Welcome from the Program Director
Thank you for your interest in the University of Arizona College of Medicine - Tucson Rheumatology Fellowship Program! Our goal is to prepare graduates to become future leaders in the field of rheumatology, be it in academic medicine, community practice, or industry.
Our two-year fellowship is structured to provide a broad range of educational experiences and encompasses the areas of clinical rheumatology, research, and teaching. You will learn to recognize, diagnose, and manage a range of rheumatologic and musculoskeletal diseases. You will have continuity clinics at Banner University Medical (BUMC)-South, an academic medical center that is focused on providing exceptional patient care and teaching health care professionals. You will also spend time on our inpatient consult service that provides exceptional care to patients at BUMC-South and BUMC-Tucson, a premier academic facility that is nationally recognized and is located on the campus of the University of Arizona in Tucson. At both sites, you will be exposed to complex and challenging cases such as vasculitis and lupus, balanced by the more common conditions in rheumatology.
In addition, you will rotate at the Tucson VA Medical Center that serves veterans across southern Arizona and western New Mexico. At the VA, you will learn to manage those with crystalline arthropathies and have opportunities to hone your skills in joint aspirations and joint/soft tissue injection. A unique aspect of our program, you will also rotate at the Pascua Yaqui Medical Specialty Clinic and the San Xavier Clinic. We take pride in serving the Native American population of Southern Arizona.
In addition to hands-on clinical training, we offer a comprehensive didactic curriculum covering core rheumatology topics, various educational lectures in our weekly Rheumatology Grand Rounds, and several other educational activities. We have a monthly Journal Club and several multidisciplinary conferences, including a quarterly joint Rheumatology/Pathology/Nephrology conference.
We also conduct various types of research in the Division of Rheumatology. The Arthritis Center supports various clinical trials in rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus, and other autoimmune and musculoskeletal diseases. Faculty in the last decade, along with fellows and other trainees, have conducted various types of translational, clinical, and health services research. We have collaborated with epidemiologists, radiologists, biostatisticians, orthopedic surgeons, and various other scientific investigators to work on various multidisciplinary research projects.
We are proud to be the oldest and most established fellowship program in the state of Arizona. We have trained many of the bests rheumatologists currently practicing in the state of Arizona. We have also trained rheumatologists now practicing in various other regions in the country and the world.
We are excited to have the opportunity to train many of you in the future and look forward to welcoming you the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Tucson, Arizona.
Bear Down!
Ernest R. Vina, MD, MS
Professor of Medicine
Rheumatology Fellowship Program Director