By Dr Irwin Lim, Rheumatologist
Off to Noosa tomorrow. On Australia's Sunshine Coast. It's meant to be beautiful but I'm not there for a holiday.
I've been invited to deliver a talk at the Australian Rheumatology Association's Queensland Branch's Annual Meeting. It promises to be a casual, cordial event. I was chuffed to be invited.
The topic: BJC Health's multidisciplinary approach
It's really nice when colleagues want to hear about our particular style of practice.
The abstract I wrote to describe my talk:
Why bother with a Multidisciplinary Rheumatology Clinic (in private practice)?
I work as a rheumatologist & director of BJC Health, a multisite, multidisciplinary rheumatology practice. Over 10 years, we have grown to include 30+ staff/contractors. It has been a bumpy process, exciting and painful, and so the obvious question is whether it's been worth it. I'll discuss this as well as share some of the mistakes made and lessons learnt to hopefully engage and educate you in some small way.
As I practiced the talk in my head tonight, it occurred to me, that there was another way to describe what BJC Health is striving to provide:
A rheumatology service that other rheumatologists would want for their own families.
High quality of course.
Comprehensive.
Coordinated and connected.
Convenient.
Caring.
Those seem worthwhile goals. Our clinic's not quite there yet but we have taken and will continue to take steps in the right direction.
Dr Irwin Lim is a rheumatologist and a director of BJC Health. You should follow him on twitter here. Arthritis requires an integrated approach. We call this, Connected Care. Contact us.