Mistakes are a part of life. In fact, they are a large part of my life. Whether uncovering inborn errors of immunity, teaching about diagnostic errors, identifying systemic lapses in high-quality care or correcting spelling errors in manuscripts, my entire being is centered on studying and examining mistakes. To a certain degree, I feel like…
Liana Fraenkel, MD, MPH, likes to fix things, and the dynamic and challenging field of rheumatology always has room for improvement. That mindset has led her down some interesting paths as a researcher and healthcare provider, and as vice president of the Rheumatology Research Foundation. Dr. Fraenkel was a rheumatologist and researcher at the Yale…
As COVID-19 case counts fade from the headlines and people return to their pre-pandemic routines, rheumatologists and rheumatology professionals may be wondering what “the end” of COVID-19 is going to look like for them. Much of that answer lies in the status of the federal emergencies that have been declared in response to COVID-19. These…
In January, Cecilia Pilar Chung, MD, MPH, began her new appointment as director of the Division of Rheumatology at the University of Miami. Previously, Dr. Chung was an associate professor of medicine at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn., for more than 10 years. At Vanderbilt, Dr. Chung built a strong research portfolio, focusing on the comparative…
“What are you up to this weekend?” “Flying to Guam.” “What? Why?” “I promised an entire island I’d be their doctor.” In fall 2021, Jonathon Thorp, MD, phoned a friend. A passionate internist, he was bound and determined to bring a rheumatologist to Guam. Unlike most primary care providers (PCPs), he was willing to prescribe…
As ACR Open Rheumatology (ACROR) enters its fifth year, its founding editors in chief are looking back on the journal’s accomplishments and forward to ushering in a new era, beginning with a search for their successors. Patricia Katz, PhD, professor of medicine and health policy at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and Edward…
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…
I vividly recollect asking my physics professor for a letter of recommendation. I sat in the front row of his lectures and visited his office hours most weeks in the semester. He turned me down because he was “too busy.” I was devastated—and panicked about asking my next choice for letter writer. On the plus…
Avoiding real and apparent conflicts of interest is a fundamental principle of guideline development, but what should we do when every thought leader is conflicted? An example of this conundrum in rheumatology has been the ACR’s ongoing effort to establish guidelines for the management of lupus nephritis, which has been stymied by the fact that…
Women are substantially under-represented among the recipients of major awards in rheumatology, according to a 2022 study by Halling et al., which looked at the gender award gap in North America and Europe over the past two decades.1 This trend is also seen in other fields, with only one woman winning the Fields Medal in…