The Rheumatologist
COVID-19 NewsACR Convergence
  • Connect with us:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Feed
  • Home
  • Conditions
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis
    • SLE (Lupus)
    • Crystal Arthritis
      • Gout Resource Center
    • Spondyloarthritis
    • Osteoarthritis
    • Soft Tissue Pain
    • Scleroderma
    • Vasculitis
    • Systemic Inflammatory Syndromes
    • Guidelines
  • Resource Centers
    • Axial Spondyloarthritis Resource Center
    • Gout Resource Center
    • Psoriatic Arthritis Resource Center
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis Resource Center
    • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Resource Center
  • Drug Updates
    • Biologics & Biosimilars
    • DMARDs & Immunosuppressives
    • Topical Drugs
    • Analgesics
    • Safety
    • Pharma Co. News
  • Professional Topics
    • Ethics
    • Legal
    • Legislation & Advocacy
    • Career Development
      • Certification
      • Education & Training
    • Awards
    • Profiles
    • President’s Perspective
    • Rheuminations
    • Interprofessional Perspective
  • Practice Management
    • Billing/Coding
    • Quality Assurance/Improvement
    • Workforce
    • Facility
    • Patient Perspective
    • Electronic Health Records
    • Apps
    • Information Technology
    • From the College
    • Multimedia
      • Audio
      • Video
  • Resources
    • Issue Archives
    • ACR Convergence
      • Gout Resource Center
      • Axial Spondyloarthritis Resource Center
      • Psoriatic Arthritis
      • Abstracts
      • Meeting Reports
      • ACR Convergence Home
    • American College of Rheumatology
    • ACR ExamRheum
    • Research Reviews
    • ACR Journals
      • Arthritis & Rheumatology
      • Arthritis Care & Research
      • ACR Open Rheumatology
    • Rheumatology Image Library
    • Treatment Guidelines
    • Rheumatology Research Foundation
    • Events
  • About Us
    • Mission/Vision
    • Meet the Authors
    • Meet the Editors
    • Contribute to The Rheumatologist
    • Subscription
    • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Search
You are here: Home / Articles / 3 Ways to Improve How You Work with Doctors from Other Specialties

3 Ways to Improve How You Work with Doctors from Other Specialties

May 17, 2018 • By James T. Rosenbaum, MD

  • Tweet
  • Email
Print-Friendly Version / Save PDF

Many trainees tell me they’re attracted to rheumatology because it demands becoming a complete physician. We need knowledge of the brain, eye, lung, kidney, liver, skin, bones and vascular system to be effective rheumatologists. And because our diseases are frequently multisystem diseases, rheumatologists must be the quintessential collaborators.

You Might Also Like
  • 5 Ways to Improve Your Collaboration with Orthopedic Surgeons
  • U.S. Doctors in Training to Work Longer Hours Under New Guidelines
  • Why & How Doctors Should Foster Shared Decision Making with Patients
Explore This Issue
May 2018

For more than 30 years, I’ve directed a clinic for patients with ocular inflammation. Although I’m trained as a rheumatologist and have no formal training in ophthalmology, I’ve relied heavily on ophthalmologic colleagues to forge a collaboration that seems to work for patient care.

ad goes here:advert-1
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

We live in an era of dysfunctional compromise. Look at Congress, which struggles to pass a budget and in which members of one party rarely side with their peers from the opposite party.

Unfortunately, sometimes it seems we as physicians don’t do much better than our politicians. Some of us feel powerless in a system that obstructs achieving our ideals. The electronic health record, prior authorization and the challenge to provide biologics to those who lack insurance remain among the obstacles that vie for our time and make it nearly impossible to find a window within the day to discuss patient welfare with another provider. Finding common ground with a doctor from another specialty isn’t always easy. Barriers include defining whose advice is the ultimate guide for patient choice; how we are compensated for the additional time involved; and the difficulty in avoiding making the patient feel like a ping-pong ball batted between two personalities strong enough to survive medical school and postdoctoral training.

ad goes here:advert-2
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

I have three suggestions that may improve the way we communicate, compromise, complement and collaborate with doctors from other specialties. I hope they are practical. I should probably try to avoid giving advice about practice because I’ve never been in private practice. But you’re now reading the words of someone who has not let the lack of ophthalmology training deter him from offering advice about the eye.

3 Suggestions

Banana Oil / shutterstock.com

Banana Oil / shutterstock.com

First, be a good listener. Allow your colleagues to state their perspectives. Then reinforce that you’ve listened by paraphrasing what you heard. After those first two steps, you’re entitled to state your own opinion. And then you work to find a mutually satisfactory course.

I’ve formulated this approach by modifying advice I read in a paper called, “Addressing Physicians’ Impaired Communication Skills” by Barry Egener.1 I’m not aware of any medical school that teaches a class in collaboration, but my assumption is every business school offers some lectures on how to negotiate and compromise.

ad goes here:advert-3
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

Pages: 1 2 3 | Single Page

Filed Under: Patient Perspective, Practice Management Tagged With: collaboration, communication, interdisciplinaryIssue: May 2018

You Might Also Like:
  • 5 Ways to Improve Your Collaboration with Orthopedic Surgeons
  • U.S. Doctors in Training to Work Longer Hours Under New Guidelines
  • Why & How Doctors Should Foster Shared Decision Making with Patients
  • 2 Medical Schools Work to Improve Rheumatology Learning

American College of Rheumatology

Visit the official website for the American College of Rheumatology.

Visit the ACR »

Meeting Abstracts

Browse and search abstracts from the ACR Convergence and ACR/ARP Annual Meetings going back to 2012.

Visit the Abstracts site »

ACR Convergence

Don’t miss rheumatology’s premier scientific meeting for anyone involved in research or the delivery of rheumatologic care or services.

Visit the ACR Convergence site »

The Rheumatologist newsmagazine reports on issues and trends in the management and treatment of rheumatic diseases. The Rheumatologist reaches 11,500 rheumatologists, internists, orthopedic surgeons, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, and other healthcare professionals who practice, research, or teach in the field of rheumatology.

About Us / Contact Us / Advertise / Privacy Policy / Terms of Use / Cookie Preferences

  • Connect with us:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Feed

Copyright © 2006–2023 American College of Rheumatology. All rights reserved.

ISSN 1931-3268 (print)
ISSN 1931-3209 (online)