Each year, the Pediatric Hospital Medicine community recognizes individuals and teams whose work advances the care of hospitalized children. Review the award categories below to find the best fit for a nomination. Applications will open in September 2026. The deadline to apply to receive a 2027 award is May 14, 2027.
Excellence in Clinical Care
This award honors a pediatric hospitalist who has demonstrated exceptional clinical care or clinical leadership during the past year. Eligible contributions may include developing or strengthening clinical services or teams, improving the value or growth of services, modeling outstanding professionalism, or providing leadership at the local, regional, or national level. Third-party nominations are encouraged, and self-nominations are also accepted.
Evaluation criteria may include:
- Demonstration of contributions to clinical care.
- Description of newly developed clinical services and how they improved the care of hospitalized children.
- Demonstration of innovative methods or polices that have improved clinical care, practice growth or care value.
- Evidence of exemplary professionalism in the care of hospitalized children.
- Demonstration of involvement in advocacy initiatives that have the potential to impact hospitalized children.
Excellence in Quality and Patient Safety
This award recognizes a pediatric hospitalist who has made exceptional contributions to quality improvement and patient safety during the past year. Nominees should demonstrate successful initiatives with broad dissemination, sustainability, and meaningful impact on the care of hospitalized children. Third-party nominations are encouraged, and self-nominations are also accepted.
Evaluation criteria include:
- The impact of the nominee’s work on providing meaningful systemic change for hospitalized children.
- The processes put in place to evaluate and improve the problem.
- A description of how the nominee engaged the community and/or stakeholder
- The outcome(s) achieved.
- Sustainability and transferability of the nominee’s work to other institutions.
Excellence in Research
This award honors an investigator who has made exceptional contributions to Pediatric Hospital Medicine research during the past year. Nominees should show the potential to improve care for a large number of hospitalized children and/or demonstrate especially creative research ideas. Special consideration will be given to nominees who show outstanding future promise in Pediatric Hospital Medicine research. Third-party nominations are encouraged, and self-nominations are also accepted.
Evaluation criteria include:
- The impact of the nominee’s research on the care of hospitalized children, e.g. scope of problem, number of children impacted, cost of therapy.
- The methodology used to evaluate the nominee’s research questions.
- Whether the nominee’s work is novel and innovative and has potential to change clinical practice.
- The scope of the nominee’s work and potential to scale up projects to multiple institutions
- Transferability of the findings to other scenarios and settings, and long-term impact.
Excellence in Medical Education
This award recognizes an individual who has made outstanding contributions to education in Pediatric Hospital Medicine during the past year. Examples include curriculum development, innovative teaching approaches, or exceptional teaching that inspires learners. Priority will be given to nominees who demonstrate objective evidence of teaching effectiveness. Creativity and novel ideas are also viewed favorably. Third-party nominations are encouraged, and self-nominations are also accepted.
Evaluation criteria include:
- Whether the nominee’s work identified an educational need identified and the learners impacted.
- The degree of innovation in the methods used to engage, inspire, and enhance learning.
- The breadth of learner involvement
- The measurability of the nominee’s work
- Sustainability and transferability of the nominee’s work to other institutions.
Excellence in Advocacy
This award honors an individual who has made outstanding advocacy contributions related to Pediatric Hospital Medicine during the past year. Advocacy may occur at the local, regional, or national level. Nominees who can demonstrate effective advocacy or show how their work improved care for hospitalized children will receive strong consideration. Third-party nominations are encouraged, and self-nominations are also accepted.
Evaluation criteria include:
- The impact of the problem identified and the impact it has on the care of hospitalized children.
- The innovative method used to advocate for children.
- The level of community engagement.
- The outcome(s) achieved.
- Sustainability and transferability of the process to other institutions or regions.
Excellence in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
This award recognizes a pediatric hospitalist who demonstrates leadership in promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in Pediatric Hospital Medicine at the local, regional, or national level. Nominees may contribute through clinical work that addresses healthcare disparities among hospitalized children, research focused on health equity or workforce equity, education on DEI topics, or mentorship of faculty and learners from groups underrepresented in medicine. Third-party nominations are encouraged, and self-nominations are also accepted.
Evaluation criteria include:
- The degree of innovation in the methods used to advance DEI initiatives.
- The scope of contributions to DEI
- The measurability of DEI efforts
- The potential long-term impact of the nominee’s contributions.
Excellence in Community Practice
This award recognizes a pediatric hospitalist practicing in a regional or community hospital setting who has made an exceptional local or regional impact. Eligible work may include clinical care, patient safety and quality improvement, research, education, advocacy, or DEI. Third-party nominations are encouraged, and self-nominations are also accepted.
Evaluation criteria include:
- The overall impact on the care of hospitalized children in the local or regional community.
- The innovative method used to address a need or improve care.
- The outcome(s) achieved.
- Sustainability and transferability to other institutions (if applicable).
Collaborative Impact Award
This award recognizes a group that has worked collaboratively on a project relevant to Pediatric Hospital Medicine. Projects may focus on clinical care, patient safety and quality improvement, research, education, advocacy, or DEI. Groups with the potential to significantly affect children’s health or the practice of Pediatric Hospital Medicine are encouraged to apply. Multidisciplinary collaboration is encouraged, and both single-institution and multi-institution projects will be considered. Third-party nominations are encouraged, and self-nominations are also accepted.
Evaluation criteria include:
- Overall impact of the collaborative project on the care of hospitalized children.
- Degree of collaboration including assessment of the multidisciplinary aspect of the project.
- The outcome(s) achieved.
- Sustainability and transferability of the findings to other institutions.
