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.
- 30 -
News for
the week of Oct 3 –
Oct 8
