The ACR/ARHP Honors ARHP Members for Contributions to Rheumatology

Aside from detective work, one of her favorite parts of working with arthritis patients is that the specialty encourages long-term relationships. “It provides an opportunity to work with patients for a long period of time,” Dr. Ehrlich-Jones says. “I enjoy that a lot, working with people and helping them through that situation over many years, through the ups and downs.”

Q: What does it signify to you to be honored by your colleagues and peers?

A: It’s very heartwarming to think I’m being recognized for everything that I’ve done over the past 27 years. I didn’t do what I did for the past 27 years for that recognition, but it is very rewarding to me to be noted.

Q: What does ARHP mean for people? What does it provide?

A: We’re a multidisciplinary group. We meet a lot of other people; we network with a lot of other people. We develop collaborations and projects together. There’s a lot of education that the organization provides, like the Annual Meeting. We also do things online. We give the health professional the opportunity for growth in education, but also growth in learning leadership roles. For me, I feel like it was a big learning experience moving up the ranks through the leadership of this organization.

Q: You’ve worked on studies about behavioral changes and patients becoming more physically active. How important is that, both for patients and for your colleagues, to recommend?

A: It is really difficult for patients. You’re having pain and the healthcare professional tells you, ‘Go out and be active.’ But it is so important. We try to be good advocates and do things ourselves. We test out our equipment, our pedometers. We’ve been wearing Fitbits lately, testing out smartphone applications. We really find it’s important for us as healthcare professionals to be good role models for our patients.

ARHP Ann Kunkel Advocacy Award

Nancy Baker, ScD, MPH, OTR/L

Associate professor, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh

Background: 2014 worked out nicely for Dr. Baker. In September, she packed up her day job and headed to Atlanta for a one-year sabbatical at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Then, at the Annual Meeting two months later, she earned a national award for advocacy.

“This is a very good year,” she says, “and it’s a great opportunity for me to improve my skills, and hopefully that will improve my ability to advocate for people with arthritis.”