This is
the first of two stories featuring presenters at OU-COM’s fourth
annual continuing medical education conference, to be held Oct. 7–9,
for the first time in Columbus. Today’s story features Joy
Schechtman, D.O. (’80). Tomorrow is featured Michelle May, M.D.,
the keynote speaker for this year’s conference. The conference
brings alumni together for three days of continuing medical
education seminars. This year highlights the 25th anniversary of the
college's first class, the Class of 1980. For more information, call
(740) 593-2176 or e-mail
Sharon Zimmerman, director of alumni affairs.
by Jennifer Kowalewski
Joy Schechtman, D.O. (’80),
not only wants to talk about new research in fighting rheumatoid
arthritis, she wants to reconnect with classmates from the first
graduating class at the college.
“I am really excited,” Schechtman
says about returning to Ohio to attend the 2005 OU-COM/Ohio Society
American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians Continuing Medical
Education (CME) Conference in Columbus. “I think it’s really neat.
It’s a real honor to return and present at the conference.”
At the conference, the first
graduating class will hold its 25th class reunion.
“I think, looking back, it’s a real
nice accomplishment,” Schechtman says. “My class is celebrating 25
years. I’m glad we were able to be pioneers. Hopefully, we set a
good example.”
Her seminar, “New Treatments for
rheumatoid arthritis,” will take place Saturday, Oct. 8. The CME
conference is Friday, Oct. 7, through Sunday, Oct. 9.
Schechtman’s clinic, the SunValley
Arthritis Center, is in Glendale, Ariz., a suburb of Phoenix. She
works with those afflicted with not only rheumatoid arthritis but
also other potentially debilitating diseases, such as lupus.
“I’m going to talk about how we look
at rheumatoid arthritis,” she says. “There has been a lot of
advancement in recent years. Our main thrust is increasing the
quality of life.”
New medicines, such as biologics
agents, are given through shots and intravenously. The new
medicines, combined with other forms of traditional therapy such as
manipulation, have shown to improve patient’s quality of life.
Rheumatoid
arthritis doesn’t affect just the elderly though, as many might
think. Rather, this debilitating disease strikes any age, including
young children. Young women are at the most risk to develop symptoms
of the disease.
In her clinic, Schechtman has even
seen toddlers afflicted with rheumatoid arthritis. When she began
her medical career, Schechtman recalled there were no clinics for
these patients.
Although there are now, she admits
many times, doctors don’t understand that much can be done to help
patients afflicted with this disease.
A patient diagnosed with rheumatoid
arthritis has a better outcome if diagnosed early and aggressively
treated, she says. In her lecture, she will talk about how the
family physicians can help in the process by diagnosing and
referring patients on to specialists.
Specialists are well equipped to
help maintain or improve a patient’s quality of life.
“We have more methods to offset
rheumatoid arthritis in the past four or five years than 25 years
ago when I graduated,” Schechtman says. And those new methods can
help rheumatoid arthritis patients have a better life.
