Mentorship & Advocacy
Dr. Morris finds it especially gratifying to inspire medical students to consider careers in rheumatology. “Last year, a resident who had been active in the Smart Bowl told me she had applied for a rheumatology fellowship,” he says. “She had a big grin on her face, and if I helped sway her decision to pursue rheumatology, that makes me ecstatic.”
Throughout his career, Dr. Morris has also been actively involved with the ACR, serving on both the Insurance Subcommittee and Membership and Awards Committee. He is currently a member of the ACR Workforce Solutions Committee and was recently named to the Sullivan County Medical Society Board of Directors.
“Through my committee work with ACR, I’ve had the opportunity to visit Capitol Hill 20 times,” he says. “No one advocates for our patients and profession better than we do. If we don’t speak up, people won’t realize these issues exist.”
Dr. Morris is dedicated to advocating for policies that address the rheumatologist shortage and the uneven distribution of rheumatic care in the U.S. “For example, the city of Philadelphia has twice the number of rheumatology fellowships as the entire state of Tennessee, even though Tennessee has four times the population,” he says.
In the Southeast, with only one rheumatologist for every 80,000 people, the disparity is even more evident. To help bridge this gap, Dr. Morris actively mentors medical students and encourages them to consider rheumatology careers in Tennessee.
“I teach medical residents from two different programs in our area, and I regularly have an internal medicine resident shadowing me to learn about rheumatology,” he says. “So far, six of my former internal medicine trainees have gone on to become rheumatologists.”
Dr. Morris understands firsthand the value of mentorship. Inspired by his father, Alton J. Morris, MD, he joined his father’s rheumatology practice.
“My dad was one of the early members of the American Rheumatism Association (ARA), the predecessor to the ACR, and I had the privilege of working alongside him for 15 years,” he says. “He taught me so much, and I see the same value in passing on my knowledge to the next generation. According to the Hippocratic oath, we’re meant to teach future doctors, and I take that to heart.”
Linda Childers is a health writer located in the San Francisco Bay Area.
