Your patients are seeing you regularly, and things are going well. What else could they possibly need? In this week’s episode, we discussed the support a patient organization can contribute between visits to your office and the type of support they provide patients, such as navigating the pitfalls of insurance coverage, managing the complexities of school, work, family, relationships with a chronic rheumatic disease, group support and much, much more. Our guest is Monique Gore-Massy, a distinguished and awarded global lupus advocate, diversity equity & inclusion champion, patient experience researcher, patient opinion leader consultant, motivational speaker, writer, strategist and, a patient with lupus. Her inspiring story and all the ways you can leverage these organizations for your patients are coming up in this next episode of “ACR on Air”. 

Discover the details and highlights of ACR Convergence 2023, including registration dates, location, and pass options. Learn about the planning and organizing process, the upcoming pediatric Great Debate and Review Course, the significance of the Global Summit, excitement for the Knowledge Bowl, and opportunities for virtual access to the event.

Join Dr. Belinda Birnbaum, a rheumatology expert, and Lennie Shewmaker McDaniel, a legal advocate, as they bring a fresh perspective on the importance of advocacy in rheumatology. They discuss how the American College of Rheumatology impacts legislation on Capitol Hill, including pivotal issues like pharmacy benefit manager transparency and step therapy challenges. The duo emphasizes the rewarding role that individuals can play in advocacy efforts, encouraging engagement to enhance patient care and drive significant healthcare reforms.

Congratulations, you’ve completed your rheumatology fellowship! Armed with the knowledge, skills and passion for treating complex rheumatic disease you’re set to go off into the world and help those who need your set of skills most. So... How do you do that? Our next guest, Dr. Sunil Abraham joins us to unpack and demystify this next challenge in your career – from his experience. We discuss the various ways of practicing rheumatology, from academic to clinical, as well as the organizational models of hospital-based groups, community practices, and private practices and the financial risks and benefits of partnership!  

No matter what stage of your career you’re in, the Rheumatology Research Foundation can help and support your research endeavors. This week, we discuss many of the grants The Foundation offers, not just to medical students and early career investigators, but also to medical educators, community rheumatologists and fellowship programs. We’ve invited Dr. Ted Mikuls, MD, MSPH, the chair of the Scientific Advisory Council on the Board of Directors for the Rheumatology Research Foundation and Eryn Marchiolo, the Vice President of Mission at the Rheumatology Research Foundation to discuss what The Foundation is, how it goes about executing its mission for rheumatology research, what scientific topics it’s most interested in, plus how to apply for grants, their grant selection process and how you can get involved. 

Dr. James Rosenbaum, a rheumatologist and ophthalmologist, discusses the connection between rheumatic disease and eye health, particularly uveitis. He shares his journey into the field of uveitis and highlights the importance of collaboration with ophthalmologists. The podcast explores the antigenic overlaps between joint and eye inflammation, different treatment options for uveitis, and renewed interest in eye disease and its systemic manifestations.

In this week’s episode, we’ve invited Dr. Irene Blanco, MD, MS, to the show for a discussion regarding healthcare disparities. What are healthcare disparities? What causes them? Are there any disparities specific to rheumatology? We examine the consequences, explore the impact of patient outcomes, and the challenges faced by communities and some solutions you and your practice can engage in.   

Health research methodologist and clinical epidemiologist, Dr. Emily Sirotich, PhD is our guest this week who sheds light on a growing paradigm shift in medicine: patient participation in research. Once only considered to be the beneficiaries of research and care, Dr. Sirotich is here to discuss with us the evolving role patients and patient organizations have and how they are helping to lead the way in research. Through dispensing invaluable perspectives, experiences and insights to the conversation of care, the improvement of it and the advancement of the science involved, patient participation in research has proven to be a powerful resource in the investigation of treatment. 

Sarcoidosis: What is it? Why does it occur? Are there any potential environmental triggers? Our guest, Dr. Adam Morgenthau, sheds light on these and more, including making the diagnosis of sarcoidosis, the need for imaging or biopsy and how it will distinguish between organ involvement and organ damage. And, perhaps just as important, we discuss when to treat it, including the various medications that can be effective for organ system manifestations. Finally, we conclude with a discussion on the latest research into Sarcoidosis patients, and their families, living with this disease. 

This week, we invited Dr. Paul Dellaripa to discuss why patients and providers should be concerned regarding increases in heat, pollution, and allergens and how they may negatively impact people with rheumatic diseases. We discuss how environmental factors could contribute to the development of autoimmunity in people who were otherwise previously healthy and how these factors may also cause exacerbations of a patient's underlying rheumatic disease. Most importantly, we discuss what role we can assume at home, as professionals and as educators to our patients and medical trainees.