Compete
Engagement with the scouting reports, podcast series and social media-based discussions all eventually culminate in the RheumMadness tournament itself. In the tournament, participants enter their own brackets predicting the winners of each “round” and, ultimately, the tournament winner. We hoped for at least 50 participants in 2021, and were surprised to receive 105 bracket submissions from attending physicians, advanced practice providers, fellows, residents, patients and medical students from all over the world. This speaks to the potential for rapid growth in coming years.
A panel of judges decides the winner of each tournament match-up based on which concept they consider to have the greatest current and/or future implications for patients, providers and researchers. The 2021 RheumMadness Blue Ribbon Panel included six attending physicians and one fellow, all with diverse areas of expertise and practice settings (see Table 1).
The criteria for choosing winners are intentionally vague, because there are no right answers in RheumMadness; we deliberately aim to draw out different perspectives and inspire debate among participants. Win or lose, participants have a chance to actively engage with important rheumatology concepts and foster social connections in the process, so in reality everyone wins in RheumMadness.
Learn
RheumMadness is filled with high-yield educational content and built on a foundation of social constructivist learning principles to ensure learning occurs in a meaningful context. We have already heard from many participants that RheumMadness helped them explore new topics they previously missed, deepen their understanding of topics they already knew something about, and hear different perspectives in a way that expanded their appreciation for the topics in the tournament.
As educators, we are thrilled, but not satisfied, with this feedback, and we are in the process of analyzing data on participants’ learning experience so we can understand the utility of each element of RheumMadness and make improvements for future years.
Looking Back & Looking Forward
Looking back on the first year of RheumMadness, we are amazed and inspired by the rheumatology community who so willingly engaged in this activity. RheumMadness was planned as a pilot in five training programs. However, with the COVID-19 pandemic, it made sense to accelerate the RheumMadness timeline and create a space for virtual connection, learning and professional fun in the midst of this dark and isolating time.
We have met many wonderful colleagues along the way, and we are thankful to all who submitted a bracket, tweeted about #RheumMadness, listened to the podcasts, made a scouting report, filled out a survey or even just cheered us on.
We would also like to highlight our deepest gratitude to the Rheumatology Research Foundation for the Clinician Scholar Educator Award that funds this work, as well as the creators of NephMadness for sharing their unique educational activity with our specialty. We not only received permission from NephMadness leadership to make RheumMadness; we received support, mentorship and encouragement.
What’s next for RheumMadness? We will do this again and again, year after year, until we have all lost our minds with love for rheumatology. We are already working on the 2022 tournament, and we have big plans to expand the bracket, include pediatric rheumatology topics, transition teams from single studies to more complex concepts and incorporate the patient perspective. Everyone is invited to subscribe to the podcast, bookmark the webpage and keep an eye out for #RheumMadness on Twitter, because you won’t want to miss the opportunity to connect, collaborate, compete and learn together in next year’s tournament.
