Workforce & Clinical Care
The Arthritis Foundation’s Workforce & Clinical Care initiatives strengthen the rheumatology pipeline by expanding fellowship opportunities, recognizing excellence in arthritis research and leadership, supporting diverse pathways into rheumatology and advancing patient-reported outcomes research to improve care and quality of life.
The growing shortage of rheumatologists (both adult and pediatric) is expected to increase with the shrinking number of medical students specializing in rheumatology, combined with a growing number of patients as the population increases and ages. This shortage creates more barriers to care; subsequently, worsening disease outcomes, negatively impacting quality of life, decreasing productivity and increasing mortality rates. See how we're aiming to address the growing shortage of arthritis specialists, especially in under-served parts of the country.
Building the Future of Arthritis Care
Clinical Rheumatology Fellowships
The Arthritis Foundation’s fellowship initiative is part of the Foundation’s strategy to ensure access to medical care for the nearly 60 million adults and 300,000 children living with arthritis in the United States.
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Breaking Down Barriers to Care
Community Health Awards
The Arthritis Foundation is committed to increasing the number of specialists and supporting the training of a diverse generation of rheumatologists through our Community Health initiatives.
Learn MoreHonoring Excellence in Scientific Research & Volunteering
Howley Prizes for Arthritis Research
The Lee C. Howley Sr. Prize for Arthritis Scientific Research and the Lee C. Howley Jr. Prize for Early Career Investigators in Arthritis Research recognize those who have committed to advancing the Arthritis Foundation’s scientific agenda.
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Including Patient Voices in Arthritis Care
Patient-Reported Outcomes Grant Program
By supporting research in patient-reported outcomes (PROs), the Arthritis Foundation aims to improve treatments and quality of life for people with arthritis, while actively engaging them as partners to ensure studies reflect their real experiences and needs.
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2026 Inflammatory Arthritis Research Summit Highlights
The event focused on inflammatory arthritis, including psoriatic arthritis and axial spondyloarthritis.
Inflammatory Arthritis
For rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and other inflammatory forms of arthritis, we’re supporting new ways of identifying and validating promising biological targets for diagnostics and drug development.
Learn MoreOsteoarthritis
The Arthritis Foundation’s OA program is driving progress in osteoarthritis research by focusing on what matters most: better treatments, earlier intervention and lasting solutions.
Read MoreWorkforce & Clinical Care
The Arthritis Foundation’s workforce development efforts encompass our Community Health Program, Clinical Rheumatology Fellowship Program and our PROs (patient-reported outcomes) Program.
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