Join an AWIR Watch Party Near You! 💜 Connect with colleagues, share insights, and expand your rheumatology knowledge at an upcoming AWIR watch party! On October 24 from 12:00 PM to 3:45 PM EST, join us for the virtual summit, “Navigating the Overlap of Obesity and Psoriatic Diseases.” This educational program offers 1.5 CME/MOC credits and an opportunity to engage with important topics in rheumatology alongside the AWIR community. ✨ Registration is free! Gather with fellow healthcare professionals, strengthen connections, and be part of the conversation shaping rheumatology care. 🔗 Visit awirgroup.org/summit-oct-202… to register and learn more. #AWIR #Rheumatology #PsoriaticDisease #Obesity #CME

There is a specific kind of exhaustion in being told to prescribe something you already know will not work for this patient, because a policy requires them to fail it first. If you have sat in that appointment feeling powerless, you are not alone and you are not overreacting. Step therapy and non-medical switching are both on AWIR's official policy priorities, along with accumulator adjustment programs and prior authorization. We say it plainly: patients should not suffer because of arbitrary changes or fail-first requirements in their pharmacy benefits, and none of it should be undermining your role in clinical decision making. Our board and our advocates have spoken before Congress, lobbied state and federal representatives, and organized around these exact issues. You do not have to carry this alone in a clinic room. Bring it here: awirgroup.org/advocacy/advoc…

In much of the world, a patient with inflammatory arthritis will never see a rheumatologist. Not because the disease is rare, but because specialists are concentrated in a handful of cities, and sometimes in a handful of countries. If you are the only rheumatologist for a whole region, or the internist doing your best without one anywhere nearby, we want you to know that we think about you often. That is part of why AWIR keeps its education open to everyone. Our Summits are free and open to the whole rheumatology community, in the US and beyond, with hundreds of participants joining each year from more than 20 countries. Every generalist who learns to recognize inflammatory disease early, start appropriate treatment and know when to refer is quietly extending the reach of this specialty. #AWIR #GlobalHealth #Rheumatology #PatientAccess #FreeCME

Got plans next Saturday, October 24? Lunch is on us. AWIR Local Chapters are hosting Watch Parties for our free virtual Summit on GLP-1/GIP therapies in psoriatic disease. Livestream the experts, then talk through the data and your cases with clinicians in rheumatology, endocrinology, and related specialties in your area who share your patients. Earn 1.5 CME/MOC, meet your local referral network, and leave with answers you can use in clinic on Monday. Join us in Albany, Anchorage, Bethlehem, Buffalo, Dallas, Denver, Fort Lauderdale, Iowa City, Jacksonville, Marlboro, Minneapolis, Richmond, Roanoke, Sacramento, San Juan (PR), Toronto (Canada), or Wichita. Seats at each table are limited. Register now to save your spot. awirgroup.org/summit-oct-202…

Most of us were raised to believe that discussing pay is rude. That norm has cost women in medicine an enormous amount of money. The numbers are not subtle. Male physicians still earn more per hour than female physicians, and the gap widens for women who have children. Black physicians earn almost $50,000 less per year on average than their White counterparts. Compounded across a career, that stops being a gap and becomes a different financial life. AWIR names the gender pay gap as an official policy priority, and our EDI work goes after the mechanics behind it: fair paychecks, transparent promotion criteria, and the structures that quietly decide who gets considered at all. We also give members practical help, including contract review techniques and negotiation skills through our practice development support. You are allowed to ask what the band is. And you are allowed to ask us for help before you do: [LINK] #AWIR #EDI #PayEquity #WomenInMedicine #Rheumatology

Running an independent rheumatology practice comes with unique challenges, from ensuring patients can access the therapies they need to managing the day-to-day demands of running a practice. As Dr. Grace Wright explains, AWIR is committed to supporting physicians beyond traditional education, mentorship, and advocacy. Through its Independent Practice Committee, AWIR focuses on the specific needs of independent practitioners, providing support around access to therapies, practice management training, and the resources needed to help community practices thrive. Independent practitioners play an essential role in delivering rheumatology care. By listening to their needs and connecting them with the right resources, AWIR helps strengthen the practices that serve patients and communities every day. Because when independent practices thrive, the entire rheumatology community benefits. #AWIR #Rheumatology #IndependentPractice #PhysicianSupport #MedicalEducation

Every one of us has one. The patient who does not fit the pattern. The presentation you were still reading about at midnight. The treatment decision you are quietly second-guessing a month later. Textbooks are not much help with those. Colleagues are. Case discussion is one of the best things our Local Chapters do, and it works because the room is small enough for honesty. People admit what they are unsure about. Somebody mentions a similar patient. The conversation goes somewhere a formal lecture never would. You do not need a rare diagnosis to bring a case. The hard ones are usually ordinary diseases behaving strangely. And you certainly do not need to have it figured out before you walk in. That is rather the point of asking. #AWIR #LocalChapters #Rheumatology #CaseDiscussion #WomenInRheumatology

