Leo shares observership experience in Rheumatology at the University of Texas

The Section provided support to Leonid Zamora, MD for a 1 month observership at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston from November 16 to December 15, 2015. His faculty sponsor was Prof. Filemon K. Tan, MD, PhD whom he “shadowed” at the Frank C. Arnett Center for Immunobiology and Autoimmunity located on the 4th floor of the University of Texas Professional Building at 6410 Fannin Street. The exposure included out-patient clinic consultations in the center, attendance to different rheumatology conferences counting in the multi-specialty conferences where the specialists share and discuss cases common to them, the Wednesday and Friday musculoskeletal ultrasound “procedure” days where diagnostic and therapeutic injections were done by Dr. Tan and the 2nd year rheumatology fellows (Carolina, Mary Catherine and Dane). He was also privileged to have met Dr. John D. Reveille and Dr. Maureen D. Mayes whose special interests are spondyloarthropathies and scleroderma respectively. He would also like to thank Dr. Binh Nguyen, MD, a junior rheumatology consultant, for allowing him to “shadow” with him during his Wednesday procedure day and sharing his clinical cases.

It has been a month of learning and looking at different perspectives in managing and treating rheumatologic diseases. However short the stay was, the experience has been enlightening to say the least. A quote by anonymous: “People do not have the exact same thoughts and feelings about everything. They have different ideas and opinions based on their experiences in life. Taking another’s perspective means trying to see things from his/her point of view. When we are willing and able to see things from another’s perspective, we can learn things we didn’t know before.”

Remember, you don’t know everything – We can all learn something from the people around us if we take the time to look at things from their perspectives – whether here or on a foreign land.
Thank you to the Rheumatology Educational Trust Foundation Inc. especially Prof. Sandra V. Navarra, MD for the unwavering support for the education and development of young rheumatologists.