Rheumatologists Should Lead the Way in Relationship-Centered Care

One of the hottest topics at a recent summit for rheumatology fellows wasn’t rheumatoid or psoriatic arthritis, but relationship building.

In the master class he led on communicating with patients, Leonard Calabrese, DO, of Cleveland Clinic’s Department of Rheumatic and Immunologic Diseases, explained how quality healthcare is delivered when providers and patients truly connect.

“I was a little reluctant to attempt a modeling of relationship-building to a group of mostly second-year fellows whom I suspected were looking for hard science at this summit,” he says. “Quite the contrary, the group remained thoroughly engaged, and many commented to me that topics such as ‘how to build relationships in clinical care’ and ‘how to buffer and build our empathy’ are long overdue in rheumatology training.”

Dr. Calabrese explains more about how good communication and connection can be learned — and how rheumatologists should lead the way — in this Healio Rheumatology editorial.