The registration fees for the conference has been reduced.
CME & FM CME Points will be awarded
Welcome Message
It is with great pleasure that we welcome you to attend the third edition of the Asia Pacific Rheumatology Practice Course (APRPC). As medicine becomes more complex, care tends to get fragmented. There has, hence been a call for generalist-led care, to provide one-stop holistic medical care for our population. As Internists and other non-rheumatology specialists practicing in a generalist led model, non-rheumatologists are increasingly expected to diagnose and manage patients with rheumatic diseases. The APRPC was envisioned to fill an emerging gap, to train and upskill Internists, other non-rheumatology specialists and residents-in-training to increase their skill and confidence in managing patients with rheumatic diseases. Rheumatologists from the National University Hospital, Singapore, an APLAR Centre of Excellence, will spend 2.5 days delivering lectures and facilitating small group (5-10 participants) intensive case discussions on common rheumatic conditions. The course will cover a breadth of topics, from outpatient office rheumatology such as management of soft tissue conditions, to diagnosis and management of rheumatoid arthritis, to management of more complex connective tissue diseases such as lupus and management of rheumatological emergencies. As an attendee at this course, you will benefit from close interaction with specialists in the field, and will have the opportunity to discuss practical cases in detail, along with networking with like-minded individuals.
On behalf of the organising committee, I look forward to welcoming you and to a mutually fruitful learning journey.
Sincerely
A/Prof Manjari Lahiri
Course Director
About The Conference
After two very successful fully online runs in 2021 and 2022, the Asia Pacific Rheumatology Practice Course (APRPC) is back again for the third run, as an on-site in-person course! The APRPC will be a 2.5 day training course designed to improve the knowledge and skills of internists, non-rheumatology specialists, general practitioners and residents in training throughout the Asia Pacific region, who are expected to see and manage patients with rheumatic disease. As we move towards a generalist model of care, this course will help to upskill non-rheumatologists in the identification, diagnosis and management of patients with rheumatic disease. The course will be conducted by specialist rheumatologists from the Division of Rheumatology, National University Hospital, which is an Asia Pacific Rheumatology (APLAR) Centre of Excellence.
The training course will cover areas such as approach to a patient with aches and pains, diagnosis and management of early arthritis and connective tissue disease, management of rheumatological emergencies, office rheumatology. Teaching will involve didactic lectures, as well as the very popular small group break-out sessions for case discussions. Case discussion groups will be no more than 10 participants per group. Each group will be facilitated by a consultant rheumatologist, thus allowing personalised and interactive discussions. The course aims to increase internists' confidence in handling patients with rheumatic disease, as well as creating a network of learners, who are able to easily tap on ready expertise.
The APRPC is supported by the Chapter of Rheumatologists, College of Physicians, Academy of Medicine, Singapore and the Singapore Society of Rheumatology.
Course Organiser
The APRPC is organised by the Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, National University Hospital (NUH), Singapore.
The Division of Rheumatology provides tertiary outpatient and inpatient care to patients with autoimmune, soft tissue and metabolic bone diseases. We also provide inpatient rheumatology consultation for all disciplines in NUH. We believe in a holistic approach to patient care and strive towards engaging patient participation in order to ensure that the best outcomes are achieved. Our aspiration for our patients is to achieve disease remission, preserve function and improve their quality of life overall. Our nurse clinicians provide patient education in terms of diagnosis and management (lifestyle, drug therapy) of the patient’s chronic rheumatic condition.
We have been an active participant in clinical trials involving biologic agents in the treatment of rheumatic diseases supported by our clinical experience. We have ongoing research relating to psoriatic arthritis, ankylosis spondylitis, rheumatoid arthritis, gout, systemic sclerosis and systemic lupus erythematosus.
We believe in nurturing future generations of physicians. Our faculty also contributes to undergraduate and postgraduate education, through the Internal Medicine Residency and Rheumatology Senior Residency programs. In addition, we conduct educational talks for allied health staff and family physicians to improve the care of Rheumatology patients in the community.
