Blogs
A Review of the Review Course + How to Make the Information Stick
I have been attending the ACR Review Course for more than a decade, and it seems every year it gets better and better. Contrary to what most people think, this is not a board review course; it is more of a review of the latest research delivered by experts condensing rheumatology in eight hours.When Classification And Diagnosis Diverge
Few rheumatologic diseases have diagnostic criteria, so clinicians often rely on classification criteria to diagnose patients in clinic. Because classification criteria were not designed to be used for these purposes, they have important limitations.Should we all be Tweetiatricians?
The evidence base is currently lacking on whether the use of social media can improve patient outcomes. The reality is that individual doctors and medical organizations have to consciously decide if, why and how to use the various social media platforms.Clinic Exorcisms
After a few clinic no-shows, our clinic partner discussions lapsed into a discussion of clinics, especially bad clinics. Amidst the cussing and discussing of clinic experience, my partner, Dr. Dao, threw out the phrase, “clinic exorcism”! What a great title for a different kind of blog. When clinic operations and operators are truly bad, who you gonna call? Not Clinic Busters. Think about clinic exorcisms designed to eradicate potentially hazardous patients, employees, partners or certain clinic practices.FEAR: A Perception of Fact In Spite of the Fiction
How do you help your patients who are resistant to your medical recommendations when they are receiving biased information from friends, family, and the internet? I wanted to share with you two cases and my approach.Remembering the Names of Drugs
Knowing the names of the agents in today’s armamentarium should be simple. But, the nomenclature is notoriously confusing. The names of monoclonal antibodies can stretch to five syllables which defy easy pronunciation beyond the “mab” at the end. Who comes up with these names anyway?The House of God After 40 Years: A Rheumatologist's Reflection
The House of God is probably more known of than read, with over 3 million copies sold since its release when I was a Chief Medical Resident in the era of its writing. The book itself, according to the author Samuel Schem (aka Steven Bergman, MD, DPhil), a psychiatrist and currently Professor of Humanities at NYU, is a true account of his internship, albeit laden with some liberties of fiction - and it's been quoted for generations. The House of God is cruelly funny and portrays many uncomfortable and dehumanizing aspects of medicine, including substance abuse, bawdy sex (and lots of it), sleeplessness, depression, and suicide to name a few. Taken at face value, it would seem countercultural to our current aspirations of putting patients first, #MeToo and burnout concerns. Is this book merely a humorous anachronistic rant, or a serious work of reflection meritorious of being read and pondered upon?Rheumatologist's Vacation Checklist
Nearly half of all available vacation days go unused and over 40% of Americans failed to use any vacation days in 2015. Common sense says that taking more time off (not less) is likely to lead to increased work productivity. Your next vacation is essential to building a better you. Here are some tips to insure you get the most from your time off.
Blueprints to the Clinical Research Underworld
“If you don't know what you want, you end up with a lot you don't.” ― Chuck Palahniuk, "Fight Club" 1999