Dr. Kumar links a traffic-jammed drive to healthcare challenges, exploring privilege, advocacy & resilience in this Rheuminations essay.


Bharat Kumar, MD, MME, FACP, FAAAAI, RhMSUS, is a clinical assistant professor of internal medicine in the Division of Immunology, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City. Before assuming the role of physician editor, he was a member of the ACR Board of Directors (beginning in 2020). After attending college at the University of Pennsylvania, he went to Saba University School of Medicine and completed his residency in internal medicine at the University of Kentucky. He arrived in Iowa in 2014 and completed fellowships in both rheumatology and allergy/immunology in 2017, as well as a master’s degree in medical education and certification in musculoskeletal ultrasonography. His clinical interests include the intersection of autoimmunity and immunodeficiency, musculoskeletal ultrasonography, and ocular inflammatory diseases. As the associate program director for the rheumatology fellowship training program, he is also driven by a desire to improve the quality of medical education as well as the value of clinical work for both patients and practitioners. Outside the clinic, Dr. Kumar has a keen interest in medical journalism, quality improvement and humanism, and is the Arnold P. Gold Foundation’s Humanism-in-Research Associate Editor.

Dr. Kumar links a traffic-jammed drive to healthcare challenges, exploring privilege, advocacy & resilience in this Rheuminations essay.

In this episode, Dr. Kumar talks about the insidious nature of ageism and how rheumatologists can combat it.

Lupus has always had a reputation for being a wild, unrestrained and enigmatic entity. In fact, the very name lupus comes from the Latin word for wolf, a gift from our Roman predecessors who saw a resemblance between lupus rashes and a wolf’s bite. Given the limitations of immunology back then, it is an incredibly…

Ableism—discrimination against those with disabilities—distorts diagnostic reasoning & erodes patient trust. How can rheumatologists address this bias?

In this episode, Dr. Kumar talks about the insidious nature of ageism and how rheumatologists can combat it.

Learn how to identify & combat age-based discrimination for improved communication & better patient outcomes.

In this episode, Dr. Kumar talks about why deliberate practice and relentless curiosity matter, and how to achieve mastery in rheumatology.

What does it take to become a master in rheumatology? Explore how deliberate practice, relentless curiosity & profound humility are key to true expertise.

In this episode, Dr. Kumar talks about professional identity and legacy in rheumatology.

Dr. Bharat Kumar reflects on professional identity formation, self-concept, key psychological theories and maintaining a growth mindset throughout one’s career.