Doctoring Differently, Part 2

Shortly thereafter, some unusual projects surfaced for me. I taught an advertising agency tasked with designing a website for a new biologic treatment about psoriatic arthritis. I also helped a company developing an app for people with autoimmune disease tailor its product to better target its users: rheumatologists and their patients. It was rewarding to ensure the medical information and messages being disseminated were accurate and evidence based.

That One Time I Was an Island Doctor

One summer, I spent a month in Guam, working as the only rheumatologist on the island. The patients were incredibly grateful, the people were kind, and the sunsets were epic. I even learned how to scuba dive.

That One Time I Was a Medical Publisher

At one point, I became the executive editor of Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine. McGraw Hill hired me to dream up what this iconic medical reference textbook may look like as a digital education product and flew me to India and across the U.S. to vet my ideas. I spent a week in Bermuda with the book’s physician editors, discussing updates to the new edition.

These editors include, but aren’t limited to, such greats as Anthony Fauci, MD, former director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Carol Langford, MD, MHS, the current president of the ACR. It was truly a dream to sit beside them and learn from them.

What’s Next?

It has been three-and-a-half years since I left academia and conventional clinical practice, and life has been creative to say the least. I never thought this is where I would end up, and I would absolutely never go back.

I’m not sure what’s next, and I adore that. Whatever it is, I know it will make a difference—just differently.

Samantha C. Shapiro, MD, is a clinician educator who is passionate about the care and education of rheumatology patients. She writes for both medical and lay audiences and practices telerheumatology.