Course Director

Michael H. Weisman, MD
Director, Division of Rheumatology
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Professor of Medicine
David Geffen School of Medicine
University of California, Los Angeles

Faculty - New York

Lisa A. Mandl, MD, MPH, FRCPC
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Assistant Professor of Public Health
Weill Medical College of Cornell University
Assistant Attending Physician
Hospital for Special Surgery
New York, New York

Stephen A. Paget, MD, FACP, FACR
Physician-in-Chief and Chairman
Division of Rheumatology
Hospital for Special Surgery
The Joseph P. Routh Professor of Medicine
Weill Medical College of Cornell University
New York, New York

Sergio Schwartzman, MD
Franchellie M. Cadwell Associate Professor of Medicine
Weill Medical College, Cornell University
The Hospital for Special Surgery
New York Presbyterian Hospital
New York, New York

Faculty - San Francisco

Neal S. Birnbaum, MD, FACP, FACR
Director, Division of Rheumatology
California Pacific Medical Center
Clinical Professor of Medicine
University of California, San Francisco
San Francisco, California
Immediate Past President, American College of Rheumatology

Kenneth H. Fye, MD, FACP, FACR
Emeritus Professor of Clinical Medicine
Director, Volunteer Clinical Faculty Affairs
Department of Medicine
Rheumatologist, Arthritis and Joint Replacement Center
University of California, San Francisco
San Francisco, California

Lester D. Miller, MD
Adjunct Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine
Division of Rheumatology and Immunology
Stanford University School of Medicine
Stanford, California

• Examine joints and surrounding structures to make a differential diagnosis among acute and chronic rheumatic diseases.
• Perform injections to manage acute and chronic soft tissue and joint conditions and aspirate joints for diagnostic and therapeutic reasons.
• Incorporate long-term outcomes, including prognosis and risk, in patients with chronic rheumatic diseases when making therapeutic decisions.
• Prescribe pharmacological therapies for patients with rheumatic diseases according to evidence-based information and an appreciation about the natural progression of disease.
• Differentiate emergency conditions in rheumatology where immediate diagnosis and implementation of therapy is required.
• Identify patients whose management requires a consultation with a rheumatologist.

• More than 40 million people in the U.S., or one in every five, have some form of arthritis.
• Nearly 21 million people suffer from osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis.
• Rheumatic diseases are the leading cause of disability among persons age 65 and older.