Exclusive: ACR Convergence 2024| Focus Rheums

An official publication of the ACR and the ARP serving rheumatologists and rheumatology professionals

Workforce

How to Leverage Patient Satisfaction

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Medicare and other insurers are using patient satisfaction to determine provider payment. But according to one expert, rheumatologists who look at their practice with a critical eye, listen and ask their patients the right questions may improve their patient relationships and their practice…

How Rheumatologists Can Plan for Extended Work Absences

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Sometimes, life calls for you to be out of the office for a length of time. Whether the absence is planned or not, it’s important to consider the best actions to take given the circumstances to ensure patients are cared for during your absence. Alexa Meara, MD, clinical instructor and rheumatologist, The Ohio State University…

workforce

Addressing the Rheumatology Workforce Shortage

Timothy Harrington, MD, Erin Arnold, MD, William Arnold, MD, David Sikes, MD, Gary Crump, MD, James Bower, MPA, & Drew Johnson, MS, MBA  |  

In 2008, the American College of Rheumatology Workforce Study Advisory Group published a comprehensive rheumatology workforce analysis.1 It concluded: Based on assessment of supply and demand under current scenarios, the demand for rheumatologists is expected to exceed supply in the coming decades. Strategies for the profession to adapt to this changing health care landscape include…

Why Physicians Say Sick Days Aren’t Worth the Trouble

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A recent JAMA Pediatrics article found that 83% of clinicians admitted to coming to work while sick and 95% admitted to knowing that it could be dangerous for their patients.1 “The decision to work sick is shaped by systems-level and sociocultural factors,” the study authors wrote. In speaking with rheumatologists on the matter, I found…

Textile Workers at Higher Risk for Rheumatoid Arthritis

Lisa Rapaport  |  

(Reuters Health)—Breathing textile dust on the job is linked to an almost tripled risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a Malaysian study suggests. While smoking is a known risk factor for RA, the findings add to evidence suggesting that environmental factors could trigger RA in some people, the researchers note in their report in Annals…

Researchers Describe Controversial Study of Surgeon Training

Andrew M. Seaman  |  

(Reuters Health)—Whether surgical trainees should be able to work long shifts is a matter of fierce debate, and the methods of a controversial study aimed at answering that question were outlined in a top surgical journal. The results won’t be available until February. In the meantime, critics of the study say it exposed residents and…

Educating Medical Students on Rheumatology Early May Help Recruitment

Sidney R. Block, MD  |  

As usual, your items in The Rheumatologist remain timely. In the case of attracting medical students into rheumatology, your piece is also timeless. For many years now, I have recommended to various officers of the ACR that we obtain a list of students and their home addresses when they are admitted to medical school. At…

Why Rheumatology May Be an Attractive Specialty for Medical Students

Alex Luta  |  

I want to thank you for writing the article, “Attracting More Medical Students to Rheumatology” for The Rheumatologist (online, October 2015). I am a senior at Georgetown University now, and I have recently applied to medical school. I have considered pursuing a career in rheumatology, and your article has inspired me to stay on that…