Activity Overview

The Advanced Rheumatology Course is a 19-activity series for advanced practice providers and other professionals who need a deeper dive into rheumatology. The series covers how to assess and manage patients with rheumatic disease, develop strategies to integrate NP/PAs into rheumatology practice, and improve access to care for patients. The advanced information will help experienced practice providers function well in rheumatology and foster inter-professional collaboration.

Advanced Rheumatology Course Series

This activity includes all activities in the series.

Target Audience

Advanced practice nurses and physician assistants. Fellows-in training, residents, students, primary care providers, physical therapists, and researchers may also benefit.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this activity, participants should be able to: 

• Assess and manage patients with rheumatic diseases as part of an interprofessional collaborative care team
• Develop strategies to integrate the nurse practitioner and physician assistant into a collaborative rheumatology practice
• Assist in decreasing wait times for appointments and improve access to care for patients with rheumatic disease by improving the competence and performance of nurse practitioners and physician assistants in a collaborative rheumatology practice

ACCME Accreditation Statement

The American College of Rheumatology is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

AMA Designation Statement

The American College of Rheumatology designates this enduring material for a maximum of 25.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity. 

Financial Relationships Disclosures

ACR Disclosure Statement

It is the policy of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) to ensure that Continuing Medical Education (CME) activities are independent and free of commercial bias. To ensure educational content is objective, balanced, and guarantee content presented is in the best interest of its learners' and the public, the ACR requires that everyone in a position to control educational content disclose all financial relationships with ineligible companies within the prior 24 months. An ineligible company is one whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients. Examples can be found at http://accme.org .

In accordance with the ACCME Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Education, ACR has implemented mechanisms prior to the planning and implementation of this CME activity to identify and mitigate all relevant financial relationships for all individuals in a position to control the content of this CME activity.

Nature of Financial Relationships

All individuals involved or able to influence the content of this accredited activity have disclosed to the editorial team and audience any/all financial or other relationship(s) including, but not limited to:

1. Advisor or review panel member
2. Consultant
3. Employee
4. Officer or Board Member
5. Grant/research support
6. Speaker/honoraria includes speaker’s bureau, symposia, and expert witness
7. Independent contractor
8. Executive role and/or ownership interest
9. Royalties and/or patent beneficiary
10. Intellectual property/patents
11. Stock options or bond holdings in a for-profit corporation or self-directed pension plan
12. Private investigator
13. Expert witness
14. Equity interest
15. Other: specify details

None: Has no relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.

All participants that created and/or were able to influence the content and delivery of this activity reported the following disclosures. All of the relevant financial relationships listed have been mitigated. 

ARC01: Musculoskeletal Structure And Function And Inflammation And Immunity

Authors/Planners

• Kenneth S. O’Rourke, MD - No relevant financial relationships to disclose
• Rachel M. Wolfe, MD - No relevant financial relationships to disclose

Editors and Reviewers

• Daniel Schaffer, MD – No relevant financial relationships to disclose
• Anneke Smith – No relevant financial relationships to disclose
• Ben Smith, DMSc, PA-C, DFAAPA – No relevant financial relationships to disclose

ARC02: Framework for Clinical Decision Making in Rheumatology

Author

• Megan Lockwood, MD - No relevant financial relationships to disclose

Editors and Reviewers

• Jennifer Grossman, MD - No relevant financial relationships to disclose
• Anneke Smith – No relevant financial relationships to disclose
• Sonam Kiwalkar, MD – No relevant financial relationships to disclose

ARC03:  Laboratory Evaluation of Rheumatic Disease

Author

• Beth Jonas, MD – No relevant financial relationships to disclose

Editors and Reviewers

• Laurie Hughell, MPH, PA-C - No relevant financial relationships to disclose 
• Anneke Smith – No relevant financial relationships to disclose
• Ben Smith, DMSc, PA-C, DFAAPA – No relevant financial relationships to disclose

ARC04: Imaging of Arthritis

Author

• Beth Jonas, MD – No relevant financial relationships to disclose

Editors and Reviewers

• Laurie Hughell, MPH, PA-C - No relevant financial relationships to disclose
• Anneke Smith – No relevant financial relationships to disclose
• Ben Smith, DMSc, PA-C, DFAAPA – No relevant financial relationships to disclose

