About the Hospitalist Section
The Hospitalist Section consists of about 70 academic general internists and geriatricians and 39 advanced practitioners who provide high-quality, safe, effective and compassionate inpatient care for patients admitted to the Medicine service at Stony Brook University Hospital. Hospitalist faculty members serve as attending physicians on the core internal medicine teaching service for medical students, medical residents and geriatric fellows. Hospitalists cover the General Medicine Consult Service and provide co-management with other specialists on the orthopedics, neurology and cardiology services. Hospitalists manage the Hospital Observation Unit. Hospitalists also cover a large subacute rehabilitation unit at an affiliated teaching site. Hospitalists at Stony Brook communicate with divisional outpatient colleagues, thereby providing seamless transitions of care. Hospitalists are committed to enhancing the hospital’s status as an Age-Friendly Health System as they collaborate with nursing leaders on promoting the 4M’s of Geriatrics: Mobility, Safe Medication Management, Delirium Prevention and Management (Mentation) and What Matters most to patients.
Leadership
The section is headed by Dr. Sadia Abbasi who serves as Medical Director of the Hospitalist Program. She has demonstrated outstanding leadership in expanding the Hospitalist Section’s clinical and academic programs. Dr. Abbasi is currently a John A Hartford Foundation Scholar for the AHA Next Generation Leaders Fellowship in Promoting the Age-Friendly Health System. She is assisted by Dr. Robert Abdullah, who is Associate Program Director for Hospitalist service and Co-director of the General Medicine Consult and Co-Management Service. Dr. Getu Teressa runs the Internal Medicine Clerkship for Medical Students. Dr. Veena Lingam is the Deputy Chief information Medical Officer and Program Director for Clinical Informatics. Dr. Mathew Tharakan is Interim Chief Information Medical Officer for Stony Brook University Hospital. Dr. Nirvani Goolsarran is the Associate Program Director for the Internal Medicine Residency Program and Associate Vice Chair for Quality, Patient Safety and Compliance within the Department of Medicine. Dr. Sarah Pestieau is the Assistant Director for Advanced Practitioners. Dr. Lindsey Schachter is Associate Program Director for the Geriatric Fellow/Hospitalist Program, an initiative that seeks to provide academic hospitalists with geriatric expertise, leadership training, and research/scholarly activity skills.
Administrative support is provided through the hospital:
Mr. Eric Niegelberg, Associate Director of Operations for Emergency Services and Internal Medicine 631-444-2496
Mr. Allen Gordon, Administrative Director for Hospitalist Program 631-444-1476
Ms. Robin Marasia, Coordinator for Hospitalist Program 631-638-2239
Clinical Services
Stony Brook University Hospital is a 624- bed, suburban academic medical center that serves as the region’s only tertiary care center and Level I Trauma Center. The Medicine Service covers on average 230 beds, although the census is higher during COVID surges.
General Medicine Service Teaching Teams: These teams consist of a hospitalist, 1 resident and 2 interns or sub-interns and medical students
General Medicine Service Hospitalist-Directed Teams: Teams that consist of a hospitalist and an advanced practitioner (NP or PA)
General Medicine Consult Service and Co-Management services for Orthopedics and Neurology/Stroke: A team that consists of a general medicine hospitalist and rotating internal medicine residents and geriatric medicine fellows. The consultant provides and care for patients admitted to other specialties who have underlying chronic medical illness or who develop acute medical problems while hospitalized. The team also provides pre-operative medical clearance.
General Medicine Co-Management Service for Cardiology:
This service includes a hospitalist taking care of patients hospitalized with acute cardiac conditions in collaboration with a consulting cardiologist.
General Medicine Coverage of Subacute Rehabilitation Unit at Gurwin Jewish Nursing and Rehabilitation Center:
This service includes a hospitalist covering 1 large sub-acute rehabilitation unit at Gurwin Jewish Nursing and Rehabilitation center. The hospitalist also serves as a teaching attending for Geriatric fellows and medical students rotating through the site.
Hospital Observation Unit: A team of 1 Hospitalist and 2 advanced practitioners running a 20- bed Hospital Observation unit with the objectives of providing high quality and safe patient care, improving the hospital flow of patients and assuring the appropriate use of hospital, inpatient and outpatient services.
For Medical Professionals
Information for those interested in joining the Stony Brook Medicine Hospital Medicine Service
To fulfill our mission to patients, trainees and the community, Stony Brook aims to recruit and retain the finest hospitalists and advanced practice providers by offering satisfying career options. Stony Brook Hospitalists hold faculty appointments at the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University. They teach trainees, engage in Quality Improvement Initiatives, and enjoy access to faculty development opportunities and continuing medical education, including weekly Medical Grand Rounds.
If you are a physician or advanced practice provider interested in joining Stony Brook Medicine or you would like to get more information about the Hospitalist Section, please contact: Dr. Sadia Abbasi at sadia.abbasi@stonybrookmedicine.edu
Opportunities for Stony Brook Hospitalists
Mentorship/Faculty Development
The Stony Brook Department of Medicine offers mentorship, faculty development workshops, career guidance and statistical support to those interested in an academic career in Hospital Medicine. Senior faculty within the section include leaders in medical informatics, medical education and patient safety/quality improvement. The School of Medicine also conducts faculty development programs, including the Miriam and David Donoho Academy of Clinical and Educational Scholars (ACES) program, which several division members have completed.
Fellowship in Geriatric Medicine/Hospitalist Program
The Division of General Medicine, Geriatrics and Hospital Medicine sponsors both a traditional one-year geriatric medicine fellowship as well as a combined hospitalist/geriatric medicine fellow pathway whereby the physician spends half a year as a hospitalist attending physician and half a year as a geriatric fellow for two years. This innovative program, which has received national attention, incorporates inpatient focused geriatric training, an emphasis on scholarly activity, and opportunities for attaining leadership skills. (See Geriatric Medicine Fellowship Section on Divisional Main Page for more details).
Pilot Grants
The Department of Medicine offers pilot grants to junior and mid-career faculty who are interested in clinical, educational and translational research.
