Workforce

Healio’s “Hooked on Rheum” series has traditionally featured providers who can look back on their career and identify the turning points that lead them to their current position.

The CDC announced that it has awarded more than $176 million to 48 public health partners to strengthen the public health infrastructure and workforce in the United States.

This month’s roundtable features a group of budding rheumatologists, still in training, who share their thoughts on how to sort out, define and achieve their goals in the workplace.

Many rheumatologists working today have navigated the specialty from the era of deeply flawed treatments like gold, through epoch-defining shifts brought on by biologics, biosimilars and, most recently, the unexpected crisis of COVID-19.

Author’s note: From an early childhood introduction to kidney replacement therapy to her new role as president of the American Nephrology Nurses Association, Nancy Colobong Smith, MN, ARNP, ANP-BC, CNN, shared her journey and her goals for the organization in a recent interview with Healio | Nephrology News & Issues.

The American College of Rheumatology has submitted comments to CMS on proposed cuts to physician payments, warning of worsened burnout and staff shortages, and calling for “appropriate reimbursement,” according to a press release.

The Healio Rheumatology staff have won the APEX Award for Writing/Topics – Health & Medical Writing for the cover story, “‘Moral imperative’ to address physician burnout emerges in wake of COVID-19 pandemic.”

It has become clear that the wants and needs of nephrology fellows looking for employment in general, and specifically in the private practice sector, have changed in the past 40 plus years that I have been recruiting in the profession.

This month’s featured roundtable on the evolving and broadening role of advanced practice providers in rheumatologic care is a timely discussion, and I give a big thanks to Carrie Beach, BSN, RN-BC; Jeffrey Curtis, MD, MS, MPH; Amanda Mixon, PA-C; Kenneth G. Saag, MD; and Christine Stamatos, DNP, ANP-C.

The number, and role, of advanced practice providers in rheumatology care is exploding.