Many, if not all, rheumatologists seek to grow as clinicians so they can provide consistently exceptional care to patients and serve as role models for colleagues and trainees. In The Rheumatologist’s Lessons from Master Clinicians series, we present insights from clinicians who have achieved distinction in the field of rheumatology and who are respected by…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—The overall 30-day costs of caring for Medicare patients are lower at teaching hospitals, according to data from the Medicare inpatient file. “We found it really interesting that the lower costs seen at major teaching hospitals was driven primarily by lower costs after discharge from the hospital,” Dr. Laura G. Burke from…
CHICAGO—The ingredients required to make a rheumatologist have changed from the early years of the last century to now and are moving toward further transformation in the millennial-influenced future, according to Calvin Brown, MD, keynote speaker at the ACR’s 2019 Program Directors Conference. Dr. Brown, who trains medical students at Northwestern University Feinberg School of…
“Hi, I’m Dr. Kumar, and I’m an allergist,” is something I sometimes fumble when I introduce myself to confused rheumatology patients, before I quickly correct myself with, “… well, I’m also a rheumatologist.” There’s a moment of slight embarrassment that I crossed my circuits, but otherwise I’m proud to say I’m certified in both. This…
Dominick Sudano, MD, an assistant professor at the University of Arizona and rheumatologist at Banner University Medical Center, Tucson, Ariz., knows how tough it is for patients living in remote areas to obtain a rheumatology consultation. “It’s not unusual for patients living in rural areas of Arizona to wait four to six months for a…
Dozens of rheumatology leaders met with more than 100 politicos on Capitol Hill in mid-May, per the ACR’s annual Advocacy Leadership Conference. Armed with research and advocacy training concerning a handful of important issues, rheumatologists, researchers, government affairs specialists and others met with federal lawmakers, legislative aides and correspondents. The two-day conference, which featured the…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Results from a substantial proportion of large, registered, randomized controlled trials (RCTs) can go unpublished for years after their completion, researchers report. “These unpublished and unreported trials include a vast number of patients, about 90,000,” Dr. John P. A. Ioannidis from Stanford University in California told Reuters Health. “Many people think that…
(Reuters Health)—Over a typical 24-hour shift, first year residents training in internal medicine spend just three hours on direct patient care and only 1.8 hours on education, a U.S. study suggests. Most of their time—an average of 15.9 hours out of every 24-hour shift—is consumed instead by “indirect patient care,” primarily involving interactions with medical…
My nephew is an addict. These words do not come easily to me, but I have come to accept them as true. In retrospect, I should have recognized the telltale signs: He stopped picking up the phone when I call. He disappears and then re-emerges hours later, seemingly having done nothing. He has lost interest…
At the close of my first year in fellowship, a co-fellow opened a packed cabinet behind her desk, and untold volumes of methodically annotated medical articles burst forth. Impressed not only by her diligence but also by the sheer volume of paper, I made a mental note to read more and to read more efficiently….