Written by: Alaa Belmokhtar
As they enter the hospital doors, a rheumatologist must prepare for their day of formulating diagnoses and treating inflammatory conditions and illnesses that affect joints, bones, ligaments, and muscles. However, they do not specialize in or perform surgeries relating to these conditions. Following the general path of a doctor, rheumatologists must graduate from medical school, join a three year residency program for internal medicine, and finish off with a two year fellowship in rheumatology. Following the fellowship, they must take and pass the Board exam in order to become a certified rheumatologist.
The most common condition these doctors treat is known as “Arthritis”, a term people coined to describe multiple rheumatic conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis, which has been diagnosed in 1.3 million American adults, and osteoporosis. However, rheumatologists diagnose and treat patients with a wide range of rheumatic conditions, going from juvenile idiopathic arthritis to lupus to spondyloarthritides. Since rheumatic diseases are complex and difficult to diagnose, rheumatologists will begin by taking the patient’s medical history, analyzing everything they can about the patient and their health, especially relating to their musculoskeletal system. With these answers in mind, the rheumatologist will proceed to perform a physical exam. In this exam, they will check the areas of pain for signs of inflammation through swelling and warmth, before checking other parts of the body for similar signs. When the exam is completed, the rheumatologist may be able to give a diagnosis, but, more likely than not, they will need to schedule the patient for blood work and other scans, such as x-rays, in order to fully be able to perceive and diagnose the issue. As such, a diagnosis in rheumatology can take several appointments since rheumatic conditions evolve, sometimes rapidly, making them more difficult to pinpoint. For example, a rheumatology case written by Navin Kumar Devaraj entails the story of a 52 year old woman complaining of “intermittent chest discomfort and dyspnoea on exertion for three months associated with fatigue, anorexia, fever, intermittent bilateral leg swelling, occasional neck, shoulder, lower back and hip joint pain”. These are all nondescript symptoms, which made it difficult for the rheumatologist on the case to form a cogent diagnosis, as it could have been any of several conditions. Through further testing and care for the patient, the team of doctors were finally able to come to the conclusion that the woman was suffering from an uncommon condition known as seronegative rheumatoid arthritis. With this diagnosis, the patient was able to receive anti-rheumatic drugs, namely methotrexate, which allowed her to live a better life.
Although rheumatologists work diligently at their respective hospitals and offices, they also have lives outside of their work. According to the Medscape Physician Lifestyle & Happiness Report 2019 reported, rheumatologists are the happiest medical specialists, with 65% of them claiming to be happy outside of their work life. Some rheumatologists have credited this to scientific breakthroughs that have led to their work becoming more promising for patients due to the better treatment options emerging. In general, rheumatologists’ favorite hobbies tend to be: exercising, reading, surfing the web, and even attending cultural events to learn about new cultures, including their foods and history. When they are at work, however, rheumatologists tend to work amongst other teams of doctors, such as immunologists, in order to treat their patients to the best of their abilities. The work environment is typically positive and unified as the rheumatologists and other hospital staff all work together for their common goal of patient health and satisfaction.
A high school student aspiring to become a rheumatologist is still a ways away from reaching that stage, but they can still begin preparing through the classes they take. Students are recommended to take advanced biology, anatomy, and physiology classes to learn more about the human anatomy and its functions. In relations to math, students can take classes along the lines of calculus and statistics to challenge themselves and evolve their comprehension skills. Pertaining more so to rheumatology, students can begin contacting local rheumatologists to inquire about shadowing them to gain a better knowledge of what a rheumatologist does in a day at the hospital. On the other hand, students, especially those in college, can begin looking for research opportunities that focus on issues pertaining to rheumatology and the diseases that are studied within it. Aside from the student's intellectual capabilities, however, medical schools and undergraduate programs search for well-rounded students that exemplify leadership and teamwork skills through activities such as officer positions and sports activities.
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