TR: Do you have any set goals for the CMC?
Dr. Yang: I am not solely focused on numbers of Facebook likes, social media reposts or other metrics like that. I’m also looking for a sense of a better integration of messages so we reach more people.
TR: How so?
Dr. Yang: Academic rheumatology departments may focus on CME guidelines, research centers on their studies, private practices on the latest guidelines for reimbursement. I want to bridge all that. Yes, research is important, but advocacy and reimbursement are going to affect your research, and if you can’t get patients to enroll in your study, your research is not going to happen. Yes, reimbursement rates have daily impacts for your private practice, but the latest research advancements and CME guidelines also impact the next generation of rheumatologists who will join your practice. It’s all related, and we need to consider the value of all these messages and how we can integrate them in our marketing and communication efforts. In the coming year and beyond, I would like to bridge these information gaps, so we realize that these are important topics for all of us, regardless of the lab or the practice we’re in.
TR: How did you get into rheumatology and then decide to volunteer for the ACR?
Dr. Yang: I had always planned to go into obstetrics and gynecology, as my father had, but during medical school, I met a pediatric rheumatologist (Suzanne C. Li, MD, at Hackensack University Medical Center at New Jersey) and got involved in a research project with her and three other pediatric rheumatologists. I still wasn’t sure whether to become an OB/GYN or rheumatologist, so I sent half of my applications for residency training in OB/GYN and the other half in internal medicine. I matched into internal medicine, so I decided I needed to go into rheumatology.
Once I became a fellow in rheumatology, I quickly saw some of the issues we face, such as the challenges with step therapy, and then saw an email from the ACR asking for fellows to sign up for Advocacy 101. I applied, I started volunteering in advocacy, then I was very lucky to get involved with the ACR Government Affairs Committee (GAC). As my term on the GAC was winding down, I was asked to join the CMC. I’m now looking forward to telling everyone about all the good things that the ACR is doing. Everybody has different perspectives, everybody has different needs. Through the CMC, let’s join together to help our colleagues and our patients.