Understanding Motivators for Academic Engagement in Hospital Medicine: A Needs Assessment Survey

Academic hospital medicine groups are attempting to sustain and develop growth in their non-clinical, academic missions. We sought to evaluate the academic interests and motivators of hospital medicine faculty.

We conducted a survey on academic engagement of hospitalist faculty at two North Carolina hospitals, at an academic-community hybrid site and at a tertiary referral center, as a needs-assessment to inform future faculty development work for hospitalist groups. Survey questions included current academic engagement, measures of professional success, experience with mentorship, academic productivity and burn out.

Most respondents (82%) reported being academically engaged, and most also expressed interest in more opportunities within an area of non-clinical, academic interest (69%), while 39% reported burnout. Self-satisfaction with academic work (25%) and earning internally funded non-clinical time (16%) were the most frequently cited measures of career success in hospital medicine.

Academic hospitalists in our study were engaged in academic activity but not primarily motivated to pursue academic projects to achieve traditional measures of scholarship and promotion, such as publications and grants.