Rheumatology

This program will provide the student with experience in the clinical and laboratory assessment of patients with rheumatic diseases at the UMMC and VAMC. Students take an active role in the management of both ambulatory and hospitalized patients. The student will assume supervised primary care for those patients admitted to members of the rheumatology staff and will attend daily teaching rounds where the clinical, radiological, and laboratory aspects of patients' diseases are discussed. Students will assume supervised primary care for patients that are being followed in the arthritis and lupus clinics at UMMC. At the VAMC, the student will assume supervised primary care for arthritis patients on the service of the rheumatology staff, will attend the arthritis clinic at the hospital, and will assist in providing consultations. At both hospitals, the students will receive instruction in performing joint injection, aspiration, and in synovial fluid analyses.