ACR on Air American College of Rheumatology

This week, we explore what the field of physical therapy can offer to our patient’s care plan. We examine the role of the physical therapist for our patients, the optimal time for a referral, specific interventions, the role of patient education and the importance of communication between rheumatologists and physical therapists. Our guest, Dr. Yasser Salem, a distinguished professor, program director, and active researcher, with over twenty years of experience as an educator, lends insight to the challenges physical therapists face, recent advancements in the field, physical therapy’s future in rheumatology and advice for those looking to join the field. This episode is our second installment in our series with ARP (you can find our latest here) 

Is there a future for AI (Artificial Intelligence) in Rheumatology? Technologies such as Chat GPT and Google’s Gemini are already reshaping the landscape of medicine. In this discussion, we explore its current impact, particularly in disease diagnosis within fields like radiology. We also delve into its potential: AI's promise to revolutionize personalized medicine, enhancing how patients manage rheumatic diseases, and its role in advancing remote patient monitoring. Additionally, we address critical limitations, including concerns around privacy, security, and ethical considerations, particularly in the context of employing large language models. 

By now, you likely have heard about CAR-T Cell therapy, but what exactly is it? Today, we dive headlong into this topic with Dr. Max Konig. We cover how this therapy works, how CAR-T Cells are made and administered to patients. We discuss the risks associated with this type of therapy, the side effects and their management. Lastly, we’ll discuss the rheumatic diseases amenable to CAR-T therapy, those that are not, the costs and ethics involved and what the future may hold for it in rheumatology. Enjoy! 

Internationally renowned Lyme Disease clinician and researcher, Dr. Allen Steere, joins us for a discussion on Lyme Arthritis. Dr. Steere explains the history of this disease, the historical identification of the borrelia spirochete which causes it, how Lyme Arthritis manifests and presents (including why severity can be vary greatly in patients) and explore the current challenges in its diagnosis. We also cover treatment and antibiotic therapies for the disease, what post-treatment syndromes are, how to treat them and how understanding Lyme Arthritis has improved our knowledge of other diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis.  

Expert researcher and clinician, Dr. Elana Bernstein, is our guest this week as we dive into lung disease brought on by Systemic Sclerosis (SS). We discuss symptoms, diagnosis, how systemic sclerosis affects the lungs, including pulmonary hypertension and interstitial lung disease. Dr. Bernstein, who has dedicated her career to improving patient outcomes in systemic sclerosis, explains her approach to screening for lung disease, plus the latest research and questions that need to be answered. 

This week, Dr. Hausmann takes on Ultrasound in Rheumatology, exploring its use in the field and diagnosing diseases such as Inflammatory Arthritis, Crystaline Arthropathy and Vasculitis. Dr. Minna Kohler, Founder and Director of the Musculoskeletal Ultrasound Program at Massachusetts General Hospital, joins us as our guest. Dr. Kohler discusses how Ultrasound can help therapeutically, what it's like working in an MSK Ultrasound clinic, plus how one can become trained in the use of Ultrasound, what the patient experience is like, the controversies surrounding the use of Ultrasound in rheumatology and what the future holds for it in our field.