With the grace of Allah, Al-Zaidi Chair of Research in Rheumatic Diseases, one of the research chairs at the Deanship of Scientific Research, has recently made many achievements. It also participated in a number of development projects to improve care for patients with rheumatic diseases, including:

• Publishing a research that includes a summary of the primary statistical results of more than 430 rheumatoid arthritis patients who are enrolled in the database on this disease (created and designed by the chair) in Dr. Soliman Fakeeh Hospital in Jeddah since 2014. It was published as part of the research of the EULAR 2020 – Annual European Congress of Rheumatology, which was held virtually in June 2020. This research has also been recently published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal. The administration of the chair issued an open invitation to all rheumatology consultants in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with the various health sectors they represent, to participate in this database. It is one of the documented scientific ways to develop the services provided to these patients, in order to regulate treatment plans for our country.
• Conducting a scientific project in cooperation with the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties represented by the head of the training program for the Rheumatology Fellowship in the Kingdom. With the participation of more than 30 experts and consultants in rheumatology at the level of the Kingdom, it is required to develop a strategic vision for the future of training in rheumatology in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in line with Saudi Vision 2030. This vision will be submitted to the Deanship of Scientific Research to address the relevant authorities. It is under publication in one of the national peer-reviewed journals.
• The participation of the chair, represented by the Professor of the Chair, His Excellency Prof. Dr. Hani Al-Muallem, with a group of experts at the regional level in the Gulf states, the Mediterranean basin, and African countries in formulating a future strategic vision aimed at involving the nursing sector in the daily care of patients with rheumatic diseases. More than 90% of these patients are provided care in outpatient clinics. Taking care of them and supervising their treatment is a responsibility that does not fall solely on the rheumatology consultants. In fact, there are many avenues of care that can be provided very efficiently by the nursing sector. Therefore, the health legislator must prepare the nursing staff for such tasks that do not cost much. They even contribute to providing more time for rheumatologists to check more medical cases. With that done, the realm of care expands, wait times are cut shorter, and the cost of rheumatism care is improved. Moreover, the Chair's administration will submit a summary of this strategic vision to the Deanship of Scientific Research, in order to address the relevant authorities.
• Signing a contract with the international publishing company (Springer-Nature) in order to supervise the printing of the book "Skills in Rheumatology." This book was authored under the supervision of the Chair's administration, at the hands of a group of professors and scholars from our dear country.
• Continuing the work at the Academy of Rheumatology Research under the chair's supervision, two training workshops were held for members of the Academy, side by side with the continuation of work on multiple research projects despite the delay due to the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that we have been experiencing.
• The chair continued its policies that emphasize the need to spread the culture of scientific research and the documented publication of a large group of medical students and residents. In addition to the members of the Academy of Rheumatology Research who are medical students, residents, and rheumatology fellows, the Chair published three research papers during the past few months, in which four students from the College of Medicine at Umm Al-Qura University participated, in addition to seven resident physicians, four rheumatology fellow physicians, and five rheumatology consultants. It is noteworthy that there are more than fifty co-authors of the book "Skills in Rheumatology," including medical students, interns, residents, fellow physicians, and consultants from various specializations.

Research Title: AB0177 RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS SAUDI DATABASE (RASD) A SINGLE CENTER EXPERIENCE

For the research link, click here.

Research Title: Rheumatoid Arthritis Saudi Database (RASD) Disease Characteristics and Remission Rates in a Tertiary Care Center.

For the research link, click here.