Pediatric Hospitalist Michael Beck, MD, FAAP, Measures Success By Others’ Success

Young boys sometimes see a firefighter or a police officer in the line of duty and decide that’s what they want to be when they get older. Michael Beck, MD, FAAP, saw his pediatrician that way.

“He was a very humanistic provider and found joy in serving children and their families,” Dr. Beck says. “I saw how a pediatrician could influence others and make the world a better place and still have fun serving a vulnerable patient population.”

His career in pediatric hospital medicine, though?

“It was largely pure luck,” Dr. Beck admits. “When I was seeking my first job, I was offered a position that was 50/50 internal medicine and pediatrics but purely a hospitalist position.”

Dr. Beck has risen through academic hospitalist ranks the past 15 years and now serves as the division chief of pediatric hospital medicine at Penn State Children’s Hospital at Milton S. Hershey (Pa.) Medical Center. He is one of eight new members of Team Hospitalist, The Hospitalist’s volunteer editorial advisory board.

Question: What was medical school and residency like for you? Was there a single moment you knew “I can do this”?

Answer: I always have been filled with self-doubt, which is a perpetual motivator for me. I guess I believed I could do hospital-based work when I started knowing the majority of what was going on with patients after hearing residents discuss cases and I knew what the labs, studies, and exam findings were going to be before I saw the patient.

Q: What do you like most about working as a hospitalist?

A: The acuity and pathology of cases. I get to see cases that some people only read about. It is very intellectual challenging, and I get to work with and learn from specialists every day.

Q: What do you dislike most?

A: Some of the cases are devastating to families. It is always important to remind yourself—and the team—that some of the diagnoses we help make affect families and the patient in very profound ways.

Q: Did you have a mentor during your training or early career? If so, who was the mentor, and what were the most important lessons you learned from him/her?

A: Dr. Barbara Ostrov. I learned what it really means to be a servant-leader. I witnessed her work ethic and saw that a leader of others should lead by example and be willing to work twice what is expected of others. She is always nonjudgmental and professional, yet forthright, when dealing with contentious situations. She trumpets the work of others, not her own, and sees others’ successes as her success. In the end, I believed she worked for me, not the other way around.

Q: Have you tried to mentor others? Why or why not?

A: Yes. As a division chief, I want others to succeed. The best quote I have read was by Richard Branson [CEO of Virgin]: “Train people so that they can leave, but treat them so they want to stay.”

Q: What’s the biggest change you’ve seen in HM in your career?

A: It has moved from a clinical service to a robust area of research and strong researchers.

Q: What’s the biggest change you would like to see in HM?

A: If hospital medicine is positioning itself to be a specialty with fellowship training, with access to knowledge different from PCPs, then I believe we should function like other specialty services with a different skill set. We should own our discharge process and follow-up plans. We should follow up with patients in a discharge clinic setting to review clinical course, health literacy issues, labs, and studies and even order follow-up studies based on incoming results.

Q: For group leaders, why is it important for you to continue seeing patients?

A: As a clinician leader, my charge is to foster teamwork and create a shared vision for improvement and change. This is not possible to do from an office space or conference room separate from where the work gets done.

Q: As a hospitalist, seeing most of your patients for the very first time, what aspect of patient care is most challenging?

A: Establishing trust and rapport in five to 10 minutes. Caring for a hospitalized patient, when they are surrounded by loved ones, is stressful and anxiety-provoking. Delivering information in a way that is honest and empathetic and timely without the benefit of having a personal historic connection with a patient is always challenging.

Q: What aspect of patient care is most rewarding?

A: Making a diagnosis in a patient that has eluded diagnosis for weeks or months.

Q: What aspect of teaching in the 21st century is most difficult? And what is most enjoyable?

A: Today’s learners have different expectations from mine [in terms] of what they want to get from a career in medicine. While I don’t always agree with them, it is the reality and puts me in a position to discuss and understand the rationale of a changing mindset. As a physician leader, it is important to understand this because it helps me create an environment that fosters successful recruitment and retention.

Q: You mention wanting to tackle the issue of physician burnout? Why is that something important to you?

A: I personally lived through it and felt the effects it had on the relationships I had with family, friends, medical students, residents, and patients. I know what it felt like to be angry, cynical, and distanced from those I cared about and from those whom I was charged with caring for. I never forgot how isolated [you] can feel in an academic center even when surrounded by hundreds. I vowed that if I ever found my way to a leadership position, I would begin by creating an environment that emphasized morale, honesty, integrity, and professionalism. If I succeeded in this, the other organizational missions of education, patient care, quality, and value would follow.

Since 2012, our division has monitored burnout, work-life balance, and, more recently, physician engagement. Although we take care of the sickest children in the region, our group supports each other, recognizing and respectful of the fact that we each have different comfort levels, skill sets, but we also have fun. Patients, nurses, social workers, care coordinators, and clerks see this. Like I teach the residents, you never get a second chance to make a first impression, but you also never get a second chance to make a last one, so make all interactions count. TH

Richard Quinn is a freelance writer in New Jersey.

