Clinical Fellowship Awards Support Next Generation Rheumatologists

By Vandana Suresh | July 15, 2025

The Arthritis Foundation, a longstanding supporter of rheumatology, is proud to announce the 2025 Clinical Rheumatology Fellowship awards totaling $825,000. With a history of local fellowship support, the Foundation's 2018 launch of a national program has been a significant investment, totaling nearly $6.5 million and supporting 54 rheumatology fellows.

This year’s fellowship awardees are Baylor College of Medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital, Duke University and the University of Utah. This funding supports innovative approaches in training to prepare the next generation of rheumatologists to meet the evolving needs of rheumatology in different communities across the United States.

Starting this year, the award amount is $75,000 per year, and the Foundation has adjusted the funding duration to coincide with the board eligibility duration of each program, that is, two, three or four years for adult, pediatric and combined adult-pediatric programs, respectively.

A significant threat to rheumatology care is the shortage of the physician workforce. The gap between the demand for rheumatology care is projected to exceed the supply of rheumatologists such that by 2030, an additional 4,729 adult rheumatologists will be needed to meet patient demands. To facilitate the development of the rheumatology workforce, Duke University will utilize its fellowship award to expand its Adult Rheumatology Fellowship Program from six to seven accredited training slots. 

This year, three rheumatology fellowship awards have been conferred to pediatric rheumatology programs. Baylor College of Medicine will use its award to train future leaders in pediatric rheumatology through advanced clinical training, innovative research and personalized professional development. The program's strong emphasis on recruiting fellows who are underrepresented in medicine ensures that the future physician pool reflects the diverse patient population it serves.

The Arthritis Foundation Fellowship Award will also support the continuation of the Boston Children’s Hospital fellowship program, which contributes to increasing the pool of highly skilled pediatric rheumatologists needed to treat arthritis and rheumatic diseases. 

With the support of the Foundation, the University of Utah will train its fellows in the skills necessary to practice pediatric rheumatology in areas of medical shortage.     

“The Fellowship program was created to ensure that there is ongoing support from the Foundation in building the rheumatology physician workforce,” says Steve Taylor, president and CEO of the Arthritis Foundation. “We consider this program as one of the core priorities of our science initiatives.”