Rheumatology

Rheumatology is a branch of medicine that mainly deals with clinical problems involving joints, soft tissues and allied conditions of connective tissues.

The Rheumatology Division is comprised of nine community-based rheumatologists with full staff privileges at St. Paul's Hospital as well as clinical appointments with the University of British Columbia. The Division provides emergency and inpatient consultations, specialized clinics and private practice consultation services for the full spectrum of rheumatic and connective tissue disorders. Two Division Members, Drs. John Kelsall and Jim Dunne also regularly rotate as service chiefs for the Medical Clinical Teaching Units at St. Paul's Hospital.

Contact Information
Division of Rheumatology
c/o 802 - 1200 Burrard Street
Vancouver, B. C., V6Z 2C7
Telephone: 604-682-2344 ext 66171
Email: ternst@providencehealth.bc.ca

Head
Dr. Kamran Shojania, Division Head

Members
Dr. Kenneth Blocka, Clinical Professor
Dr. Simon Huang, Clinical Associate Professor

Dr. John Kelsall, Clinical Associate Professor
Dr. Alice Klinkhoff, Clinical Associate Professor
Dr. Kamran Shojania, Clinical Associate Professor and Head
Dr. Rhonda Shuckett, Clinical Associate Professor
Dr. Antonio Avina-Zubieta, Assistant Professor
Dr. Jennifer Reynolds, Clinical Instructor

Members of the Division are deeply committed to teaching throughout the undergraduate and postgraduate UBC Medical Training Programs as well as through continuing Health Education programs for physicians, nurses and allied health professionals.

All Division Members also enjoy a close liaison with the Mary Pack Arthritis Centre, which serves as the nucleus for clinical, educational and research activities for rheumatology in British Columbia. Activities include participation and attendance at the weekly Interhospital Rheumatology Rounds and attendance at specialized drug monitoring clinics most of which involve Resident and/or Fellow teaching. Several members of the Division also serve as investigators for a number of clinical trials conducted through the Arthritis Research Center of Canada, which is also housed at the Mary Pack Arthritis Center.

Teaching
As one of two academic teaching sites for the UBC College of Medicine, a full compliment of undergraduate and postgraduate trainees rotate through the St. Paul's Division of Rheumatology. These include a first year Rheumatology Fellow at all times, one or more general rotating Internal Medicine Residents at all times, occasional Residents from Physiatry, Family Practice and Pediatrics and occasional Medical Student and out of province electives.

Divisional Members actively participate in teaching through a structured educational program involving hospital bedside teaching, scheduled tutorials, presentations and rounds, and preassigned rotations through Member's private offices. All Residents are also rotated through the Scleroderma Clinic, the Rheumatology Rapid Access Clinic and the St. Paul's Medical Orthopaedic Clinic.

Research
The following areas are some of the research interests physicians at the SPH Division of Rheumatology are involved with:

• Clinical trials of biologic therapies in rheumatologic diseases.
• Major interest in scleroderma including clinical aspects and the role of endothelial cells and angiogenetic factors.
• Co-Founder and Director of the St. Paul's Scleroderma Clinic.
• Member of the Canadian Scleroderma Research Group.
• Gold therapy in rheumatoid arthritis; clinical trials involving new biologic therapies in rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic and spondyloarthropathies.

For more information on Rheumatology, please explore these useful websites:

UBC Rheumatology Division www.ubcrheumatology.com
Arthritis Research Centre of Canada www.arthritisresearch.ca
The Arthritis Society www.arthritis.ca