RheumNow Anniversary Perspective
Dr. Jack Cush provides a perspective on the first year anniversary of RheumNow.com - a site dedicated to delivering the wisdom, art and science of Rheumatology.
Blogs
KOLs Predict: What Will the Next Year Bring?
A new subspecialty may emerge. New drugs will be approved (but it will be difficult for patients to get coverage for them). And an American team will win the World Series. All these and more: here are predictions for 2017 and beyond from rheumatologists across the country and around the world.
Why My Patients Sit Where They Sit
Where do your patients sit? Have you noticed they don't usually sit where you expect them to? What's up with that, and is there a psychology behind one's choice of seating? This curious observation may portend the nature of the physician-patient relationship or, at the very least, impact the layout of your next clinic.
Do's and Don'ts of Vaccination: a (Very) Brief Guide for Rheumatologists
The five do's and don'ts when it comes to vaccinating your patients.
“Doctors Don’t Get Sick”
We physicians are clearly better at defining “too sick to work” in our patients than we are for ourselves. After pondering this ill issue, I’ve come up with some wisdom, goofiness and facts.
Midlife Plateau
Despite regular attendance at medical meetings and despite fulfilling regulatory requirements for our specialty, I’m not sure how much I learn that changes the way I practice medicine. So I recently persuaded a colleague to come and coach me, inviting him to observe me for a morning in clinic. This was the first time I had been observed in this way since I was a medical student. A little daunting, but after a while I largely forgot he was there. Then he gave me some feedback.
Smoking and Rheumatoid Arthritis
Why don't rheumatologists send their smoker patients to smoking cessation programs or use aids for cessation? Do we think it is not our problem?
Time for a Paradigm Change in Rheumatoid Arthritis
How many clues are needed for a rheumatologist to know something is wrong with the therapeutic soup he/she is trying to concoct? One patient's tale leads to rethinking the RA treatment paradigm.
Be the CEO of Your Health
Patients should act as if they are the CEO of a new business. Their business is the disease they must manage. The analogies of managing a business and a disease are numerous and instructive for patients and physicians alike.
Diabolical Negativism
Our inner thoughts are usually negative, critical or pessimistic. Negative thinking is ubiquitous, and may be responsible for indecision or ill-choices. How to identify it and deal with it in patient care is an unsavory challenge often left undone.
The Week in Review - 13 February 2016
Video highlights from last week's reports, news and tweets on RheumNow.com
It Took Me 30 Years to Learn This About Rheumatoid Arthritis
I’m alot better at RA in the last 10 years than I was when I started to practice 30 years ago. RA has not changed, but tools, knowledge and treatments have progressed admirably. Decades have taught me that many aspects of RA were wrongly taught, misunderstood or not apparent when I first started in rheumatology in 1984. Here are 10 things I've learned.
Pushy Patients
Do your patients challenge you? Do you live up to their expectations? How many steps do you have to climb to be better?
Patients Believe Lab Tests More Than Doctors
Patients believe that a lab result is a numeric true representation their biology and a pivotal arbiter of wellness, yet physicians often dismiss such results as hanging chads in a meaningless election. Why do patients believe their labs moreso than their doctor?
How to Handle Latex Allergies and Biologics
What to do when a patient has a latex allergy and you prescribe an injectable biologic (many having latex allergy as a contraintication)?
