When the executive committee of IRA, presided over me as President took over the management of IRA affairs in 2021, we felt that the idea of Rheumatology as a specialty is not well established in the public view point. People in general have an idea about the medical specialties and when to go to a particular specialty when they or their relatives have some medical issue. Some examples are, ‘Numbness or Weakness” has to go to Neurology, ‘Chest pain’ to cardiology,  ‘vertigo’ to ENT and ‘fracture’s to orthopedics. But, the mental concept the arthritis has to go to Rheumatology was not there at all there! Multi system presentation of many of our diseases also probably prevented public from developing a clear conceptual idea of the specialty. Having two verticals for the same specialty i.e. Rheumatology and Clinical immunology till recently also did not help to establish a clear concept. Rheumatology terminology evolved form the term Rheumatism and many of our diseases may not have Rheumatism! Also, Rheumatology was one of the youngest sub specialties in India. By that time the idea to link ‘Bone & Joint” to Orthopedics has been established into the collective psyche of the public.

Fellow non-Rheumatology clinicians were also not widely exposed the achievements and advances in Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology. Lack of effective therapy for long period of time also gave impressions that Rheumatic diseases are incurable as though other diseases are curable! Also, the side effects and toxicity of our drugs logged bigger limelight than their effectiveness, thanks to over enthusiastic usage of steroids. Rheumatology is seen as a specialty who use only steroids and all our drugs are steroids! It was and is very courageous of all the men and women who chose this specialty as their carrier choice. Most friends and relatives were not familiar with the name, Rheumatology when we chose to become one.

So, IRA executive committee took a decision to choose a month of a year to do sustained campaign to familiarize the words Rheumatology and Rheumatological diseases. April month of every year was chosen empirically. Arthritis word is many a times hijacked by orthopedics, thus was the specific reason to choose Rheumatology and Rheumatological diseases as the terms to be familiarized. This could in the long run bring our patients early to rheumatologists and thus they get a chance at achieve better clinical outcome. I am proud the it happened during presidency, though the entire EC of that period including Dr Chandrasekara deserves credit. Our current President and president elect were also were part of the team to bring out this concept. Happy to see that efforts are continuing with great enthusiasm