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The Division of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology at Duke University Medical Center is committed to
- providing outstanding care of patients with the full range of rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases,
- promoting excellence in basic and clinical research, and
- offering state-of-the-art training to medical students, house officers, fellows, and other health professionals.
In the pursuit of these goals, the Division has refined its systems for the delivery of clinical care while investing resources to enhance its teaching and research programs.
The Division strives to provide efficient, cost-effective, and compassionate care for patients with rheumatic disease. This goal requires a major investment in information systems because of the complexity of seeing patients in a managed care environment and the need for communication among providers to improve longitudinal care. Toward that end, the Division has been working on computer systems to better access data for patient care and simplify record keeping. Furthermore, the Division has been working cooperatively with other services caring for patients with rheumatic disease to share information systems and achieve more uniform and streamlined care.
In the teaching area, the Division has been a leader in incorporating house officers into subspecialty clinics and expanding training opportunities for individuals interested in primary care and general internal medicine. Given the frequency of musculoskeletal problems seen in general practice, it is critical that providers have adequate instruction in the essentials of rheumatological diagnosis and treatment. At Duke, Dr. E. William St. Clair has built a program to provide expanded opportunities for trainees to work under the direct supervision of members of the Private Diagnostic Clinic. As evidenced by the awards received by divisional members for their teaching, these activities have been very valuable and esteemed by students.
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