5. Invest in better hires and training.
As hard as it may be to find good people when you run a practice, it can make your job easier as a rheumatologist and help with consistency within the practice. It also can help with improved patient communication and workflow, Dr. Marston says.
6. Realize when you want or need more than what your current position offers.
If you can’t or don’t want to leave your current job, then consider ways to expand it. Dr. Gaylis did this by expanding his research into autoimmune disorders, long COVID and osteoporosis, and is currently co-founder of a supplement firm. His research has led to the first use of vagus nerve stimulation for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in the U.S. He also continues to work at his multispecialty center in private practice. Rather than being buried in the “same old, same old,” creating new projects and activities, along with the “same old,” can actually be exciting and become the platform for new, refreshing activities, he advises.
To address some of the greatest sources of clinician dissatisfaction, Dr. Concoff decided to leave his practice and advance value-based care and precision medicine in rheumatology through his current work on RA. As chief innovation officer at Exagen, he leads the company’s RA initiatives. Dr. Battafarano stepped back from 36 consecutive years of leadership in the U.S. Army and as a rheumatology division director, research director and program director with succession planning. He transitioned to a part-time clinical rheumatology role with an underserved clinic and began to volunteer as a clinical professor at three medical schools. He also continues volunteer work with the ACR.
Despite challenges, Dr. Marston notes that fellowship applicant numbers within rheumatology continue to outpace the capacity to train fellows, showing that the strengths of the specialty remain clear.
“As a specialty, I think we need to continue to advocate for our patients, care team partners, and our trainees to overcome some of these factors leading to burnout. If we are able to maintain our strengths and our role in the health care system, I think the future for our specialty and our next generation of rheumatologists remains bright,” Dr. Marston says.
Vanessa Caceres is a medical writer in Bradenton, Fla.
References
- Ney E, Brookshire M, Weisbrod J. A Treatment for America’s Healthcare Worker Burnout. Bain & Co. 2022 Oct 11.
- Tiwari V, Kavanaugh A, Martin G, et al. High burden of burnout on rheumatology practitioners. J Rheumatol. 2020 Dec;47:1831–1834.
- Battafarano DF, Ditmyer M, Bolster MB, et al. 2015 American College of Rheumatology workforce study: Supply and demand projections of adult rheumatology workforce, 2015–2030. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2018 Apr;70(4):617–626.
- Correll CK, Ditmyer MM, Mehta J, et al. 2015 American College of Rheumatology workforce study and demand projects of pediatric rheumatology workforce, 2015-2030. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2022 Mar; 74:340–348.
