With a younger brother with cerebral palsy and a mother who owned a nursing home, Jay Shires, had more than his share of exposure to doctors from an early age. Seeing the interaction between doctors and his brother planted the idea of becoming a doctor in him. He also found that family practice was where his heart was and knew that was what he would pursue in medical school. It was during his residency training that he discovered that being a hospitalist gave him the challenge he longed for with the flexibility in scheduling that fit his lifestyle.
Shires grew up in Henderson and graduated from Chester County High School in 2000. He majored in biochemistry at UT-Knoxville then went to UT-Memphis for medical school, which he completed in 2008. “Throughout high school I had been around family practice doctors and even did a summer internship in college at the UT Family Medicine Program in Jackson. So I had a pretty good idea from day one that I wanted to do family practice,” said Shires. “Although most medical students bounce around with what specialty they will pursue, I really always knew I wanted family medicine for the variety it provided in terms of the patients you see.”
When it came for his family medicine residency training, Shires returned to Jackson and the UT Family Medicine Program. He completed his training in 2011. “As a part of the residency program you work with the hospitalist group,” said Shires. “It really appealed to me and I found myself gravitating toward it. I liked the challenge of sicker patients as well as the flexibility that a hospitalist’s schedule allowed for travel as well as time at home. When I finished my residency I joined the Jackson-Madison County General Hospital’s Hospitalist Group, which was the group we worked with as residents.”
Over the past four years, Shires has steadily increased his administrative duties with the group, eventually taking over as medical director. “Dr. Monico Banez had been medical director for the past ten years and he was looking to transition out of that position,” said Shires. “When I joined the group I started helping him as his assistant. It was something I wanted to do and others in the group encouraged me in that endeavor. I liked the administrative side as well as the medical so when the opportunity to be medical director came available it was easy to transition into the position.”
As medical director, Shires main role is to serve as the liaison between the hospital administration and the medical group. “It is really my job to try to convey to the group what administration wants from us and how our role can enrich patients’ lives while they are in the hospital. I let the administrative staff know what things we need to do the best job we can for patients,” said Shires. “My administrative duties account for about 20-25 percent of what I do. While I have an office in the hospital and sometimes get pulled in for administrative things, a lot of it can be done on my off weeks or from home.”
As across the country, the hospitalist program at Jackson General has grown dramatically since Shires came on board. “We started with 15 when I joined in 2011. Today we have 20, four of which were hired in the past year and are in the process of being phased into the group,” said Shires. “We are planning to hire more and I would expect that over the next five years our number grows to 30. Having the family medicine program on campus helps us with a pool from which to draw but we also recruit from other programs. We love to have folks with ties to the area, because they are usually more likely to stay long term.”
Shires says the growth in the number of hospitalists utilized at the hospital has been driven by not just total patient volume in the hospital but also the acceptance of hospitalists in general by other physicians. The closing of several rural hospitals across West Tennessee is also driving the need for hospitalists at Jackson General. “We are admitting more patients with chronic issues. There are very few patients with chronic issues that do not have a hospitalist on their team. With all the doctors have to manage on the clinic side, it is getting harder for them to run in and out of the hospital to check on patients,” he said. “We are there 24/7 to manage the patient’s care issues. We even have OB hospitalists and pediatric hospitalists who focus just on those patients and can be invaluable to physicians in small practices who may have to cover multiple facilities.”
The flexibility in scheduling being a hospitalist provides is about to come in handy for Shires, because he and his wife are about to welcome a baby in August. “Our group is great about trading off with one another when needed, so I am planning on being home a little bit after the baby is born,” said Shires.
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