Young boys sometimes see a firefighter or a police officer in the line of duty and decide that’s what they want to be when they get older. Michael Beck, MD, FAAP, saw his pediatrician that way.

“He was a very humanistic provider and found joy in serving children and their families,” Dr. Beck says. “I saw how a pediatrician could influence others and make the world a better place and still have fun serving a vulnerable patient population.”

His career in pediatric hospital medicine, though?

“It was largely pure luck,” Dr. Beck admits. “When I was seeking my first job, I was offered a position that was 50/50 internal medicine and pediatrics but purely a hospitalist position.”

Dr. Beck has risen through academic hospitalist ranks the past 15 years and now serves as the division chief of pediatric hospital medicine at Penn State Children’s Hospital at Milton S. Hershey (Pa.) Medical Center. He is one of eight new members of Team Hospitalist, The Hospitalist’s volunteer editorial advisory board.

Question: What was medical school and residency like for you? Was there a single moment you knew “I can do this”?

Answer: I always have been filled with self-doubt, which is a perpetual motivator for me. I guess I believed I could do hospital-based work when I started knowing the majority of what was going on with patients after hearing residents discuss cases and I knew what the labs, studies, and exam findings were going to be before I saw the patient.

Q: What do you like most about working as a hospitalist?

A: The acuity and pathology of cases. I get to see cases that some people only read about. It is very intellectual challenging, and I get to work with and learn from specialists every day.

Q: What do you dislike most?

A: Some of the cases are devastating to families. It is always important to remind yourself—and the team—that some of the diagnoses we help make affect families and the patient in very profound ways.

Q: Did you have a mentor during your training or early career? If so, who was the mentor, and what were the most important lessons you learned from him/her?

A: Dr. Barbara Ostrov. I learned what it really means to be a servant-leader. I witnessed her work ethic and saw that a leader of others should lead by example and be willing to work twice what is expected of others. She is always nonjudgmental and professional, yet forthright, when dealing with contentious situations. She trumpets the work of others, not her own, and sees others’ successes as her success. In the end, I believed she worked for me, not the other way around.

Q: Have you tried to mentor others? Why or why not?

A: Yes. As a division chief, I want others to succeed. The best quote I have read was by Richard Branson [CEO of Virgin]: “Train people so that they can leave, but treat them so they want to stay.”

Q: What’s the biggest change you’ve seen in HM in your career?

A: It has moved from a clinical service to a robust area of research and strong researchers.

Q: What’s the biggest change you would like to see in HM?

A: If hospital medicine is positioning itself to be a specialty with fellowship training, with access to knowledge different from PCPs, then I believe we should function like other specialty services with a different skill set. We should own our discharge process and follow-up plans. We should follow up with patients in a discharge clinic setting to review clinical course, health literacy issues, labs, and studies and even order follow-up studies based on incoming results.

Q: For group leaders, why is it important for you to continue seeing patients?

A: As a clinician leader, my charge is to foster teamwork and create a shared vision for improvement and change. This is not possible to do from an office space or conference room separate from where the work gets done.

Q: As a hospitalist, seeing most of your patients for the very first time, what aspect of patient care is most challenging?

A: Establishing trust and rapport in five to 10 minutes. Caring for a hospitalized patient, when they are surrounded by loved ones, is stressful and anxiety-provoking. Delivering information in a way that is honest and empathetic and timely without the benefit of having a personal historic connection with a patient is always challenging.

Q: What aspect of patient care is most rewarding?

A: Making a diagnosis in a patient that has eluded diagnosis for weeks or months.

Q: What aspect of teaching in the 21st century is most difficult? And what is most enjoyable?

A: Today’s learners have different expectations from mine [in terms] of what they want to get from a career in medicine. While I don’t always agree with them, it is the reality and puts me in a position to discuss and understand the rationale of a changing mindset. As a physician leader, it is important to understand this because it helps me create an environment that fosters successful recruitment and retention.

Q: You mention wanting to tackle the issue of physician burnout? Why is that something important to you?

A: I personally lived through it and felt the effects it had on the relationships I had with family, friends, medical students, residents, and patients. I know what it felt like to be angry, cynical, and distanced from those I cared about and from those whom I was charged with caring for. I never forgot how isolated [you] can feel in an academic center even when surrounded by hundreds. I vowed that if I ever found my way to a leadership position, I would begin by creating an environment that emphasized morale, honesty, integrity, and professionalism. If I succeeded in this, the other organizational missions of education, patient care, quality, and value would follow.

Since 2012, our division has monitored burnout, work-life balance, and, more recently, physician engagement. Although we take care of the sickest children in the region, our group supports each other, recognizing and respectful of the fact that we each have different comfort levels, skill sets, but we also have fun. Patients, nurses, social workers, care coordinators, and clerks see this. Like I teach the residents, you never get a second chance to make a first impression, but you also never get a second chance to make a last one, so make all interactions count. TH

Richard Quinn is a freelance writer in New Jersey.

