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Vineet Chopra, MD, MSc, FHM, is associate professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Hospital Medicine at Michigan Medicine and the VA Ann Arbor (Michigan) Health System. A career hospitalist, Dr. Chopra’s research is dedicated to improving the safety of hospitalized patients through prevention of hospital-acquired complications. His work focuses on identifying and preventing complications associated with central venous catheters with a particular emphasis on peripherally inserted central catheters (PICCs).
Dr. Chopra is the recipient of numerous teaching and research awards including the 2016 Kaiser Permanente Award for Clinical Teaching, the Jerome W. Conn Award for Outstanding Research in the Department of Medicine, the 2016 Society of Hospital Medicine Award for Excellence in Research, and the 2014 McDevitt Award for Research Excellence. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles and has served as associate editor for the American Journal of Medicine and Journal of Hospital Medicine.
At what point in your education/training did you decide to practice hospital medicine? What about hospital medicine appealed to you?
I think I knew very early – toward the middle of my intern year – that I wanted to be a hospitalist. There was much that drew me to the field. First, I loved being in the inpatient setting. The tempo of work, the unexpected nature of what may come next, and the opportunity to truly have an impact on a patients life at their time of greatest need appealed to me. I wasn’t as inclined towards the procedural fields and also loved the cognitive aspects of general medicine – doing the work up on a difficult diagnosis or medically managing a patient with acute coronary syndrome came naturally. I found myself loving the work so much so that it didn’t feel like work. And the rest was history!
What is your current role at Michigan Medicine?
I started at Michigan Medicine in 2008 as a full-time clinician taking care of patients on direct care and resident services. After 3 years of clinical work, I decided it was time to hone in on a specific skill set and went back to a research fellowship.
I become Michigan’s first fellow in hospital medicine – the guinea pig – for what would turn out to be one of the best decisions in my life. After finishing fellowship, I switched my focus from clinical work to research and rose up the ranks to receive tenure as an associate professor of medicine. After attaining tenure, I was among a handful of people in the nation who had success in both the research and the clinical arenas and leadership opportunities began to come my way.
I was fortunate to be recruited as the inaugural division chief of hospital medicine at Michigan Medicine in 2017. The Division of hospital medicine is the 13th in the department of medicine and the first one to be created in over 60 years. As division chief, I oversee all of our clinical, academic, research, and educational endeavors. Currently, we have approximately 130 hospitalists in our group and about 30 advanced practice providers (APPs) with a support and research staff of about 15 individuals. So I like to say we have a big family!
What are your favorite areas of clinical practice and/or research?
I am fortunate to have the ability to enjoy all that hospital medicine has to offer. I still appreciate the challenges that direct care brings, and I continue to do as much as I can in this area. I also enjoy working with residents and medical students at the university and at our VA site – where much of my focus is devoted to making sure all learners on the team are growing while they provide excellent patient care. To meet a new patient and work to develop a therapeutic relationship with them such that we can make positive changes in their disease trajectory remains my favorite part of clinical work.
My research work remains closely linked to my clinical interests around preventing patient harm and improving patient safety – so studying hospital-acquired infections, coming up with new ideas and strategies, and then implementing them when on clinical service represents the perfect blend of the two. My research is largely focused on intravenous devices and catheters, and I focus my work on preventing harms such as bloodstream infection, venous thrombosis, and related adverse events. I have been fortunate to receive national and international attention for my research, including adoption of my work into guidelines and changes to national policies. I am honored to serve on the most important federal advisory committee that advises the government on health care infections (the committee is called HICPAC – Healthcare Infection Control Practice Advisory Committee).
What are the most challenging aspects of practicing hospital medicine? What are the most rewarding?
For me, the most challenging aspects are also the most rewarding. First and foremost, making a connection with a patient and their family to understand their concerns and define a therapeutic alliance is both challenging and rewarding. Second, ensuring that we have the ability to work efficiently and effectively to manage patient care is sometimes challenging but also the most rewarding aspect of the job. I am fortunate to work in a health system where I am surrounded by smart colleagues, important resources, advanced technology, and the support of nurses and advanced practice providers who share this zeal of patient care with me.
Finally, one the greatest challenges and rewards remains time. Our work is hard and grueling, and it is often very challenging to get things done at different times of the day. But the ability to make a diagnosis or see a patient improve makes it all worth it!
