I have been tongue-tied, of late. When I was a medical student, I was told not to turn the physical examination into an aerobic workout. This sage piece of advice was imparted by my physical examination preceptor, who had watched me perform a complete examination on a hapless volunteer. At the time, I thought of…
On March 29, Brandon Elliot walked up to a 65-year-old Filipino American woman near Times Square and kicked her in the chest. Footage from the security camera of a nearby luxury apartment building recorded the attack: Elliot shoved her to the ground, and then repeatedly kicked and stomped on her, while shouting, “You don’t belong…
Independence Day. I can’t wait. Generally, it’s not a holiday that carries a lot of meaning for me. Having grown up in New York and Boston, the smaller firework displays that take place in Baltimore fail to impress. Also, as a program director, the holiday falls in the middle of the new fellows’ first week…
I’m a believer in blue light. I’ve spent years lecturing my insomniac patients, buzzed on prednisone, on the importance of good sleep hygiene. In my own home, I try to practice what I preach. When I’m ready for bed, I leave my laptop and phone on my nightstand, and concentrate on relaxing. If I can’t…
Each state has different requirements for residents to obtain a coronavirus vaccination, with some allowing preregistration and others coordinating vaccinations via employers or the local health department. Below, we list some online resources created to help people determine whether they qualify for coronavirus vaccination and where they should go to schedule an appointment, broken down…
Just YouTube it. As a rheumatologist who sees many patients with granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA), I have spent a significant portion of my life talking to people about neti pots. Originally, the neti pot was part of the Ayurvedic tradition. Neti pots were used to flush the sinuses with water, milk and ghee, or to…
The editors of The Rheumatologist would like to thank all of the rheumatologists, rheumatology professionals and professional writers who took the time and effort in an unprecedented pandemic year to ensure we could continue to bring you the important clinical guidelines, case reports, current research, COVID-19 coverage and so much more. This publication would not…
Ethan Craig was not pleased. As a reader of this column, you know that Dr. Craig is an assistant professor of clinical medicine in the Division of Rheumatology at the University of Pennsylvania and an associate editor of The Rheumatologist. On this particular morning, however, he was the father of a 5-year-old who woke up…
I never wake up late. This wasn’t always the case. All the way through residency, I was completely dependent on alarm clocks to keep from oversleeping. So much so that when my alarm clock broke halfway through my internship, I replaced it the next day. I remember driving in the middle of the night to…
“It’s like winning Powerball.” For months, there has been a steady trickle of questions from my patients, asking for my opinion about the new vaccines being developed to prevent COVID-19. More to the point, they want to know if they should be vaccinated. After some fits and starts, I finally struck upon a pat answer…