A recent JAMA Pediatrics article found that 83% of clinicians admitted to coming to work while sick and 95% admitted to knowing that it could be dangerous for their patients.1 “The decision to work sick is shaped by systems-level and sociocultural factors,” the study authors wrote. In speaking with rheumatologists on the matter, I found…
(Reuters Health)—Breathing textile dust on the job is linked to an almost tripled risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a Malaysian study suggests. While smoking is a known risk factor for RA, the findings add to evidence suggesting that environmental factors could trigger RA in some people, the researchers note in their report in Annals…
Rheumatologists practicing in rural and urban areas face different challenges. Robert Jackson, DO, discusses how technology, healthcare reform and hospital closures affect rheumatology practice in rural areas and its future…
(Reuters Health)—Whether surgical trainees should be able to work long shifts is a matter of fierce debate, and the methods of a controversial study aimed at answering that question were outlined in a top surgical journal. The results won’t be available until February. In the meantime, critics of the study say it exposed residents and…
As usual, your items in The Rheumatologist remain timely. In the case of attracting medical students into rheumatology, your piece is also timeless. For many years now, I have recommended to various officers of the ACR that we obtain a list of students and their home addresses when they are admitted to medical school. At…
I want to thank you for writing the article, “Attracting More Medical Students to Rheumatology” for The Rheumatologist (online, October 2015). I am a senior at Georgetown University now, and I have recently applied to medical school. I have considered pursuing a career in rheumatology, and your article has inspired me to stay on that…
(Reuters Health)—Burnout among U.S. doctors is becoming more common and now affects more than half of practicing physicians, according to a new study.¹ About 54% of U.S. doctors experienced at least one symptom of burnout in 2014, compared to about 46% in 2011, researchers report in Mayo Clinic Proceedings. Overall, the researchers found that doctors are…
A recent study examined the outcomes of care for RA patients provided by nurse practitioners or physician assistants working in tandem with rheumatologists, compared with that provided exclusively by rheumatologists. Over the two-year course of the study, results indicated that not only was care not compromised, but RA disease activity control may actually have been slightly better in these practices…
LONDON (Reuters)—Doctors in Britain’s state-funded health service announced on the eve of a planned mass walkout they would suspend it until January after “conciliatory talks” with the government over new pay and conditions. The strike had been due to start on Tuesday, involving doctors in training, or junior doctors, who represent just over half of…
As a practicing rheumatologist, I have experienced the increasing payer and government involvement shaping our evolving healthcare system. New payment models, changes in health insurance coverage, the federal mandate for the adoption of electronic health records and the implementation of ICD-10 are recent changes that have rocked our world. Our patients are also paying the…