Every year, my program goes through a ritual—I scrub my face, put on a smile and meet hordes of medical residents from across the country. And every year, I do my best to convince all of them that Baltimore would be an amazing place for them to complete their medical subspecialty training in rheumatology. Now…
In 2010, Thomas Bartow, MD, FACP, finally ran out of excuses. Ever since high school, he had wanted to join the military. But too many things got in the way—like attending medical school at State University of New York at Stony Brook. After graduation in 1980, he performed his residency in internal medicine at Rush-Presbyterian-St….
It’s one thing for a developing country to lack physicians due to a scarcity of training. It’s quite another for such a vacuum to exist because the physicians were executed. In Cambodia in the 1970s, genocide perpetrated by the Khmer Rouge spared few of the educated class. If they were spared, chances were they lost…
If you’re aspiring to lead a rheumatology department, you will need more than what you learned in medical school. Beyond expertly treating patients and participating in research, these leaders must also understand management, mentorship and problem solving, as well as the business of running a successful department…
Roughly 15 years ago, Steven K. Magid, MD, rheumatologist and chief medical information officer at the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) in N.Y., attended a social event for hospital employees. While chatting with other physicians, nurses, and lab techs, he watched one of his colleagues slaughter her opponents at Ping-Pong. “She was very skilled,” recalls Dr. Magid,…
Preconception planning is essential to help women with autoimmune disease have optimal pregnancy outcomes. Unplanned pregnancy can also negatively impact disease course in some patients. Yet many rheumatologic patients of childbearing age do not receive adequate contraception or prepregnancy education and counseling. Rheumatologists must work collaboratively with other healthcare providers to make sure rheumatic patients…
It seems like yesterday I was asked to write my first presidential column, and here I am penning my last. It’s incredible how fast the time goes and yet how much gets done. That progress is made possible by the dedicated and talented group of ACR volunteers and staff. This year, the College has had…
Almost one year into my term on the ACR’s Political Action Committee, RheumPAC, I’m looking back and reflecting on what led me here. My early career was focused on learning the basics of clinical practice and building relationships with healthcare providers. Shortly after I completed my fellowship, I established goals to improve access to care…
Interest in viewing the nail capillaries dates to the late 17th century. Later research by Maurice Raynaud and others in the late 19th and early 20th century first established a direct link between the nailfold capillaries and certain medical conditions. Although underutilized in the past, with the advent of modern digital equipment and the validation…
‘Living’ Pelvis in the Guinness Book of World Records Shashank Akerkar, MD, an ACR fellow and rheumatoid arthritis specialist at the Mumbai Arthritis Clinic and Research Center in India, found a unique way to draw attention to ankylosing spondylitis (AS). He persuaded 425 patients, mostly those suffering from AS or affected by lupus or rheumatoid…