THE IMPACT OF RHEUMATOLOGY IN THE PRIMARY-CARE SETTING - ONE RHEUMATOLOGISTS ODYSSEY

I report my experience during one 6-month period as the sole rheumatol ogist running a weekly clinic at a small community hospital. The repor t illustrates the impact of rheumatologic expertise in an environment well-served by generalists and other medical subspecialists. This expe rience identifies important gaps in the education of generalists in in ternal medicine residency training programs. In particular, the abilit y to recognize and distinguish patients with the two most prevalent rh eumatic disorders, rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis, must be ta ught to generalists more effectively by rheumatologists.