Your patients with psoriatic disease are ready for GLP-1s. Are you? The guidelines say weight loss matters, but they don't say which drugs to choose or how to fit them alongside PsD therapy in complex, comorbid patients. AWIR's final CME Virtual Summit of 2026 brings obesity medicine expert Dr. Juliana Simonetti and PsA specialist Dr. Alexis Ogdie together for practical, clinic-ready guidance: patient selection, sequencing, and integration with PsD treatment. The summit is built for the whole care team. Rheumatology, endocrinology, and anyone co-managing these patients is welcome. Watch from home, or join colleagues at a local AWIR Watch Party to trade cases and compare notes. October 24 | 12:00–3:45 PM ET | Free | 1.5 CME/MOC Register: awirgroup.org/summit-oct-202…

The leadership gap in rheumatology isn't just a pipeline problem. Women make up a growing share of our specialty, but chiefs, chairs, and institutional leaders still don't reflect that. Women are less likely to be promoted, even after adjusting for experience and productivity. They're less likely to have sponsors championing them. And many qualified women never apply at all. At AWIR, we're closing that gap together: Sponsorship and mentorship from peers who want to see you succeed Leadership training and business skills you didn't get in fellowship Stepping stones into leadership through local chapters, committees, and advocacy A women-led community that brings men in as partners, sponsors, and advocates Ready to lead? Start with AWIR. Already leading? Join us and be the sponsor someone else needs. Become a member today: awirgroup.org/become-a-membe…

Semaglutide, liraglutide, tirzepatide - and a growing pipeline of GLP-1/GIP drugs racing toward the same target: inflammation. Early data suggests these therapies could downregulate inflammatory markers, ease psoriatic disease symptoms, and boost the effectiveness of disease-modifying treatments. But rheumatology-specific evidence is still thin, leaving clinicians uncertain on patient selection and therapeutic sequencing. Juliana Simonetti, MD (University of Utah) and Alexis Ogdie, MD, MSCE (University of Pennsylvania) break down what the emerging data actually means for PsD care at AWIR's upcoming Virtual Summit. Free, CME-accredited, virtual or at a local Watch Party. awirgroup.org/summit-oct-202…

Many patients never hear about a clinical trial simply because the conversation feels hard to start and the visit is already full. If that is you, you are far from alone, and there is a gentler way in. What tends to work is short and honest. Here is where we are with your current treatment. Here is a study I think is worth considering. Here is what taking part would actually involve. And here is what happens if you say no. That last part matters more than most of us expect. Patients often assume declining will affect their care. Saying plainly that it will not removes the biggest barrier in the room. Trials are not a last resort. For the right patient at the right moment they are a real option, and offering one is a kindness rather than a request. AWIR's clinical research work exists to make this easier for you. #AWIR #ClinicalTrials #Rheumatology #PatientCare #SharedDecisionMaking

A lot of clinicians assume research belongs to someone else. Big academic center, protected time, a lab down the hall. We would like to gently retire that idea. Some of the most useful questions in rheumatology come from clinicians in community practice who noticed a pattern nobody had written down yet. Which patients relapse after tapering. How access barriers change adherence. What actually happens when a treatment plan meets a real payer. AWIR's clinical research committee has years of experience in both basic and clinical research, and we comply with Good Clinical Practice guidelines. What that means for you is that the methodology support already exists. You do not have to build any of it yourself. We invite members to submit proposals that evaluate gaps in patient access to specialists or to approved treatments. If that sounds like something you have opinions about, you are exactly who we are hoping to hear from. #AWIR #ClinicalResearch #Rheumatology #PatientAccess #WomenInRheumatology

"There is no chapter near me." We hear this a lot, and every single time we think the same thing. Then let us fix that together. More than 70 of our Local Chapters exist because one clinician decided the colleagues around them deserved a place to meet. Not an institution, not a budget line. One person who made the first call and let us help with everything after that. If you have been quietly wishing there was something like this in your area, you are almost certainly the right person to start it. You know who should be in the room. We handle the structure, the support and the connection to the wider AWIR network. The same is true internationally. Our global chapters in places like Ghana, Vietnam, Lebanon, Uruguay and Poland all started exactly this way, and we would love to add your country to the map. Reach out and we will walk you through it: awirgroup.org/meetings/local… #AWIR #LocalChapters #Rheumatology #Leadership #WomenInRheumatology

