Video: Knock on Wood| Webinar: ACR/CHEST ILD Guidelines in Practice
fa-facebookfa-linkedinfa-youtube-playfa-rss

An official publication of the ACR and the ARP serving rheumatologists and rheumatology professionals

  • Conditions
    • Axial Spondyloarthritis
    • Gout and Crystalline Arthritis
    • Myositis
    • Osteoarthritis and Bone Disorders
    • Pain Syndromes
    • Pediatric Conditions
    • Psoriatic Arthritis
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis
    • Sjögren’s Disease
    • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
    • Systemic Sclerosis
    • Vasculitis
    • Other Rheumatic Conditions
  • FocusRheum
    • ANCA-Associated Vasculitis
    • Axial Spondyloarthritis
    • Gout
    • Lupus Nephritis
    • Psoriatic Arthritis
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis
    • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
  • Guidance
    • Clinical Criteria/Guidelines
    • Ethics
    • Legal Updates
    • Legislation & Advocacy
    • Meeting Reports
      • ACR Convergence
      • Other ACR meetings
      • EULAR/Other
    • Research Rheum
  • Drug Updates
    • Analgesics
    • Biologics/DMARDs
  • Practice Support
    • Billing/Coding
    • EMRs
    • Facility
    • Insurance
    • QA/QI
    • Technology
    • Workforce
  • Opinion
    • Patient Perspective
    • Profiles
    • Rheuminations
      • Video
    • Speak Out Rheum
  • Career
    • ACR ExamRheum
    • Awards
    • Career Development
  • ACR
    • ACR Home
    • ACR Convergence
    • ACR Guidelines
    • Journals
      • ACR Open Rheumatology
      • Arthritis & Rheumatology
      • Arthritis Care & Research
    • From the College
    • Events/CME
    • President’s Perspective
  • Search

Global Summit Addresses Worldwide Rheumatology Workforce Challenges

Eric L. Matteson, MD, MPH, & Evelyn Hsieh, MD, PhD  |  Issue: March 2025  |  March 7, 2025

Dr. Arredondo noted that workforce aging in Latin American may not be as big a problem as in some other parts of the world. On the other hand, Dr. Arredondo said, “There is a leak of trained rheumatologists that has affected the workforce. In Latin America, the most important example is Venezuela, which has had a large exodus of rheumatologists and other healthcare workers.”

Themes

Although not all factors affecting rheumatology workforce could be addressed in the hour-long session, a number of themes stood out as of particular concern, including:

ad goes here:advert-1
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE
  • Lack of integration in medical education: Rheumatology is not well integrated into undergraduate medical curricula.
  • Financial barriers: Costs of training are high and reimbursement rates are low for rheumatologic care.
  • Geographic and socioeconomic barriers: Significant disparities in access to rheumatologic care exist across different regions.
  • Demographic change: The retirement of a considerable proportion of rheumatologists currently working and the high proportion of women in rheumatology requires new concepts to improve the compatibility of family and career and address the growth of part-time work.

Strategies to Address Shortage

  • Improve medical education: Rheumatology needs to be better integrated into medical school curricula and more training opportunities need to be provided.
  • Leverage technology: AI and telemedicine can be used to reach underserved populations and improve efficiency.
  • Advocate for policy change: Rheumatology organizations and individual clinicians need to engage with governments and international organizations to prioritize rheumatologic diseases.
  • Support young rheumatologists: Networks and mentorship programs to support early career rheumatologists need to be created.
  • Tap the non-rheumatology workforce: Primary care providers and advanced practice providers need to be trained to identify rheumatologic conditions and manage these, if necessary (in more complex diseases or patient cases) in collaboration with rheumatologists.

Challenges & Solutions

  • Attrition: The reasons why rheumatologists leave the field, such as burnout and financial concerns, need to be addressed.
  • AI and technology: The potential of AI to assist in diagnosis and patient management and the need for reliable internet access must be addressed.
  • Government and policy support: The importance of advocacy to ensure rheumatologic diseases are recognized and prioritized by health agencies cannot be overstated.

In Sum

Many workforce problems are essentially the same from region to region, although some are unique to certain areas. A number of strategies were mentioned that can be helpful to support young people who are interested in going into rheumatology to be more effective and have greater career opportunities.

Page: 1 2 3 4 5 | Single Page
Share: 

Filed under:Practice ManagementPractice SupportWorkforceWorkforce Tagged with:burnouthealthcare access

Related Articles

    ‘Battle for Health Justice’: Dr. Alakija Addresses Global Rheumatology Inequities

    November 10, 2021

    On Nov. 3, the inaugural, virtual Global Rheumatology Summit brought together specialists from all over the world to share critical expertise on global health issues related to rheumatology.

    The ACR Launches Initiative to Tackle Workforce Shortage

    May 12, 2022

    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…

    Prospects for Treating Patients with Arthritis in African Countries with Few Rheumatologists

    June 14, 2017

    At present, the U.S. has approximately 5,000 full-time adult rheumatologists. By the year 2025, that number will decline to roughly 3,600.1 Sounds dire, right? Hold that thought. Question: What country has 99 million people and no adult rheumatologists? ad goes here:advert-1ADVERTISEMENTSCROLL TO CONTINUEAnswer: Ethiopia.2 The Nigerian Story And then there is Africa’s most populous country,…

    A World of Difference: Updates from the Global Rheumatology Summit

    January 20, 2023

    The second annual Global Rheumatology Summit focused on climate change, conflict and migration, as well as other global issues in rheumatology.

  • About Us
  • Meet the Editors
  • Issue Archives
  • Contribute
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
fa-facebookfa-linkedinfa-youtube-playfa-rss
  • Copyright © 2025 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved, including rights for text and data mining and training of artificial technologies or similar technologies. ISSN 1931-3268 (print). ISSN 1931-3209 (online).
  • DEI Statement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Cookie Preferences