Rheumatologist
What the work is
Investigates, diagnoses and treats diseases, dysfunction and autoimmune conditions affecting human joints, muscles, soft tissue and other organs.
Would you enjoy the work?
These are the main tasks in the official description. Mark how each one sounds to you.
- Obtains a medical history to diagnose and manage patients with suspected or established rheumatic disorders
- Examines the musculoskeletal and other systems to diagnose and manage patients with suspected or established rheumatic disorders
- Orders and interprets investigations to diagnose and manage patients with suspected or established rheumatic disorders
- Prescribes and monitors pharmacological therapeutics in patients with rheumatic disorders
- Uses core rheumatologic procedures, such as joint aspiration and injection, and synovial biopsy, in the management of patients with rheumatic disorders
- Uses and monitors non-pharmacological and non-surgical interventions in patients with rheumatic disorders
- Collaborates with multidisciplinary team members and other medical services to manage patients with rheumatic disorders
- Conducts research to enhance the discovery and implementation of optimal treatments for rheumatic disorders
Try it
A simulation and a case study from this kind of work, set in a hospital ward and outpatient clinic where specialist physicians see older adults. They are fictional.
The kind of days you could have
Good days
- A puzzling set of symptoms suddenly makes sense and the right treatment starts
- An older patient goes home to the place they love, with the right support
- A junior doctor you teach asks a question you had not thought of
Hard days
- Families who disagree with each other, and with the patient, about what should happen next
- Pressure to free up a bed when the person in it is not yet ready to leave
- Conversations about what matters most that nobody is eager to have
Written by Career Calling as a general guide. Real roles vary by employer and place.
Work a mission
Step into a simulated workplace in this field, with a brief from your manager.
Description and tasks: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Occupation Standard Classification for Australia, 2024, Version 1.0 (opens another site), occupation 264346, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. The skill guide above is our plain English summary.