One week until AWIR's CAR T-Cell Therapy Summit! On the agenda: an accredited session with Bradley Hunter, MD (Intermountain Health) and Sheetal Desai, MD, MSEd (UC Irvine) unpacking mechanisms, eligibility, safety data, and real-world adoption strategies for CAR T-cell therapy in autoimmune disease. Plus, 1.5 CME/MOC. Join virtually from anywhere, or find a Watch Party near you - AWIR Local Chapters are hosting gatherings across the country for live streaming and discussion with colleagues in your area. Free and open to all HCPs. Register at awirgroup.org/summit-sep-202…

Big congresses can be lonely in a way nobody really talks about. Thousands of people, a packed agenda, and somehow you still end up eating lunch alone looking at your phone. If you see the AWIR booth or one of our receptions, please come over. You do not need a reason, you do not need to be a member, and you do not need to already know anyone. That is genuinely what it is there for. To be the corner of a very large meeting where somebody knows your name by the end of the conversation, where you can meet chapter leaders from your region, and where you can ask what AWIR is without anyone making you feel like you should have known. Bring whoever came with you. Bring the fellow attending for the first time who looks a little lost, because every one of us has been that person. Come say hi: awirgroup.org/summit-sep-202… #AWIR #Rheumatology #MedicalConference #WomenInRheumatology #MedicalCommunity

We hear a version of the same sentence all the time. "I am not sure I count." The APP who carries half the panel. The fellow who is not sure they have earned a seat yet. The male colleague who assumed an organization for women in rheumatology was not meant for him. The clinician outside the US who wondered whether this was a North American thing. All of you count. All of you are already welcome here. AWIR membership is open to health care providers whose practices involve the treatment of patients with rheumatic diseases. Physicians, advanced practice providers, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, fellows, medical students and residents, PhDs and PharmDs working in the field, and non-rheumatology clinicians who care for these patients too. Our leadership is 100% women. Our membership is 30% men. That is not a contradiction, it is the whole idea. Our mission is to advance women in rheumatology and to advocate for the highest quality care for patients everywhere, and that work moves faster with everyone in the room. Fellows, medical students and residents join free. Come in: awirgroup.org/become-a-membe… #AWIR #Membership #Rheumatology #WomenInRheumatology #Fellows

Weight-management therapies are emerging as a real tool in psoriatic disease (PsD) care - significant weight loss can lower inflammatory markers, ease joint and skin symptoms, and improve how well biologics work. With new GLP-1 and GIP drugs on the market and demand rising fast among patients, rheumatology teams need a clear plan for contraindications, biologic adjustments, and long-term care. Juliana Simonetti, MD (University of Utah) and Alexis Ogdie, MD, MSCE (University of Pennsylvania) lead AWIR's Obesity and PsD Virtual Summit with a practical, evidence-based playbook you can bring straight into clinic. Free, CME-accredited, virtual or at a local Watch Party. Register: awirgroup.org/summit-oct-202…

Preclinical data and case series are showing something remarkable: CAR T-cell therapy may drive high rates of drug-free remission in severe autoimmune disease. Multiple clinical trials are underway now, with preliminary results already surfacing at major rheumatology congresses in 2026. Are you up to date? Join Bradley Hunter, MD and Sheetal Desai, MD, MSEd at AWIR's Virtual Summit to learn how emerging CAR T therapies compare, which patients are candidates, what the trial data actually shows, and how to build the inter-professional strategy this will require. Free, CME-accredited, available virtually or at a local Watch Party. Register at: awirgroup.org/summit-sep-202…

Somewhere in your panel there is a patient who would have said yes. Nobody ever offered. Not out of neglect, but because the visit ran short, the study did not come to mind, or there simply was no trial within reach of where they live. That gap is one of the things AWIR was built to close. The Alliance, our clinical research arm, exists to engage members and partners in research that improves the treatment of rheumatic diseases and patients' lives, and to find better avenues of access to specialty care. One of our current priorities is improving enrollment of underrepresented populations in rheumatology research. It matters because the evidence all of us practice from is only as representative as the people who were invited into it. If your practice has ever considered participating and did not know where to start, you do not have to work it out alone. We have members who have already done it and are glad to tell you what the first year really looked like. #AWIR #ClinicalTrials #Rheumatology #ClinicalResearch #HealthEquity

GLP-1 and GIP use is exploding - and obesity affects a high percentage of psoriatic disease patients. Is your treatment protocol ready? Obesity and Psoriatic Diseases (PsD) share real inflammatory pathways, and weight management measurably moves disease markers. The open questions: which therapies fit which patients, who has contraindications, how existing PsD therapy should shift once a GLP-1 or GIP enters the picture, and what to do when drugs aren't an option. AWIR's October Virtual Summit brings rheumatology and obesity experts together to answer all of it. Free, CME-accredited, available virtually or at a local Watch Party. Register today: awirgroup.org/summit-oct-202…