Hooked on Rheum with Frederick W. Miller, MD, PhD
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It is odd how chance events shape our careers and illuminate hidden paths for us.
My meandering trail into medicine and rheumatology began with my father’s diagnosis of melanoma and the realization of how little was known, and could be done, about this devastating disease then. Although my grandfather wanted me to continue the family tradition and become a harness maker in the small Ohio farm town that I grew up in, that wish never ignited a passion.
As a child, I was always more interested in understanding how living things and nature worked. However, it was only in college with my father’s diagnosis that I realized I wanted to address the practical need of applying this interest to human disease, and combine research and medicine in my life’s work.
So, I began to explore the few combined MD-PhD programs available at that time. Eventually, I settled on Case Western Reserve University. It was the fad then to do each level of medical training at a different place to prevent local biases from piling up, so then it was off to Emory University for a medical internship, and then on to Stanford University for residency.
It was there during my rheumatology rotation, with oversight by Andrei Calin, MD, MRCP, that I fell in love with the specialty. I have never regretted it.
All doctors to some extent are detectives, unraveling the mysteries behind the myriad maladies from people seeking their help, but rheumatic diseases are unique in that each patient is an enigma, requiring a detailed exploration of the changes in all the body’s systems over time. We examine and talk to our patients and listen carefully until they tell us their diagnosis. And, now more than ever, we can do something about these diseases and not just watch their slow deterioration.
For my rheumatology fellowship, it was on to the NIH to work with my wonderful mentor, Paul Plotz, MD, where we both became enamored with patients developing severe myositis and discovering their amazing array of autoantibodies. In studying these patients, we saw the great opportunity to expand understanding of this little-studied group of diseases. Attempting to unravel the mysteries of myositis became the very satisfying driving force for the rest of my life.
Frederick W. Miller, MD, PhD
Scientist Emeritus
Deputy chief in the Clinical Research Branch (retired)
Head of the Environmental Autoimmunity Group (retired)
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
National Institutes of Health