Over lunch with a friend, we discussed elevator pitches for her new business venture. I was trying to get her to explain what she did in a couple of sentences. It was difficult to do.
This afternoon, I thought I'd give it a go to describe what I do.
For the record, most people don’t know what rheumatologists do.
It's proved really difficult to describe accurately. And I've failed in keeping my pitch to a couple of sentences.
Rheumatologists are “arthritis” doctors, who deal with both mechanical/degenerative joint diseases and inflammatory joint diseases. In addition, we deal with most problems affecting muscles, tendons and ligaments, as well as a variety of autoimmune disease.
Our brief is very large. Our tools are typically a thorough history, a good examination and an investigative mind.
We communicate and plan treatment carefully. We use a combination of reassurance, education, medication, biomechanical improvement and lifestyle change to help.
I don't think I've done a particularly good job with this.
Do any of you have a better way to describe a rheumatologist in a few sentences?
