Hooked on Rheum with Mark Genovese, MD

I did not even know what rheumatology was when I started medical school at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

I thought I was going to be a cardiologist. It really was not until the end of my first year of medical school, when I started looking for a summer research project, that I stumbled into the field.

I explored research opportunities in cardiology, but I could not find a clinical research opportunity. On a bit of a lark, I responded to a flyer in my mailbox from a rheumatologist at Hopkins who turned out to be Michelle A. Petri, MD, MPH. She was looking for a med student to join her for a summer research project that would help establish a Hopkins lupus cohort. She explained how I would have an opportunity to learn research skills, publish the data, participate in clinic, round with the consult team, and learn about the breadth of diseases in the field.

It was a great opportunity to learn about rheumatology. It also gave me the opportunity to meet some other folks who have been luminaries in the field, including David B. Hellmann, MD, and Marc C. Hochberg, MD, MPH. I found myself surrounded by incredible clinician-researchers who also happened to be outstanding teachers — and they were all rheumatologists.

It was during this time that I became fascinated by the complexity of the diseases in rheumatology. There was a need for exquisite clinical skills driven by the fact that there is often no clear test to answer the diagnostic challenges that arise from each patient. You always had to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

As I left medical school, I was fortunate enough to move to Stanford, which is a place with a similarly strong rheumatology program. It was there that I was fortunate to work with Edward D. “Ted” Harris, Jr., MD, who was the chair of the department of medicine and president of the American College of Rheumatology at the time. I found myself working with Ted frequently on cases, research projects and later on clinical trials.

Overall, I would say my interest in rheumatology was borne out of serendipity. I had the right mentors at the right time who helped me learn skill sets and showed me the value of the field.

Mark C. Genovese, MD
James W. Raitt M.D. Professor of Medicine/Rheumatology- Emeritus (Active)
Stanford University
Senior Vice President, Clinical Development, Inflammation
Gilead Sciences, Inc.