I take care of my own patients in the hospital. I say that because it is not a given for internists. For a number of reasons, many having to do with time management and money, most internists utilize hospitalists, internal medicine docs who specialize in the care of hospitalized patients.

Taking care of patients in the hospital presents some unique challenges. First, they are very, very ill. You have to be pretty sick to get into a hospital these days. You must be willing to be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. And you have to be able to deal with some rather intractable problems.

My SciBling DrugMonkey had an interesting post about dealing with hospital patients who have addictions. This is a common, daily problem for me and other docs who see hospitalized patients.

The most common substance is tobacco, followed by alcohol, followed by “other” (pot, heroin, prescription opiates, methamphetamine, cocaine, etc.).

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