Gout is a common inflammatory condition that is usually managed in the primary care setting. This often requires collaboration between rheumatology and primary care. We asked John Fitzgerald, MD, PhD, coprincipal investigator of the American College of Rheumatology gout guidelines and clinical chief of Rheumatology at the University of California, Los Angeles, and Wendy Wright, DNP, an adult and family nurse practitioner and owner of Wright & Associates Family Health Care in New Hampshire, to discuss what primary care providers can learn from rheumatology and what rheumatology can learn from primary care about treating patients with gout.
The latest American College of Rheumatology (ACR) treatment guidelines, current consensus on treat-to-target strategies, and improving patient education and adherence were a few of the topics discussed.
Read the full transcript here.
John Fitzgerald, MD, PhD, is clinical chief of rheumatology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and lead author of the 2020 ACR Guidelines for the Management of Gout. Dr Fitzgerald’sresearch focuses on improving the care for patients with gout, including evaluating a skin patch sensor that can measure a patient’s uric acid level in their sweat, and the impact of gout on cholesterol and its impact on atherosclerosis. Dr FitzGerald received his medical degree from Tufts University in 1993 and his PhD in Health Services from UCLA in 2005.
Wendy Wright, DNP, ANP-BC, FNP-BC, FAANP, FAAN, FNAP, is an adult and family nurse practitioner and owner of Wright & Associates Family Healthcare, which includes 2 nurse practitioner-owned and operated clinics within New Hampshire. Dr Wright received her Doctor of Nursing Practice in 2019 from the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. She is a 1992 graduate of the Adult Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Program at Simmons College in Boston and completed a family nurse practitioner post-master’s program in 1995.
