Defining Supervision Preferences and Roles Within a New Subspecialty: Pediatric Hospital Medicine

To describe supervision preferences among pediatric hospitalists, Pediatric Hospital Medicine (PHM) fellows, and senior residents (SRs), and to better define the ideal role of a PHM fellow.

We conducted a cross-sectional survey study at 6 institutions nationwide. We developed 3 complementary surveys, one for each population (hospitalists, fellows, SRs). We calculated univariate descriptive and bivariate statistics for categorical variables using Chi-square tests with the Rao-Scott correction to account for clustering by institution.

Survey respondents included 106 of 200 hospitalists (53%), all 20 fellows (100%), and 149 of 380 SRs (39%). Most hospitalists and all fellows preferred the supervising hospitalist to have 3+ years of experience or be fellowship-trained. Nearly all fellows preferred the attending round in-person providing progressive independence; while hospitalists and SRs desired greater attending presence on rounds. Hospitalists and fellows wanted more frequent communication when the attending does not round with the team, and more hospitalists desired at least 2 points of contact regardless of attending presence on rounds. Fifty-five percent of SRs reported experiencing much less/less autonomy when on with a fellow than when supervised by a hospitalist only. Regarding the fellow's role, most participants agreed SRs should lead rounds and contact the fellow first with questions. The majority agreed teaching should be a shared responsibility but lacked consensus about how to provide feedback.

Study results reveal preferences about supervising fellows in this new subspecialty. Hospitalists, fellows, and SRs may have differing opinions regarding workflow, communication, and teaching, impacting team leadership and autonomy.