Danica Smith, DO

Dr. Smith is a staff hospitalist in the Section of Hospital Medicine. She earned her medical degree from Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine before completing her internal medicine residency at Kent Hospital. After serving as chief resident, she joined the Kent Hospital and Brown University faculties where she taught rheumatology in addition to being the Continuing Medical Education Director. She joined the Pitt faculty in 2018.

As a clinician-educator, one of Dr. Smith's goals is to leave an impact on trainees. This is not only through fostering learning through case-based discussions during teaching sessions, but providing trainees with necessary tools to think critically about patients and subsequently apply to future ones. Additionally, she wants them to grow professionally as physicians to provide autonomous, safe, and equitable care, empowering them to see beyond the disease process and identify what makes a patient unique.

There are many facets to her career as an academic hospitalist, and she strives to instill within her interactions and education of various levels of learners, the need to think critically about patients through clinical reasoning, discussing the hidden curriculum, and exploring high value care as well as outside factors that can contribute and impact a patient being hospitalized. Having years of experience within the hospital setting has allowed her to better understand the complicated system that our patients and trainees navigate, thus enabling her to share those tools with learners to foster their success.

Dr. Smith has research interest in cost-consciousness healthcare, including topics outlined in the Choosing Wisely Campaign and Things We Do for No Reason series. She has also presented on chest pain admissions based on HEART scores.