ARC05: Coding And Practice Issues

Author

• J. Eugene Huffstutter, MD - No relevant financial relationships to disclose

Editors and Reviewers

• Fredrica Smith, MD - No relevant financial relationships to disclose
• Julie Lahti - No relevant financial relationships to disclose
• Ben Smith, DMSc, PA-C, DFAAPA - No relevant financial relationships to disclose

ARC06: Therapeutic Interventions And Resources

Authors/Planners

• Donna Everix, MPH, PT - No relevant financial relationships to disclose
• Jennifer Trizuto, DPT - No relevant financial relationships to disclose

Editors and Reviewers

• Marie Westby, PT, PhD - Janssen Canada⁵; Ended 2020; Pfizer⁵; Ended 2020
• Julie Lahti - No relevant financial relationships to disclose
• Ben Smith, DMSc, PA-C, DFAAPA - No relevant financial relationships to disclose

ARC07: Osteoarthritis

Authors/Planners

• Abhijeet Danve, MD – AbbVie/Abbott¹; Novartis¹ 
• Yuliya Afinogenova, MD - No relevant financial relationships to disclose 
• Swetha Alexander, MD - No relevant financial relationships to disclose 

Editors and Reviewers

• Janeth Yinh, MD – No relevant financial relationships to disclose 
• Anneke Smith – No relevant financial relationships to disclose 
• Sonam Kiwalkar, MD – No relevant financial relationships to disclose

ARC08: RA and Seronegative Inflammatory Arthropathies

Author

• Gregory C. Gardner, MD, MACP – No relevant financial relationships to disclose

Editors and Reviewers

• Sheila Arvikar, MD – No relevant financial relationships to disclose
• Julie Lahti - No relevant financial relationships to disclose
• Sonam Kiwalkar, MD – No relevant financial relationships to disclose

ARC09: Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Authors/Planners

• Mary Chester Wasko, MD, AbbVie/Abbott²; AstraZeneca²; EMD Serono²; GlaxoSmithKlein²; HGS²; Roche²
• Joanna Marco, MD – No relevant financial relationships to disclose

Editors and Reviewers

• Paul Monach, MD, PhD – Celgene¹; Chemocentryx⁶; Kiniksa¹⁶
• Anneke Smith – No relevant financial relationships to disclose
• Marcy Bolster, MD – AbbVie²; American Board of Internal Medicine: Chair, ABIM Rheumatology Board⁶; Amgen²; Corbus Pharmaceuticals²; Cumberland²; Genentech²; Gilead Sciences⁵; Johnson & Johnson¹; Pfizer²

ARC10: Systemic Inflammatory Conditions

Authors/Planners

• Jason Kolfenbach, MD: ChemoCentryx⁵ 
• Tara Skorupa, MD: No relevant financial relationships to disclose

Editors and Reviewers

• Zsuzsanna McMahon – No relevant financial relationships to disclose
• Marcy Bolster, MD – AbbVie²; American Board of Internal Medicine: Chair, ABIM Rheumatology Board⁶; Amgen²; Corbus Pharmaceuticals²; Cumberland²; Genentech²; Gilead Sciences⁵; Johnson & Johnson¹; Pfizer²
• Julie Lahti – No relevant financial relationships to disclose

ARC11: Vasculitis, Arteritis and PMR

Authors/Planners

• Anisha Dua, MD - AbbVie/Abbott^{5, 8}; ChemoCentryx⁵; Novartis⁵
• Josh Waytz, MD – No relevant financial relationships to disclose

Editors and Reviewers

• Paul Monach, MD, PhD – Celgene¹; Chemocentryx⁶; Kiniksa
• Anneke Smith – No relevant financial relationships to disclose
• Marcy Bolster, MD – AbbVie²; American Board of Internal Medicine: Chair, ABIM Rheumatology Board⁶; Amgen²; Corbus Pharmaceuticals²; Cumberland²; Genentech²; Gilead Sciences⁵; Johnson & Johnson¹; Pfizer²

ARC12:  Crystal-Induced Arthropathies

Author

• Puja Khanna, MD – DYVE²; Horizon^1,2,5; Select^1,2

Editors and Reviewers

• Chio Yokose, MD – No relevant financial relationships to disclose
• Anneke Smith – No relevant financial relationships to disclose
• Sonam Kiwalkar, MD – No relevant financial relationships to disclose