How will hospital medicine change in the next decade or two?
I predict our work will shift from a model that is reactive – taking care of patients that are sick and need hospitalization – to a proactive approach where the focus will remain on keeping people out of the hospital. This doesn’t necessarily mean that we will be out of a job – but I see the model of our work shifting to ensure that patients who are discharged remain healthy and well. This means we will need to embrace extensivist models, hospital at home care, and aspects such as bridge clinics.
I also think our work will evolve to harness some of the incredible technology that surrounds us outside health care, but has not yet permeated our work flow. To that end, aspects such as virtual consultations and patient assessments, and remote monitoring that includes biometrics, will all fall into our workflow. And of course, lets not forget about the mighty electronic medical record and how that will affect our experience and work. I see much more of our work shifting toward becoming digital experts, harnessing the power of big data and predictive analytics to provide better care for patients. These are skills that are emerging in our field, but we have not yet mastered the art of managing data.
Do you have any advice for students and residents interested in hospital medicine?
I would highly recommend taking on a rotation with a hospitalist, carrying the pager and working side-by-side with someone who truly loves what they do. Many students and residents just see the on/off nature of the work, but that is truly skin deep in terms of attraction.
The beauty of hospital medicine is that you can be everything for a patient – their doctor, their health care navigator, their friend, and their partner during their hospital stay. Find that joy – you will not regret it!
Vineet Chopra, MD, MSc, FHM, is associate professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Hospital Medicine at Michigan Medicine and the VA Ann Arbor (Michigan) Health System. A career hospitalist, Dr. Chopra’s research is dedicated to improving the safety of hospitalized patients through prevention of hospital-acquired complications. His work focuses on identifying and preventing complications associated with central venous catheters with a particular emphasis on peripherally inserted central catheters (PICCs).
Dr. Chopra is the recipient of numerous teaching and research awards including the 2016 Kaiser Permanente Award for Clinical Teaching, the Jerome W. Conn Award for Outstanding Research in the Department of Medicine, the 2016 Society of Hospital Medicine Award for Excellence in Research, and the 2014 McDevitt Award for Research Excellence. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles and has served as associate editor for the American Journal of Medicine and Journal of Hospital Medicine.
At what point in your education/training did you decide to practice hospital medicine? What about hospital medicine appealed to you?
I think I knew very early – toward the middle of my intern year – that I wanted to be a hospitalist. There was much that drew me to the field. First, I loved being in the inpatient setting. The tempo of work, the unexpected nature of what may come next, and the opportunity to truly have an impact on a patients life at their time of greatest need appealed to me. I wasn’t as inclined towards the procedural fields and also loved the cognitive aspects of general medicine – doing the work up on a difficult diagnosis or medically managing a patient with acute coronary syndrome came naturally. I found myself loving the work so much so that it didn’t feel like work. And the rest was history!
What is your current role at Michigan Medicine?
I started at Michigan Medicine in 2008 as a full-time clinician taking care of patients on direct care and resident services. After 3 years of clinical work, I decided it was time to hone in on a specific skill set and went back to a research fellowship.
I become Michigan’s first fellow in hospital medicine – the guinea pig – for what would turn out to be one of the best decisions in my life. After finishing fellowship, I switched my focus from clinical work to research and rose up the ranks to receive tenure as an associate professor of medicine. After attaining tenure, I was among a handful of people in the nation who had success in both the research and the clinical arenas and leadership opportunities began to come my way.
I was fortunate to be recruited as the inaugural division chief of hospital medicine at Michigan Medicine in 2017. The Division of hospital medicine is the 13th in the department of medicine and the first one to be created in over 60 years. As division chief, I oversee all of our clinical, academic, research, and educational endeavors. Currently, we have approximately 130 hospitalists in our group and about 30 advanced practice providers (APPs) with a support and research staff of about 15 individuals. So I like to say we have a big family!
What are your favorite areas of clinical practice and/or research?
I am fortunate to have the ability to enjoy all that hospital medicine has to offer. I still appreciate the challenges that direct care brings, and I continue to do as much as I can in this area. I also enjoy working with residents and medical students at the university and at our VA site – where much of my focus is devoted to making sure all learners on the team are growing while they provide excellent patient care. To meet a new patient and work to develop a therapeutic relationship with them such that we can make positive changes in their disease trajectory remains my favorite part of clinical work.
