Abstract
With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent rise in adult hospitalized patients, many internal medicine and pediatrics (Med-Peds) hospitalists volunteered or were required by their hospital employers to transition their practice to caring for hospitalized adult patients only. Some Med-Peds hospitalists had a disruption in their practice that may affect their board eligibility for the pediatric hospital medicine (PHM) subspecialty exam in 2024. In this editorial, we review the rise of Med-Peds hospitalist careers, the evolution of PHM becoming a subspecialty, and the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on some Med-Peds hospitalists in their quest to become board certified in PHM via the practice pathway.