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Division of Hospital Medicine

headshot of Dr. O'Leary, division chief

Our greatest strength is our people. We know that the best way to ensure the highest quality care for our patients is to make every effort to support our healthcare professionals.”

Kevin J. O’Leary, MD, MS
Chief, Division of Hospital Medicine

About Our Division

The Division of Hospital Medicine within the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine's Department of Medicine instills patient-focus and teamwork into our approach to training, research, quality improvement and clinical care.

Our faculty members are trained in internal medicine and are experts in the management and coordination of care in the hospital setting. Our program is nationally recognized for our research and quality improvement projects — for which we receive over $4 million in annual funding; teaching our four palliative care fellows; and our commitment to provide the highest quality of clinical care for over 23,000 hospitalizations through Feinberg-affiliated hospitals.

Education

Excellence in medical education is one of the core principles of the Division of Hospital Medicine. Members of our division play key roles in the education of medical students, residents, physician assistants, graduate students and fellows. 

Advance your medical career with expert guidance in scholarly activity and clinical care in either of our two training programs:

  • Hospice & Palliative Medicine Fellowship
  • Academic Hospital Medicine Fellowhip

Explore our Fellowships

In 2010, we created a teaching skills class to address the lack of teaching and leadership skills among hospitalists, often recent residency graduates. This course helps junior faculty build supportive learning environments, become learner-centered educators and give effective feedback.

Conducted in small-group discussions led by experienced faculty, the program covers topics like:

  • Teaching on rounds
  • Small-group instruction
  • Feedback
  • Team and time management
  • Conflict negotiation
  • Lecture skills
  • Professionalism
  • Career development

Discussion leaders also offer individual support outside of class, assisting with educational challenges, observing teaching practices, providing peer reviews and connecting junior faculty with teaching opportunities within the medical school.

Hospital Medicine Simulation

The Division of Hospital Medicine operates a simulation laboratory affiliated with Northwestern Simulation. Hospital Medicine Simulation was created to further enhance medical education and patient safety within the Department of Medicine. We use simulation-based mastery learning to train nurses, residents, fellows and attendings to high standards in bedside procedure and communication skills. Hospitalists within our division must meet mastery standards in Hospital Medicine Simulation to obtain hospital privileges in bedside procedures.

  • Central venous catheter insertion
  • Ultrasound guided IV insertion
  • Arterial line insertion
  • Temporary pacemaker insertion
  • Pulmonary catheter insertion
  • Lumbar puncture
  • Thoracentesis
  • Paracentesis
  • Arthrocentesis
  • Breaking bad news

Research

The Division of Hospital Medicine conducts groundbreaking research addressing important questions related to all aspects of healthcare quality: safety, effectiveness, patient-centeredness, timeliness, efficiency and equitability. Faculty in our division include national experts in patient safety, simulation-based training, inter-professional teamwork, transitions of care and end-of-life care. To learn more, view our clinical trials or read our latest publications.

Labs

Jeffrey Barusk Lab

Jeffrey H. Barsuk, MD, MS’s research focuses on optimizing physicians' procedure performance using simulation technology. These efforts have been based on the mastery learning theoretical framework, and his research team uses rigorous, validated standards for physician training. His team has published over 50 articles on this topic and demonstrated how this approach to procedure training improves patient care and outcomes. He currently directs Northwestern Simulation and Patient Safety at Feinberg.

Additionally, Barsuk is recognized nationally as a medical educator. He has been given national awards for medical education from the Society of Hospital Medicine, Association of American Medical Colleges and the Society for Simulation in Healthcare. He was also named a top 10 hospitalist in 2011 by the American College of Physicians. He served on the Society of Hospital Medicine’s education committee and has written curricula for procedure training for physicians nationally. He has lectured internationally on the use of simulation-based medical education to improve patient safety.

Finally, he is the associate program director for the Internal Medicine Residency program.

Publications

View lab publications via PubMed.

For more information, see Barsuk's faculty profile.

Kevin O'Leary Lab

Kevin J. O’Leary, MD, MS, is chief of the Division of Hospital Medicine, associate chair for Quality in the Department of Medicine and key medical director for the general medicine services at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

He also serves as the capstone co-director for the Northwestern University Master’s degree program in Healthcare Quality & Patient Safety. He is the founding director of the Northwestern Medicine Academy for Quality & Safety Improvement (NM AQSI), a professional development program to train leaders in quality improvement. In 2015, AQSI received the Leape Ahead Award from the American Association for Physician Leadership.

O'Leary is the author of peer-reviewed publications related to hospital medicine, medical education, healthcare quality and patient safety. His primary research interest is interprofessional collaboration and teamwork. He is an associate editor for the Joint Commission Journal on Quality & Patient Safety. He also serves as principal investigator of the Redesigning Systems to Improve Quality for Hospitalized Patients project, a study funded through the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality that provides mentored implementation to help sites redesign clinical microsystems to improve patient outcomes.

Publications

View O'Leary's publications via PubMed.

For more information, see O'Leary's faculty profile.

Eytan Szmuilowicz Lab

Eytan Szmuilowicz, MD, is principal investigator of the PACT program.

He practices palliative care at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and is director of the Section of Palliative Medicine. After completing the Palliative Medicine Fellowship training at Massachusetts General Hospital and prior to moving to Chicago with his family in 2008, he practiced both palliative and primary care at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. He has developed and studied palliative care curricula for hospitalists, residents, nurses and medical students, with particular focus on teaching challenging patient-clinician communication skills. He has received numerous teaching awards and in 2010 received a Hastings Center Cunniff-Dixon Physician Award for excellence in end-of-life care.

Publications

Via Szmuilowicz's publications via PubMed.

For more information, see Szmuilowicz's faculty profile.

A. Charlotta Weaver

A. Charlotta Weaver, MD, MS, is director of Operations in Oncology and Gynecology at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and director of Recruitment and Faculty Development for the Division of Hospital Medicine.

Prior to stepping into an operational role, Weaver led the Oncology Hospitalist Service from 2009 to 2017. She serves on the Society of Hospital Medicine academic committee, as well as numerous committees at Northwestern. She is the author of peer-reviewed publications related to hospital medicine practice, healthcare quality and safety for hospitalized patients with cancer, and gender pay disparities in hospital medicine. Her primary research interests are in quality and safety for hospitalized patients with cancer and hospital medicine practice.

Publications

View Weaver's publications via PubMed.

For more information, see Weaver's faculty profile.

Contact Us

We welcome your questions and comments at the Division of Hospital Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Please contact our administrative office via the information below.

Division of Hospital Medicine (Academic Office)
211 E. Ontario St., Suite 700
Chicago, IL 60611
Phone: 312-926-5893
Fax: 312-926-4588

Section of Palliative Medicine (Academic Office)
211 E. Ontario St., Suite 700
Chicago, IL 60611
Phone: 312-926-0001
Fax: 312-926-4588

Division Administrator
Emily Wilson
Emily.Wilson@nm.org