about their impact on patient care and trainee education. Purpose. To evaluate whether a hybrid hospitalist teaching service meets trainee and attending educational, clinical, support, patient-mix, autonomy, and efficiency needs. Methods. Post pediatric rotations, team members anonymously completed surveys with Likert-scale and open-ended questions. Results. In total, 78 of 80 surveys were completed. Trainees rated educational, clinical, support, and case-mix domains highly. Senior residents responded positively for autonomy, education, and opinions of hospitalists, but neutrally on leadership. Attending scores varied for efficiency, teaching, and clinical duties; the service resulted in direct observation and teaching outside of rounds, but poor delineation of roles and expectations impeded clinical task completion, teaching on rounds, and attending meetings. Conclusions. This model is a satisfying, well-accepted means of enhancing trainee education and patient care, but roles and expectations must be clearly defined to maximize efficiency and satisfaction.