Rheumatologist Nathan Wei, MD, Focuses on Alternatives to Surgery for Athletes

Dr. Wei

These personal examples have given Dr. Wei more of a sense of purpose, he says. “You realize these diseases are common and how important it is to get [patients] into remission as quickly as possible,” Dr. Wei says.

“I was trained at the NIH as a clinical researcher and maintain that in private practice. I’m driven to try to be a part of new and better therapies.”

He uses arthroscopy as an investigational tool, looking at biopsies inside the joint before and after treatment to see changes that occur at the molecular level.

Preparing for Kickoff

Considering his football background, you can smile when he says he begins a work- day with co-workers in a “type of huddle.” Says Dr. Wei, “We want to go through what patients we’re going to see and what kind of service we’ll need to perform.”

He also wants to ensure the environment hasn’t changed from day to day. “From what our office looks like to the way we handle patients, we want it to send out the message of ‘professional,’” he says. “It’s easy to lose sight of it, but you need to think about the image you’re projecting.”

He sees about 20 patients a day and, with new patients, he wants to get to the heart of what their goals are and ways to match them. He also thinks it’s critical to connect. “You hear about doctors just typing away,” he says. “You need to have eye contact. That impersonal attitude doesn’t have any place at our office. We don’t even have voice-mail. Whether you’re calling in or you’re being diagnosed, you deserve attention.”

He believes attention is a two-way street. If a patient is non-compliant, he shows patience—but only so much. “What we do first is try to talk to them about why it’s important to be compliant,” he says. “Eventually, [we send] a letter.” If it continues? “I discharge them,” he says. “We’re wasting everyone’s time. The point of my job is to get people better—if they don’t listen to me then things probably aren’t going to change.”

Feeling Good

Dr. Wei admits his athletic aspirations have changed. He has given up on the goals of youth of a triathlon and considers it a good task to try and maintain his current fitness level into his 70s. If you’ve ever tried to get through P90X, I think you’ll likely admit that he isn’t exactly taking the easy route.