Hospitalists are physicians, many of them internists, who oversee the care of hospitalized patients. Hospitalist management of inpatient care means fewer visits to the hospital by the patient’s office-based, primary care physician. Have patients lost something critical to their well-being in this new model of care, or is that loss offset by gains in safety and shortened hospital stay? This month’s contributors also explore hospitalists’ areas of expertise and how they can demonstrate—to the profession and the public—their competence in caring for the very sick.