20
February
2018
|
07:00 AM
America/New_York

Growing Shortage of Rheumatologists "Very Concerning"

The Arthritis Foundation journalist Jennifer Davis reported that the shortage of rheumatologists will worsen over the next decade.

According to the article, 50 percent of rheumatologists plan to retire in the next 10 years. Currently, there aren't enough young physicians to replace them.

Additionally, the demand for arthritis care in adults will increase between 25 to 50 percent by 2030.

HSS rheumatologist Anne R. Bass, MD, commented on the growing issue and said there is likely to be a push to train other medical practitioners to assist rheumatologists with less complicated patients.

"More and more we are realizing we have to do more outreach into nursing schools and to physician assistants. We have focused a lot on medical schools and residents but done less on the health professional side, and that is an untapped resource," said Dr. Bass.

Read the full article at blog.arthritis.org