TR: What do you see as some of the biggest obstacles for the ARP in the coming year?
Dr. Dewing: Back in 2015, the ACR’s Rheumatology Workforce Study predicted a significant shortage of rheumatology professionals in the coming years https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29400009). No one could have predicted how devastating the pandemic would be for healthcare, and rheumatology, in particular. Our rheumatology workforce was already struggling with the stress associated with heavy workloads, which were further exacerbated by the prolonged pandemic. Understandably, it is hard to sign up for volunteer roles when you go home drained at the end of the day. Yet the ACR/ARP is literally nothing without our volunteers.
TR: How is the ACR/ARP addressing that?
Dr. Dewing: The ACR Workforce Solutions Committee is developing interventions focused on recruiting, training and retaining rheumatology professionals. And with many of us meeting together in Philadelphia for ACR Convergence 2022, I am hopeful our membership will become re-invigorated as we reconnect with friends and colleagues from around the world.
On the volunteer side, for those of us who have already had a chance to attend some type of gathering with our colleagues, we all leave with this warm feeling of, “We can do this. We can get through this.” I urge our membership to become involved. At the beginning of the pandemic, the ACR leadership came together and rapidly addressed the needs of the membership by developing resources like the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance and the task forces that developed the guidelines on COVID vaccination and treatment for our at-risk patients, helping us to navigate that scary data-free zone. The ACR is truly there for you. We need to nurture this special organization, and volunteering your time, talent and passion is an important way to pay back the support you have been given during these difficult times, while you also reconnect to your rheumatology community.
TR: Since you have been so involved with the ARP, many of the members may feel they already know you well. But what is something they may not know?
Dr. Dewing: While still in high school, I started working in a medical clinic as a certified nursing assistant and then as a certified medical assistant.
After completing my undergraduate program, I joined the Peace Corps and served as a public health volunteer in a small village in Guinea, West Africa. I worked with a variety of people from different backgrounds and occupations, all focused on ways to improve the health of our community. Every Peace Corps volunteer will tell you how much they grew during their service. It’s true. I learned that by working with a diverse group of people, you end up with projects you never could have envisioned or created on your own. I see and appreciate similar diversity in ARP.