Faculty
Programme
Day 1: May 11, 2023
|
Time |
Topic |
Speaker |
|---|---|---|
|
8AM |
Registration |
|
|
8:20AM |
Welcome address |
Manjari LAHIRI |
|
Session 1 |
Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) |
|
|
8:30AM |
Negotiating the Disease Modifying Anti-Rheumatic Drug (DMARD) maze: the art of managing RA in a real life practice |
Manjari LAHIRI |
|
9:00AM |
Managing the RA patient with multimorbidity |
Peter CHEUNG |
|
9:30AM |
Break Out 1: Case Studies in RA |
ALL |
|
10:45AM |
Tea Break |
|
|
Session 2 |
Rheumatology: an art and a science |
|
|
11:15AM |
The role of the Rheumatology nurse |
Ginny GOH |
|
11:45AM |
Use of the Laboratory in Rheumatologic Diagnosis |
Margaret MA |
|
12:15AM |
Demonstration of Indirect Immunofluorescence (IIF) for Anti-nuclear antibody (ANA) |
Euroimmune |
|
12:30AM |
Break Out 2: X-Ray reading |
ALL |
|
1:00PM |
Lunch |
|
|
Session 3 |
Geriatric Rheumatology |
|
|
2:00PM |
Risk stratification for Osteoporosis treatment |
LAU Tang Ching |
|
2:30PM |
Arthritis in the elderly |
Julian LIM |
|
3:00PM |
Tea Break |
|
|
3:30PM |
Break Out 3: Case studies - Geriatric Rheumatology |
ALL |
|
5:00PM |
End of Day 1 |
|
Day 2: May 12, 2023
|
Time |
Topic |
Speaker |
|---|---|---|
|
8AM |
Registration |
|
|
Session 4 |
Acute management of Patients with Rheumatic Disease |
|
|
8:30AM |
Rheumatological Emergencies |
CHO Jia Cai |
|
9:00AM |
Break Out 4: Case Studies in rheumatological emergencies |
ALL |
|
10:30AM |
Tea Break |
|
|
Session 5 |
The crossroads of Rheumatology and Internal Medicine |
|
|
11:00AM |
Approach to Vasculitis |
Amelia SANTOSA |
|
11:30AM |
An approach to fever of unknown origin – a rheumatologist’s perspective |
PHANG Kee Fong |
|
12:00PM |
Lunch |
|
|
Session 6 |
Crystal Arthritis |
|
|
1:00PM |
Managing Gout in primary care |
TENG Gim Gee |
|
1:30PM |
Break out 5: Case study – monoarthritis |
ALL |
|
2:30PM |
Video on joint aspiration and polarising light microscopy |
|
|
2:45PM |
Tea Break |
|
|
3:00PM |
Hands on Arthrocentesis workshop |
ALL |
|
5:00PM |
End of Day 2 |
|
Day 3: May 13, 2023
|
Time |
Topic |
Speaker |
|---|---|---|
|
8AM |
Registration |
|
|
Session 7 |
Systemic Lupus Erythematous (SLE) |
|
|
8:30AM |
The art of steroid prescribing in SLE |
Anselm MAK |
|
9:00AM |
Complications and Comorbidities in SLE |
Frank TAY |
|
9:30AM |
Break Out 6: Case Studies in SLE |
ALL |
|
10:45AM |
Tea Break |
|
|
11:15AM |
Quiz! |
Amelia SANTOSA & Margaret MA |
|
11:45AM |
Quiz – Answers and discussion |
Amelia SANTOSA & Margaret MA |
|
1:00PM |
End |
|
Sponsors
What previous participants are saying
Getting there
Secretariat Contact
For enquiry and contact, please email the Organizing Secretariat at aprpc.secretariat@gmail.com
