Rheumatology in Minnesota

Overview

The Division of Rheumatology is focused on providing state-of-the-art diagnosis and treatment of rheumatic diseases in a setting of active basic and clinical research and education. The staff consultants of the division see approximately 14,000 patients per year. These include over 100 types of arthritis, including common diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis, but also rare diseases such as relapsing polychondritis and multicentric reticulohistiocytosis.

The Division of Rheumatology is composed of 16 staff doctors (called "consultants" at Mayo), four to six fellows in training, and approximately 30 allied health staff. Consultants are currently involved in clinical practice and research.

The division ranked No. 1 among U.S. hospitals in the specialty of rheumatology in the 2004 U.S. News Best Hospitals ranking.

The first chair of the Division of Rheumatology, Dr. Philip S. Hench, started the tradition of excellence and inquiry and his efforts led to the discovery of the beneficial effect of cortisone in rheumatoid arthritis, an observation that led to his sharing the Nobel Prize in 1950.