Editor’s note: Welcome to the first installment of Experiences in Advocacy, a special series authored by ACR members detailing personal experiences in advocacy. We need rheumatologists to join the American Medical Association (AMA). Here’s why, and how to do it. Having participated in your delegation for over a decade, I have seen major improvements in…
Gregory Barton, PhD, professor of immunology and pathogenesis, University of California, Berkeley, talked about research on the innate immune system and a key protein involved in the trafficking of a subset of toll-like receptors (TLRs) during FOCIS 2015 in San Diego. To keep the body healthy, the immune system responds constantly to foreign cellular invaders…
Two of the great traditions of medicine are the curbside and party consults. In the former, participating physicians informally discuss an especially difficult diagnostic problem. During the latter, a patient will approach the doctor to ask about some possible medical problem and what they should do about it. The advent of the Internet has brought…
How do you tell a story 50 years in the making? How do you capture 50 years of achievements, moments, personal and professional relationships, and careers shaped? How do you define the exact moment collaborative and integrated care teams became the rule—not the exception—in rheumatology? To journey through the milestones that have led to the…
The differences between Caucasian and minority patients with lupus are striking: In almost all aspects of the disease, black, Hispanic and many Asian lupus patients do poorly compared with their white counterparts. Although racial disparities in outcomes in the practice of medicine are widespread, the scope and degree of the differences in lupus is, with…
“Worst of all is the pain in my calves,” she said. “It feels like burning deep inside.” So began my first encounter with a 69-year-old woman who was referred to rheumatology clinic for evaluation of two months of constitutional symptoms and a positive ANCA test, which had been ordered by her primary care doctor. Her…
Prior to the widespread use of bisphosphonates for the management of osteoporosis, multiple myeloma and metastatic cancer to the skeletal system, osteonecrosis of the jawbones was an infrequent condition seen after radiation for oral cancers (osteoradionecrosis) and in chronic odontogenic infections.1 Since the mid-2000s, osteonecrosis of the jawbones has been noted to occur as a…
For 30 years, the Rheumatology Research Foundation has been working to advance research and training to improve the health of people with rheumatic diseases. The past three decades are replete with the achievement of significant milestones and extraordinary accomplishments. Funding Research, Training The Foundation’s efforts began in 1985 when it was established by the ACR….
Updated Oct. 22, 2015 (revised to delete inaccurate statistics) The cold, hard facts: This year’s rheumatology fellowship applicant pool resembles those of prior years. It is extremely diverse; every continent is represented, save Antarctica. It is somewhat larger, due in part to the growing influx of graduates from the cluster of Caribbean-based medical schools, where…
A Phase 3 study found secukinumab may be an effective alternative to anti-TNF therapies for treating psoriatic arthritis, suggesting interleukin 17A may play a role in the disease…