Dr. Arredondo noted that workforce aging in Latin American may not be as big a problem as in some other parts of the world. On the other hand, Dr. Arredondo said, “There is a leak of trained rheumatologists that has affected the workforce. In Latin America, the most important example is Venezuela, which has had a large exodus of rheumatologists and other healthcare workers.”
Themes
Although not all factors affecting rheumatology workforce could be addressed in the hour-long session, a number of themes stood out as of particular concern, including:
- Lack of integration in medical education: Rheumatology is not well integrated into undergraduate medical curricula.
- Financial barriers: Costs of training are high and reimbursement rates are low for rheumatologic care.
- Geographic and socioeconomic barriers: Significant disparities in access to rheumatologic care exist across different regions.
- Demographic change: The retirement of a considerable proportion of rheumatologists currently working and the high proportion of women in rheumatology requires new concepts to improve the compatibility of family and career and address the growth of part-time work.
Strategies to Address Shortage
- Improve medical education: Rheumatology needs to be better integrated into medical school curricula and more training opportunities need to be provided.
- Leverage technology: AI and telemedicine can be used to reach underserved populations and improve efficiency.
- Advocate for policy change: Rheumatology organizations and individual clinicians need to engage with governments and international organizations to prioritize rheumatologic diseases.
- Support young rheumatologists: Networks and mentorship programs to support early career rheumatologists need to be created.
- Tap the non-rheumatology workforce: Primary care providers and advanced practice providers need to be trained to identify rheumatologic conditions and manage these, if necessary (in more complex diseases or patient cases) in collaboration with rheumatologists.
Challenges & Solutions
- Attrition: The reasons why rheumatologists leave the field, such as burnout and financial concerns, need to be addressed.
- AI and technology: The potential of AI to assist in diagnosis and patient management and the need for reliable internet access must be addressed.
- Government and policy support: The importance of advocacy to ensure rheumatologic diseases are recognized and prioritized by health agencies cannot be overstated.
In Sum
Many workforce problems are essentially the same from region to region, although some are unique to certain areas. A number of strategies were mentioned that can be helpful to support young people who are interested in going into rheumatology to be more effective and have greater career opportunities.
