Rheumatology Research Foundation Clinician Scholar Educator Award: Fifteen Years Promoting Rheumatology Educators and Education.

OBJECTIVE: The Rheumatology Research Foundation's Clinician Scholar Educator (CSE) award is a 3-year career development award supporting medical education research while providing opportunities for mentorship and collaboration. Our objective was to document the individual and institutional impact of the award since its inception, as well as its promise to strengthen the subspecialty of rheumatology. METHODS: All 60 CSE Award recipients were surveyed periodically. Fifty-six of those 60 awardees (90%) responded to requests for survey information that included post-award activities, promotions, and further funding. Data were also collected from yearly written progress reports for each grant. RESULTS: Of the total CSE recipients to date, 48 of 60 (80%) are adult rheumatologists, 11 of 60 (18%) are pediatric rheumatologists, and 1 is an adult and pediatric rheumatologist. Two-thirds of survey respondents spend up to 30% of their total time in educational activities, and one-third spend greater than 30%. Thirty-one of the 60 CSE recipients (52%) have published a total of 86 medical education papers. Twenty-six of 52 (50%) had received an academic promotion following the award. Eleven awardees earned advanced degrees. CONCLUSION: We describe the creation and evolution of a grant program from a medical subspecialty society foundation and the impact on producing education research, individual identity formation, and ongoing support for educators. This community of rheumatology scholar educators now serves as an important resource at the national level for the American College of Rheumatology and its membership. We believe that this grant may serve as a model for other medical societies that want to promote education scholarship and leadership within their specialties.

Fellow use of medical jargon correlates inversely with patient and observer perceptions of professionalism: results of a rheumatology OSCE (ROSCE) using challenging patient scenarios.

The NYC Rheumatology Objective Structured Clinical Examination (NYC-ROSCE) is held annually to assess fellow competencies. We recently redesigned our OSCE to better assess subspecialty trainee communication skills and professionalism by developing scenarios in which the patients encountered were psychosocially or medically complex. The objective of this study is to identify which types of verbal and non-verbal skills are most important in the perception of professionalism in the patient-physician interaction. The 2012-2013 NYC-ROSCEs included a total of 53 fellows: 55 MD evaluators from 7 NYC rheumatology training programs (Hospital for Special Surgery-Weill Cornell (HSS), SUNY/Downstate, NYU, Einstein, Columbia, Mount Sinai, and North Shore/Long Island Jewish (NSLIJ)), and 55 professional actors/standardized patients participated in 5 stations. Quantitative fellow performance assessments were made on the following: maintaining composure; partnering with the patient; honesty; professionalism; empathy; and accountability. Free-text comments were solicited regarding specific strengths and weaknesses. A total of 53/53 eligible (100 %) fellows were evaluated. MD evaluators rated fellows lower for professionalism than did the standardized patients (6.8 ± 0.6 vs. 7.4 ± 0.8, p = 0.05), suggesting that physicians and patients view professionalism somewhat differently. Fellow self-evaluations for professionalism (6.6 ± 1.2) were concordant with those of the MD evaluators. Ratings of empathy by fellows themselves (6.6 ± 1.0), MD evaluators (6.6 ± 0.7), and standardized patients (6.6 ± 1.1) agreed closely. Jargon use, frequently cited by evaluators, showed a moderate association with lower professionalism ratings by both MD evaluators and patients. Psychosocially challenging patient encounters in the NYC-ROSCE permitted critical assessment of the patient-centered traits contributing to impressions of professionalism and indicate that limiting medical jargon is an important component of the competency of professionalism.

Body mass index and the rheumatoid arthritis swollen joint count: an observational study.

OBJECTIVE: Obesity is a prevalent condition and a serious health concern. The relationship between obesity and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) disease activity and severity has not been adequately examined, and there are concerns that periarticular adipose tissue may reduce the utility of the joint examination. METHODS: We used a cross-sectional study to compare the performance of swollen joint count (SJC) in subjects with RA across body mass index (BMI) strata. Specifically, regression techniques tested for associations of SJC and 7 RA disease activity/severity measures (including high-sensitivity C-reactive protein level, radiographic changes, and Multidimensional Health Assessment Questionnaire scores) within BMI quartiles. We also evaluated the association of BMI with radiographic evidence of RA in multivariate analyses and the association of BMI with SJC. Clinical and laboratory data from 980 Veterans Affairs Rheumatoid Arthritis registry participants were analyzed using linear and logistic regression. RESULTS: Associations were evident between SJC and 6 of the 7 examined RA disease activity/severity measures. SJC predicts RA disease activity/severity in more obese subjects at least as well as in subjects with lower BMIs, and there was a trend toward better performance in individuals with higher BMIs. Subjects with higher BMIs were marginally less likely to be characterized by radiographic changes (odds ratio 0.98, P = 0.051). We found no association between BMI and SJC. CONCLUSION: BMI does not obscure the relationship of SJC and objective disease activity measures. There is a borderline association of higher BMI and the likelihood of radiographic changes characteristic of RA after controlling for clinical characteristics.