Young boys sometimes see a firefighter or a police officer in the line of duty and decide that’s what they want to be when they get older. Michael Beck, MD, FAAP, saw his pediatrician that way.

“He was a very humanistic provider and found joy in serving children and their families,” Dr. Beck says. “I saw how a pediatrician could influence others and make the world a better place and still have fun serving a vulnerable patient population.”

His career in pediatric hospital medicine, though?

“It was largely pure luck,” Dr. Beck admits. “When I was seeking my first job, I was offered a position that was 50/50 internal medicine and pediatrics but purely a hospitalist position.”

Dr. Beck has risen through academic hospitalist ranks the past 15 years and now serves as the division chief of pediatric hospital medicine at Penn State Children’s Hospital at Milton S. Hershey (Pa.) Medical Center. He is one of eight new members of Team Hospitalist, The Hospitalist’s volunteer editorial advisory board.

Question: What was medical school and residency like for you? Was there a single moment you knew “I can do this”?

Answer: I always have been filled with self-doubt, which is a perpetual motivator for me. I guess I believed I could do hospital-based work when I started knowing the majority of what was going on with patients after hearing residents discuss cases and I knew what the labs, studies, and exam findings were going to be before I saw the patient.

Q: What do you like most about working as a hospitalist?

A: The acuity and pathology of cases. I get to see cases that some people only read about. It is very intellectual challenging, and I get to work with and learn from specialists every day.

Q: What do you dislike most?

A: Some of the cases are devastating to families. It is always important to remind yourself—and the team—that some of the diagnoses we help make affect families and the patient in very profound ways.

Q: Did you have a mentor during your training or early career? If so, who was the mentor, and what were the most important lessons you learned from him/her?

A: Dr. Barbara Ostrov. I learned what it really means to be a servant-leader. I witnessed her work ethic and saw that a leader of others should lead by example and be willing to work twice what is expected of others. She is always nonjudgmental and professional, yet forthright, when dealing with contentious situations. She trumpets the work of others, not her own, and sees others’ successes as her success. In the end, I believed she worked for me, not the other way around.

Q: Have you tried to mentor others? Why or why not?

A: Yes. As a division chief, I want others to succeed. The best quote I have read was by Richard Branson [CEO of Virgin]: “Train people so that they can leave, but treat them so they want to stay.”

Q: What’s the biggest change you’ve seen in HM in your career?

A: It has moved from a clinical service to a robust area of research and strong researchers.

Q: What’s the biggest change you would like to see in HM?

A: If hospital medicine is positioning itself to be a specialty with fellowship training, with access to knowledge different from PCPs, then I believe we should function like other specialty services with a different skill set. We should own our discharge process and follow-up plans. We should follow up with patients in a discharge clinic setting to review clinical course, health literacy issues, labs, and studies and even order follow-up studies based on incoming results.

Q: For group leaders, why is it important for you to continue seeing patients?

A: As a clinician leader, my charge is to foster teamwork and create a shared vision for improvement and change. This is not possible to do from an office space or conference room separate from where the work gets done.

Q: As a hospitalist, seeing most of your patients for the very first time, what aspect of patient care is most challenging?

A: Establishing trust and rapport in five to 10 minutes. Caring for a hospitalized patient, when they are surrounded by loved ones, is stressful and anxiety-provoking. Delivering information in a way that is honest and empathetic and timely without the benefit of having a personal historic connection with a patient is always challenging.

Q: What aspect of patient care is most rewarding?

A: Making a diagnosis in a patient that has eluded diagnosis for weeks or months.

Q: What aspect of teaching in the 21st century is most difficult? And what is most enjoyable?

A: Today’s learners have different expectations from mine [in terms] of what they want to get from a career in medicine. While I don’t always agree with them, it is the reality and puts me in a position to discuss and understand the rationale of a changing mindset. As a physician leader, it is important to understand this because it helps me create an environment that fosters successful recruitment and retention.

Q: You mention wanting to tackle the issue of physician burnout? Why is that something important to you?

A: I personally lived through it and felt the effects it had on the relationships I had with family, friends, medical students, residents, and patients. I know what it felt like to be angry, cynical, and distanced from those I cared about and from those whom I was charged with caring for. I never forgot how isolated [you] can feel in an academic center even when surrounded by hundreds. I vowed that if I ever found my way to a leadership position, I would begin by creating an environment that emphasized morale, honesty, integrity, and professionalism. If I succeeded in this, the other organizational missions of education, patient care, quality, and value would follow.

Since 2012, our division has monitored burnout, work-life balance, and, more recently, physician engagement. Although we take care of the sickest children in the region, our group supports each other, recognizing and respectful of the fact that we each have different comfort levels, skill sets, but we also have fun. Patients, nurses, social workers, care coordinators, and clerks see this. Like I teach the residents, you never get a second chance to make a first impression, but you also never get a second chance to make a last one, so make all interactions count. TH

Richard Quinn is a freelance writer in New Jersey.