ARC13: Pain Syndromes

Author

• Andrew Heisler, MD – No relevant financial relationships to disclose

Editors and Reviewers

• Sonam Kiwalkar, MD – No relevant financial relationships to disclose
• Christine Stamatos, DNP – No relevant financial relationships to disclose 
• Julie Lahti – No relevant financial relationships to disclose

ARC14: Spondyloarthritis

Authors/Planners

• Atul Deodhar, MD -  AbbVie/Abbott⁵²⁸;  Amgen⁵²⁸;  BMS⁵²⁸;  Boheringer Ingelheim⁵²⁸;  Celgene⁵²⁸;  Gilead⁵²⁸;  Glapagos⁵²⁸;  Janssen⁵²⁸;  Lilly⁵²⁸;  Novartis⁵²⁸;  Pfizer⁵²⁸;  UCB⁵²⁸
• Anand Kumthekar, MD – No relevant financial relationships to disclose

Editors and Reviewers

• Abhijeet Danve, MD – AbbVie/Abbott¹; Novartis¹
• Anneke Smith – No relevant financial relationships to disclose
• Sonam Kiwalkar, MD – No relevant financial relationships to disclose

ARC15: Infection-Related Arthritis

Authors/Planners

• Robert A. Kalish, MD – No relevant financial relationships to disclose
• Janet Hong, MD – No relevant financial relationships to disclose
• Frank Scangarello, MD, PhD – No relevant financial relationships to disclose

Editors and Reviewers

• Michael Battistone, MD – American Board of Internal Medicine Rheumatology Exam Committee⁶: Advisor or Review Panel member
• Anneke Smith – No relevant financial relationships to disclose
• Marcy Bolster, MD – AbbVie²; American Board of Internal Medicine: Chair, ABIM Rheumatology Board⁶; Amgen²; Corbus Pharmaceuticals²; Cumberland²; Genentech²; Gilead Sciences⁵; Johnson & Johnson¹; Pfizer²

ARC16: Osteoporosis And Other Metabolic Bone Disorders

Author

• Sarah Keller, MD – No relevant financial relationships to disclose

Editors and Reviewers

• Alfred Denio, MD –  Abbvie⁸; Bristol-Myers Squibb⁵
• Marcy Bolster, MD – AbbVie²; American Board of Internal Medicine: Chair, ABIM Rheumatology Board⁶; Amgen²; Corbus Pharmaceuticals²; Cumberland²; Genentech²; Gilead Sciences⁵; Johnson & Johnson¹; Pfizer²
• Julie Lahti – No relevant financial relationships to disclose

ARC17: Comprehensive Overview of Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA)

Author

• Betsy Roth-Wojcicki, RN, MS, CPNP-PC - No relevant financial relationships to disclose

Editors and Reviewers

• Heather Benham, APRN, CPNP, DNP, RhMSUS – No relevant financial relationships to disclose
• Anneke Smith - No relevant financial relationships to disclose
• Ben Smith, DMSc, PA-C, DFAAPA – No relevant financial relationships to disclose

ARC18: Comprehensive Overview of Pediatric Connective Tissue Diseases (CTD)

Author

• Heather Benham, DNP, APRN, CPNP-PC, RhMSUS – No relevant financial relationships to disclose

Editors and Reviewers

• Natasha Ruth, MD, MS – No relevant financial relationships to disclose
• Marcy Bolster, MD – AbbVie²; American Board of Internal Medicine: Chair, ABIM Rheumatology Board⁶; Amgen²; Corbus Pharmaceuticals²; Cumberland²; Genentech²; Gilead Sciences⁵; Johnson & Johnson¹; Pfizer²
• Julie Lahti – No relevant financial relationships to disclose

ARC19: Pediatric Noninflammatory Musculoskeletal Pain

Author

• Bethany A. Marston, MD – No relevant financial relationships to disclose

Editors and Reviewers

• Susan Shenoi, MS, MBBS, RhMSUS – Pfizer⁵
• Julie Lahti - No relevant financial relationships to disclose
• Sonam Kiwalkar, MD – No relevant financial relationships to disclose

*All of the relevant financial relationships listed for these individuals have been mitigated.

Acknowledgement of Commercial Support

The project was supported by Grant number 1 NU58DP006908-03-00 – Component A; Developing and Disseminating Programs to Build Sustainable Lupus Awareness, Knowledge, Skills and Partnerships. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Educational Activity Policies

See ACR educational activity policies, including the online enduring activity refund policy.