My research work remains closely linked to my clinical interests around preventing patient harm and improving patient safety – so studying hospital-acquired infections, coming up with new ideas and strategies, and then implementing them when on clinical service represents the perfect blend of the two. My research is largely focused on intravenous devices and catheters, and I focus my work on preventing harms such as bloodstream infection, venous thrombosis, and related adverse events. I have been fortunate to receive national and international attention for my research, including adoption of my work into guidelines and changes to national policies. I am honored to serve on the most important federal advisory committee that advises the government on health care infections (the committee is called HICPAC – Healthcare Infection Control Practice Advisory Committee).
What are the most challenging aspects of practicing hospital medicine? What are the most rewarding?
For me, the most challenging aspects are also the most rewarding. First and foremost, making a connection with a patient and their family to understand their concerns and define a therapeutic alliance is both challenging and rewarding. Second, ensuring that we have the ability to work efficiently and effectively to manage patient care is sometimes challenging but also the most rewarding aspect of the job. I am fortunate to work in a health system where I am surrounded by smart colleagues, important resources, advanced technology, and the support of nurses and advanced practice providers who share this zeal of patient care with me.
Finally, one the greatest challenges and rewards remains time. Our work is hard and grueling, and it is often very challenging to get things done at different times of the day. But the ability to make a diagnosis or see a patient improve makes it all worth it!
How will hospital medicine change in the next decade or two?
I predict our work will shift from a model that is reactive – taking care of patients that are sick and need hospitalization – to a proactive approach where the focus will remain on keeping people out of the hospital. This doesn’t necessarily mean that we will be out of a job – but I see the model of our work shifting to ensure that patients who are discharged remain healthy and well. This means we will need to embrace extensivist models, hospital at home care, and aspects such as bridge clinics.
I also think our work will evolve to harness some of the incredible technology that surrounds us outside health care, but has not yet permeated our work flow. To that end, aspects such as virtual consultations and patient assessments, and remote monitoring that includes biometrics, will all fall into our workflow. And of course, lets not forget about the mighty electronic medical record and how that will affect our experience and work. I see much more of our work shifting toward becoming digital experts, harnessing the power of big data and predictive analytics to provide better care for patients. These are skills that are emerging in our field, but we have not yet mastered the art of managing data.
Do you have any advice for students and residents interested in hospital medicine?
I would highly recommend taking on a rotation with a hospitalist, carrying the pager and working side-by-side with someone who truly loves what they do. Many students and residents just see the on/off nature of the work, but that is truly skin deep in terms of attraction.
The beauty of hospital medicine is that you can be everything for a patient – their doctor, their health care navigator, their friend, and their partner during their hospital stay. Find that joy – you will not regret it!
Vineet Chopra, MD, MSc, FHM, is associate professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Hospital Medicine at Michigan Medicine and the VA Ann Arbor (Michigan) Health System. A career hospitalist, Dr. Chopra’s research is dedicated to improving the safety of hospitalized patients through prevention of hospital-acquired complications. His work focuses on identifying and preventing complications associated with central venous catheters with a particular emphasis on peripherally inserted central catheters (PICCs).
Dr. Chopra is the recipient of numerous teaching and research awards including the 2016 Kaiser Permanente Award for Clinical Teaching, the Jerome W. Conn Award for Outstanding Research in the Department of Medicine, the 2016 Society of Hospital Medicine Award for Excellence in Research, and the 2014 McDevitt Award for Research Excellence. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles and has served as associate editor for the American Journal of Medicine and Journal of Hospital Medicine.
At what point in your education/training did you decide to practice hospital medicine? What about hospital medicine appealed to you?
I think I knew very early – toward the middle of my intern year – that I wanted to be a hospitalist. There was much that drew me to the field. First, I loved being in the inpatient setting. The tempo of work, the unexpected nature of what may come next, and the opportunity to truly have an impact on a patients life at their time of greatest need appealed to me. I wasn’t as inclined towards the procedural fields and also loved the cognitive aspects of general medicine – doing the work up on a difficult diagnosis or medically managing a patient with acute coronary syndrome came naturally. I found myself loving the work so much so that it didn’t feel like work. And the rest was history!
