During October an educational workshop entitled ‘Expert Patients with Rheumatic Diseases’ was held on campus. The idea of ‘the expert patient’ was initiated at Stanford University in California with the aim of improving the quality of life of patients with chronic conditions. The patients themselves, using their life experiences, offer knowledge to medical students while enabling students to manage their health together with health professionals.
This innovative idea has had a significant impact on many European countries, and last October at the initiative of the Ant-rheumatic Association of Cyprus and sponsored by the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR), two ‘expert patients’ from Sweden were invited to Cyprus to train a number of Cypriot patients with rheumatic diseases. The training took place at the facilities of the Medical School and was supported by faculty members Dr Joseph Joseph and Dr Theano Kalavana.
A three-minute video clip was produced by the Communications Office which explains the notion of expert patients.