The ARHP collaborates annually with EULAR’s Standing Committee on Health Professionals in Rheumatology to develop sessions that are co-presented at the EULAR Annual Congress and the ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting. Now in its 10th year, the 2016 session will focus on health professionals’ approach to pain management of inflammatory arthritis and osteoarthritis. The ARHP is currently in discussions with the BHPR and the Canadian Arthritis Health Professions Association to develop joint sessions at their respective meetings beginning in 2017. Potential session topics include telehealth/mobile health, cultural competencies and inter-professional teams.
International collaborations provide valuable opportunities for officers and members of each organization to share common research and practice interests that transcend the differences in our healthcare delivery systems. We continue to learn much from each other during discussions at our respective annual meetings.
Enriching the International Workforce
One of the many benefits of collaboration is the opportunity to learn from one another. For more than 10 years, the ACR/EULAR Exchange has funded junior investigators to travel to another (foreign) institution. The purpose of this program is to promote the international exchange of clinical and research skills, expertise and knowledge within rheumatology. A great benefit of this program is that many leaders from both the ACR and EULAR have participated, including our current secretary, David Daikh, MD, PhD. The ACR is excited to announce that, beginning in 2016, it is expanding the exchange opportunity by partnering with PANLAR and the Indian Rheumatology Association (IRA). Advanced-year fellows or junior faculty from both Latin America and India will have an opportunity to train for a month at a U.S. rheumatology division. In 2017, it is anticipated that U.S. advanced fellows or junior faculty will have a similar opportunity to train in India and Latin America.
For more than 10 years, the ACR-EULAR Exchange has funded junior investigators to travel to another (foreign) institution. The purpose of this program is to promote the international exchange of clinical & research skills, expertise & knowledge within rheumatology.
Defining Quality
The ACR and EULAR have teamed up to develop classification criteria on a variety of diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis (RA), polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR), gout and macrophage activating syndrome. When the first joint classification criteria for RA were released in 2008, an editorial by leaders of the ACR and EULAR noted the effects of globalization and the importance of collaboration. Although much of the core business of the organizations can be viewed as competitive, such as the meetings, journals and educational products, at the heart of both organizations, the core mission is to forward the clinical, educational and research endeavors of rheumatologists all over the world. Collaboration, if done well, can only improve this core mission.2 The collaboration has continued annually since then, and most recently, the ACR and EULAR team released new PMR guidelines.
Simple Tasks
When the ACR launched its Simple Tasks public relations (PR) campaign, the campaign was domestic. However, its great U.S. success has spread globally, and the ACR was excited to share the PR campaign with our international colleagues; both BSR and APLAR currently hold licensing agreements to use the Simple Tasks campaign. Simple Tasks will expand even further as we engage in a new partnership with EULAR for World Arthritis Day on Oct. 12. It’s exciting that the ACR PR campaign has branched outside of the U.S. to raise awareness and address the impact of rheumatic diseases and the invaluable work of rheumatologists and rheumatology health professionals around the world.
