Physician Editor Philip Seo, MD, MHS, is associate professor of medicine in the Division of Rheumatology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He also serves as director of the Johns Hopkins Vasculitis Center and the Johns Hopkins Rheumatology Fellowship Training Program. He has worked at Johns Hopkins in a variety of roles, including as an intern, resident, hospitalist, assistant chief of service and rheumatology fellow, prior to joining the faculty. In addition to serving as the physician editor of The Rheumatologist, he is a member of the American College of Rheumatology's Annual Meeting Planning Committee and Committee on Training and Workforce, and is co-chair of the In-Training Examination Subcommittee.
One of my fellows could take better care of his patients if it weren’t for the attendings getting in his way. Or so he tells me. I can hear the howls of protest already. This statement isn’t fair—it is too broad, it doesn’t fairly depict the nuances of the situation or his point of view. First,…
Editor’s notes: A memorial service for Nadia is being planned for Jan. 16, 2019, from 4:30-6:00 p.m. at Johns Hopkins Bayview Asthma and Allergy Center, Richard A. Grossi Auditorium, 5301 Hopkins Bayview Circle, Baltimore. To honor her life and the impact she made on the Division of Rheumatology, Johns Hopkins is establishing the Dr. Nadia D….
2018 is coming to a close, and somehow, I have managed to make it through a year as the physician editor of The Rheumatologist without being sued or fired, so I thought this would be a good time to pause and reflect on lessons learned—and to give thanks. My first lesson: this is a lot of…
Black powder was initially developed in 9th century China, by Taoists searching for the philosopher’s stone, which fans of Harry Potter will remember is the talisman that grants eternal life. The Chinese name for black powder literally translates as fire medicine. The chemical composition of black powder was first recorded in China during the 11th…
“Men work harder than women.” My mother is a pediatrician, and I have two sisters—one is a dermatologist, and one is a real estate attorney. Therefore, I think understandably, this message took me by surprise. Of late, I have been particularly awed by my lawyer-sister, with whom I catch up when she is taking the…
Honestly, I’m not sure why I bothered to listen. I was in my kitchen, early on a Saturday morning, with the radio keeping me company. It started with the news and the usual litany of tragedies, both major and minor, that comprise such programs. The news gradually faded into other programming, which I can no…
You can purchase a dog clicker for about $3 on Amazon. If you don’t own a dog, this is not a useful piece of information. I don’t own a dog, and the first time I heard the phrase dog clicker, I thought—I think understandably—that it was some sort of remote control. If you don’t own…
Picture this: It’s 3 o’clock in the morning. You can’t sleep. You settle in front of the television to watch a rerun of Dirty Dancing. And then it hits you: Ask your doctor. Even as your eyelids sag, some part of your primitive forebrain snaps to attention. Medical training has turned us all into multitaskers,…
“Wait. I can explain.” One could imagine this phrase coming up under many conditions in daily life. When I first became a physician, however, I would never have expected to use this phrase in my clinic. In medical school, I was taught the importance of dialogue in establishing a relationship with a patient. Statistics indicate…
It started with an inhaler. Like many of you, I am a rheumatologist. And like you, I see some patients more often their own primary care provider. This is so often the case that I have gradually devolved into their backup, all-purpose doctor. I am the doc they notify when they get hospitalized for pneumonia…