Because rheumatology is a complex cognitive specialty, rheumatologists and rheumatology professionals often see patients repeatedly for acute and chronic problems. Although that may lead to close relationships with patients, it may also make the specialty more prone to burnout, says Peter Y. Hahn, MD, MBA, CEO of University of Michigan Health-West, Wyoming, Mich. “It can…
The new standing committee, devoted to addressing long-term workforce solutions in rheumatology, will be chaired by Daniel F. Battafarano, DO, MACP, MACR. Dr. Battafarano brings more than 35 years of leadership and experience in graduate medical education in rheumatology and internal medicine to the position.
With a shortage of rheumatologists looming, the committee is working to avert a void in patient care.
Are you happy? This may be a question born of the pandemic. Pre-pandemic, I used to quote William Osler, MD, who simultaneously founded the Department of Medicine at the Johns Hopkins Hospital and created the modern system of medical education. He opined: The practice of medicine will be very much as you make it—to one,…
“Fifty percent of kids with rheumatic disease are taken care of by adult providers,” says Jay J. Mehta, MD, MS, attending physician and fellowship program director, Department of Rheumatology, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and a co-author of the ACR’s recent pediatric workforce shortage study.1,2 “But adult rheumatologists may not have specific training in the rheumatic…
The mission of the Rheumatology Research Foundation, a division of the ACR, is to advance research and training to improve the health of patients living with rheumatic disease. It supports career advancement, mentorship, professional development and education of professionals working in the disciplines essential to these patients.1 “The Foundation understands that the support of Association…
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the ACR’s Committee on Training and Workforce (COTW) has been interested in better understanding how fellowship recruitment is affected by virtual recruitment from the perspectives of both program directors and trainees. This past year, the COTW conducted a survey study to gain the perspective of program directors.1 The Rheumatology…
I wouldn’t normally look to professional basketball as a model for healthcare, but sometimes answers come from unexpected places. The observation that elite athletes are not like you and me—medically speaking—is not new. In the second century AD, the pontifex maximus in Pergamum recognized this fact and appointed Claudius Galen physician to the gladiators, making…
The Washington Rheumatology Alliance is focused on creative ways to increase the rheumatology workforce to meet the demand for care, such as instituting clinical rotations in rheumatology for nurse practitioner programs and advocating for pediatric rheumatologist loan forgiveness.
The growing rheumatologist workforce shortage has loomed over the profession, threatening to undercut the delivery of care to the increasing number of patients with rheumatic conditions. “The workforce shortage is an existential threat to the field of rheumatology and to the care we deliver to our patients,” says ACR President Kenneth Saag, MD, who lauded…