Michael Shishov, MD, is the pediatric rheumatologist who joined the Arizona group, and so far he has been pleased with the outcome. “When I came out of training in 2003, many people told me it wouldn’t be a good idea to look at taking this position in Arizona,” he says. “But some like Dr. Caldron were really encouraging me to go for it.” One of the main things that attracted him to the position was the network of practice support that would alleviate some of the burdens of private practice. “My fellow doctors like Dr. Caldron share on-call duty with me and I have medical assistants and infusion nurses to help in the practice. We borrow ideas and help each other.”
Dr. Shishov says he knows that there is room to grow this collaborative program and looks forward to working to achieve that. “When my schedule is full and we can no longer see children within a good time frame, then we might look at adding a nurse practitioner,” he explains. “The hospital has really allowed me to ramp up slowly. I am sure I could see as many as 50 kids a week in the clinic, but that would be too much to handle right now,” he says. “This program has allowed me to go at my own speed and do things I could not do if I had chosen to take a job at an academic medical center,” says Dr. Shishov. “There is no doubt that I had many reservations when I decided to come here. But I definitely have never regretted it. Now if we can just get the word out to others to create similar practice models and entice residents to take a chance, I think we may change the field of pediatric rheumatology for the future.”
Others interviewed for this article have a similar optimism for the future of pediatric rheumatology. “Working in a group practice as a pediatric rheumatologist is a good lifestyle and a rewarding profession,” says Dr. White.
Terry Hartnett wrote the Workforce Study series.