What is your current role at Michigan Medicine?
I started at Michigan Medicine in 2008 as a full-time clinician taking care of patients on direct care and resident services. After 3 years of clinical work, I decided it was time to hone in on a specific skill set and went back to a research fellowship.
I become Michigan’s first fellow in hospital medicine – the guinea pig – for what would turn out to be one of the best decisions in my life. After finishing fellowship, I switched my focus from clinical work to research and rose up the ranks to receive tenure as an associate professor of medicine. After attaining tenure, I was among a handful of people in the nation who had success in both the research and the clinical arenas and leadership opportunities began to come my way.
I was fortunate to be recruited as the inaugural division chief of hospital medicine at Michigan Medicine in 2017. The Division of hospital medicine is the 13th in the department of medicine and the first one to be created in over 60 years. As division chief, I oversee all of our clinical, academic, research, and educational endeavors. Currently, we have approximately 130 hospitalists in our group and about 30 advanced practice providers (APPs) with a support and research staff of about 15 individuals. So I like to say we have a big family!
What are your favorite areas of clinical practice and/or research?
I am fortunate to have the ability to enjoy all that hospital medicine has to offer. I still appreciate the challenges that direct care brings, and I continue to do as much as I can in this area. I also enjoy working with residents and medical students at the university and at our VA site – where much of my focus is devoted to making sure all learners on the team are growing while they provide excellent patient care. To meet a new patient and work to develop a therapeutic relationship with them such that we can make positive changes in their disease trajectory remains my favorite part of clinical work.
My research work remains closely linked to my clinical interests around preventing patient harm and improving patient safety – so studying hospital-acquired infections, coming up with new ideas and strategies, and then implementing them when on clinical service represents the perfect blend of the two. My research is largely focused on intravenous devices and catheters, and I focus my work on preventing harms such as bloodstream infection, venous thrombosis, and related adverse events. I have been fortunate to receive national and international attention for my research, including adoption of my work into guidelines and changes to national policies. I am honored to serve on the most important federal advisory committee that advises the government on health care infections (the committee is called HICPAC – Healthcare Infection Control Practice Advisory Committee).
What are the most challenging aspects of practicing hospital medicine? What are the most rewarding?
For me, the most challenging aspects are also the most rewarding. First and foremost, making a connection with a patient and their family to understand their concerns and define a therapeutic alliance is both challenging and rewarding. Second, ensuring that we have the ability to work efficiently and effectively to manage patient care is sometimes challenging but also the most rewarding aspect of the job. I am fortunate to work in a health system where I am surrounded by smart colleagues, important resources, advanced technology, and the support of nurses and advanced practice providers who share this zeal of patient care with me.
Finally, one the greatest challenges and rewards remains time. Our work is hard and grueling, and it is often very challenging to get things done at different times of the day. But the ability to make a diagnosis or see a patient improve makes it all worth it!
How will hospital medicine change in the next decade or two?
I predict our work will shift from a model that is reactive – taking care of patients that are sick and need hospitalization – to a proactive approach where the focus will remain on keeping people out of the hospital. This doesn’t necessarily mean that we will be out of a job – but I see the model of our work shifting to ensure that patients who are discharged remain healthy and well. This means we will need to embrace extensivist models, hospital at home care, and aspects such as bridge clinics.
I also think our work will evolve to harness some of the incredible technology that surrounds us outside health care, but has not yet permeated our work flow. To that end, aspects such as virtual consultations and patient assessments, and remote monitoring that includes biometrics, will all fall into our workflow. And of course, lets not forget about the mighty electronic medical record and how that will affect our experience and work. I see much more of our work shifting toward becoming digital experts, harnessing the power of big data and predictive analytics to provide better care for patients. These are skills that are emerging in our field, but we have not yet mastered the art of managing data.
Do you have any advice for students and residents interested in hospital medicine?
I would highly recommend taking on a rotation with a hospitalist, carrying the pager and working side-by-side with someone who truly loves what they do. Many students and residents just see the on/off nature of the work, but that is truly skin deep in terms of attraction.
The beauty of hospital medicine is that you can be everything for a patient – their doctor, their health care navigator, their friend, and their partner during their hospital stay. Find that joy – you will not regret it!