VIDEO: What new rheumatologits should be aware of when treating RA

Editor’s note: This is a previously posted video, and the below is an automatically generated transcript to be used for informational purposes. Please notify cperla@healio.com if there are concerns regarding accuracy of the transcription.

To answer the first part about new rheumatologists and thinking about collaborating on care of patients with RA to manage their comorbidities, I think that I always try to define whether someone has a primary care physician early or whether they're relying on me to do their primary care because that lets me know what to focus on.

I also want to have a clear list of all their comorbid conditions that have been diagnosed and, as a good general internist, Rheumatologists are great general internists, I put my generalist hat on when I think about heart disease and diabetes and lung disease. And, you know, when I'm seeing a patient I'm always asking about symptoms that might tip me off about screening for those conditions.

The second part of the question, I've been a rheumatologist now for 25 years and I really am so pleased that I somewhat happened into rheumatology. I chose rheumatology because I enjoy chronic care. I enjoy getting to know patients well, and, you know, as rheumatologists would tell you, they're often the physician that knows the patient the best because they're seeing patients for chronic illnesses once, twice, three times a year over many years. And I find that gratifying. I also think the science of rheumatology has evolved greatly and will continue to evolve.

The range of therapies, the understanding of immunology and how it impacts treatment choice and how it impacts treatment choice in the setting of comorbidities and how some of our drugs are now being used widely across medicine, JAK inhibitors, IL-6 blockers, et cetera, et cetera, is really very gratifying to be a rheumatologist in the position where I can teach my colleagues about these medicines and help them to manage challenging patients with multisystem illnesses.

It really is a gratifying area where I feel like I can help patients with their quality of life, leading a full life, leading a less pained life, leading a more energetic life. So for all those reasons I would encourage anybody who's interested in rheumatology to learn more, spend time with a rheumatologist, and consider applying for a rheumatology fellowship.