Because access to care is not always guaranteed, we’ve been working to help close the gap on the nation’s rheumatologist shortage through ourfellowship initiative. This year we announcedfour new fellowship awards. One of those grants was offered to SUNY Downstate Medical Center, which recently announced their fellowship has been awarded to Dr. Sabina Ratner.
Dr. Ratner will be a welcome addition to this program. She began her undergraduate training at Brooklyn College, followed by graduate training as a physician’s assistant (PA) at SUNY Downstate in NY. She earned her medical degree from American University of Antigua College of Medicine in Antigua and Barbuda.
Dr. Ratner explains how she became interested in rheumatology:
As we go through life, events that may be deemed unfortunate often result in serendipitous moments. It wasn’t until a terrible accident where I was hit by a car that I realized I had a second chance at life and found my true calling.
I worked as a PA at NY Methodist Hospital for seven years before my accident. During my employment, I covered a variety of services, and I discovered that there were many facets to medicine that were fascinating, stimulating and rewarding. My experiences helped sharpen my clinical acumen and appreciation and understanding of medicine. Initially, I worked with the department of surgery, which included general surgery and orthopedics. My duties included patient care in the clinic and floors, emergency room admissions, pre- and post-operative care and counseling patients. As a PA, I was inspired by the passion and wisdom of the people I worked with. My colleagues recognized my aptitude for medicine and strongly encouraged me to get my medical degree.
事故发生后，我去康复中心对我的左腿和脚踝进行物理治疗。在那里，我遇到了许多患有类风湿关节炎、骨关节炎、背痛、髋关节和其他关节问题的人。我同情这些病人。看到人们在痛苦和失去他们的功能性活动能力，让我意识到我想寻求一种职业，在那里我可以帮助减轻别人的痛苦和痛苦。我发现康复经验是非常有益的，并意识到，通过适当的治疗，人们能够恢复他们的功能，行动和独立。我对风湿病越来越感兴趣，所以我回到学校，获得了我的医学学位。
The next stage of this journey was medical residency. I chose to explore the field of rheumatology further and opted to take as many electives as I could to learn more about this field. The experience further piqued my interest and helped me realize how fascinating and intricate rheumatology is.
There are many reasons why I want to join the field of rheumatology. I find it to be a very diverse field that is rapidly evolving and allows for the treatment of a broad range of conditions. Also, it is a specialty that can be challenging because a qualified physician must be able to treat different disease processes, solving medical mysteries. It is exciting and gratifying to help improve the quality of lives of others. I want to train and learn from the dedicated experts, which will give me the opportunity to broaden my understanding and knowledge about the disease progression and treatment with new agents that prevent further destruction in the body.
虽然临床经验对我很重要，但我也对从事生物医学研究感兴趣。从根本上说，我对免疫系统很感兴趣。随着疾病修饰剂和新的免疫疗法的进步，我们可以改善患者的生活。That’s why I hope to follow my passion and become a rheumatologist, because to me it’s very rewarding to see my patients get back to their routine and enjoy their life.
Thanks to the generosity of our donors, Dr. Ratner will be able to follow her dreams and become a valuable addition to the number of new rheumatologists through this fellowship program.