Taking some time as a hospitalist to develop as a physician and an individual may be rewarding for a future cardiologist, according to a Fellow in Training/Early Career Page published Sept. 2 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Joshua Kiss, MD, et al., explain how a recent development for prospective fellows is the consideration of whether to proceed directly from residency to fellowship or to delay one's application while working as a hospitalist.

They note that hospitalist experience can be beneficial by allowing future cardiologists to enhance their professional maturity, financial security, clinical acumen, and personal health and wellness.

In a response to the column, Vineet Chopra, MD, MSc, comments that a year as a hospitalist teaches future specialists the ways that they can be a positive leader when caring for patients.

"It gives them a new awareness that giving more than getting and helping without judgment or reservation is an unspoken but critical responsibility as they enter their new profession," he writes. "In an era of unprecedented burnout, depression and physician suicide, I would argue that this type of empathy and collegiality is the proverbial medicine our entire field needs."