On Feb. 1, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced that Daniel L. Kastner, MD, PhD, scientific director of the Division of Intramural Research of the National Human Genome Research Institute, where he is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Distinguished Investigator, was awarded the 2021 Crafoord Prize in Polyarthritis “for having established the concept…
Some artists paint with oils or watercolors, others with acrylics. Shivani Garg, MD, MS, prefers Nescafé or Maxwell House coffee. A faculty member in the Division of Rheumatology in the Department of Medicine at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health (UWSMPH), Madison, Dr. Garg learned this technique—painting with instant coffee mixed…
The Budget Control Act of 2011 cut Medicare physician payments by 2% across the board. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, signed into law in 2020, suspended this sequester (i.e., a cut in government spending) between May 1 and Dec. 31, 2020. In the Consolidated Appropriations Act, signed into law in December…
A new Medscape survey found that rheumatology has the second-highest burnout level among the 29 specialties included, with 50% of the rheumatology respondents saying they’re experiencing “burnout.” To which some rheumatologists are responding: Really? “I was quite surprised by this,” says Beth Jonas, MD, chief of the Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology Division at the University…
About 10 years ago, Stuart S. Kassan, MD, FACP, MACR, was playing in a local golf tournament at the Denver Country Club. Each player had to tee off over a water hole in front of roughly 100 club members. His ball was the only one that landed in the water—twice. He was introduced to golf…
AMA Honors Mark Andrejeski with Lifetime Achievement Award In November 2020, the American Medical Association (AMA) presented Mark Andrejeski, the recently retired executive vice president of the ACR, with its Medical Executive Lifetime Achievement Award. The award honors a medical association executive who has contributed substantially to the goals and ideals of the medical profession….
As with rheumatology care in general, the current demand for pediatric rheumatologists is greater than the supply of providers available. That imbalance is expected to increase significantly by 2030 unless action is taken, according to a new workforce study published in Arthritis Care & Research.1 The lack of pediatric providers is a serious problem that…
As we emerge from the grips of a global pandemic, we are taking this opportunity to pause and reflect on the ARP and what our division brings to the care of our patients. I found the words of Amanda Gordon’s inaugural reading of her poem, “The Hill We Climb,” inspirational and instructive for our past,…
For years now, I have read The Rheumatologist cover to cover (but only glance at the ads, but don’t tell the advertisers that). Len Calabrese’s piece, “The Science of Empathy in Rheumatology” in the January 2021 issue, hits the central point in medical care. I would like to believe that it has been empathy that…
I’m a believer in blue light. I’ve spent years lecturing my insomniac patients, buzzed on prednisone, on the importance of good sleep hygiene. In my own home, I try to practice what I preach. When I’m ready for bed, I leave my laptop and phone on my nightstand, and concentrate on relaxing. If I can’t…