The Gender Gap in Rheumatology Leaders

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Leadership positions in medicine are disproportionately filled by men. Although the enrollment of medical schools are equal male: female or even some have more women, 40% of American medical institutions lack programs for recruiting women, or for retention and promotion of female faculty.

This may also be true in rheumatology, which is now attracting more women than men as trainees. I recently wrote an article in the Lancet about mentoring women in medicine and suggested ideas for improving the gender gap in leadership.  

The Board Certification Tango

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Recently, I was invited to apply for an open seat on the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM), the large organization that certifies physicians in the United States. Part of the process is to write a personal statement on my views of the ABIM mission and what I would like to accomplish. 

The Retiring Rheumatologist

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Just last week, I went to a doctor’s retirement party.  It was festive, with honors and ribbing for the lucky one, but there was an asterisk to his milestone. Retirement was not anticipated or planned for. What is your retirement plan?

The IL-6 Wars

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In the years to come, the availability of numerous new IL-6 inhibitors it will either complicate treatment decisions, alter existing treatment paradigms, or result in an all-out war against TNF inhibitor dominance. Data, differences and time will tell.

KOLs Predict: What Will the Next Year Bring?

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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.

Writing Effective Appeal Letters

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Getting the right drug to the right patient isn’t quite as easy as it should be. Here's a collection of appeal trench war musings and tactics with a sample letter for all to use.

Building a Better Rheumatologist

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Are you efficient, productive and accurate in what you do?  Could you be better? Or do the job differently?

The Dying Hospital Consult

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Hospital consults – “nobody goes there anymore”, and not because it’s too crowded (a quote from the late great Yogi Berra), but rather because it’s a poor investment of time and resources.

Women: stand up for yourselves!

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I was recently offered a project that paid a lot less than what I feel my time is worth. My research on compensation suggests a male colleague would have been offered at least 2-3 times as much for the same project. At first I was insulted, but then I took a deep breath and said to myself, I need to negotiate for a higher price. Why not?