Although two decades have ticked by, rheumatologist Michael Lockshin, MD, MACR, still remembers the enlightening nature of many conversations he had with his curious and persistent patient Barbara Volcker, the wife of former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker. “The conversations we had at that time led to the mission of the Barbara Volcker Center,”…
Communication is invaluable when it comes to spreading the word about many different aspects of care for rheumatic diseases, whether it’s evidence-based patient education support for rheumatologists, information on access to medication options for patients or helping educate the public about the practice of rheumatology. That’s according to Kelly Weselman, MD, FACR, a rheumatologist with…
Colin Edgerton, MD, FACP, RhMSUS, learned many things during his tenure as a rheumatologist and U.S. Army lieutenant colonel, including how to lead large, facility-based medical operations. Combining this knowledge with his current role as a partner in Articularis Healthcare, the largest single-specialty rheumatology private practice in the U.S., Dr. Edgerton has a unique perspective…
When Abby Abelson, MD, FACR, chair of the Department of Rheumatology and Immunologic Disease at Cleveland Clinic, was in medical school, she enjoyed nearly every one of her rotations. But it was the rheumatology patients who inspired her the most. “I saw they had challenges in their lives that they were able to triumph over,”…
It’s one thing for a developing country to lack physicians due to a scarcity of training. It’s quite another for such a vacuum to exist because the physicians were executed. In Cambodia in the 1970s, genocide perpetrated by the Khmer Rouge spared few of the educated class. If they were spared, chances were they lost…
Sandra Mintz, MSN, RN, knew in high school that she wanted to be a nurse, and upon graduation, she did just that, the youngest in her class to graduate from Pasadena City College with an Associate of Science in nursing. Not long after embarking on her career, she received a life-altering medical diagnosis of her…
Roughly 15 years ago, Steven K. Magid, MD, rheumatologist and chief medical information officer at the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) in N.Y., attended a social event for hospital employees. While chatting with other physicians, nurses, and lab techs, he watched one of his colleagues slaughter her opponents at Ping-Pong. “She was very skilled,” recalls Dr. Magid,…
A stroll through downtown Stockholm presents a quintessential picture of an active community, with most people biking or walking as their preferred mode of travel. Yet children in Sweden who live with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA)—currently estimated at around 64 of every 100,000—don’t always engage in this active lifestyle.1 Maura Daly Iversen, PT, DPT, SD,…
In 2005, not long after he became a private practice rheumatologist on Long Island, N.Y., Howard Blumstein, MD, dipped his toe into the advocacy pool at the encouragement of his partner, Max Hamburger, MD. “I thought it would be interesting to learn more about the issues that affect our patients and our practices, and I…
Our esteemed colleague, H. Ralph Schumacher Jr., MD, professor emeritus and former acting chief of rheumatology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and section chief of rheumatology at the VA Medical Center in Philadelphia, died at his home on July 30 from complications of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Dr. Schumacher was a true giant…