Background/Purpose: :Currently, Latin America does not have detailed information of rheumatologists in the region based on: education, working conditions, productivity, distribution of time between work activities and job satisfaction.

The purpose of this survey was to provide more information on the rheumatology community in Latin America.

Methods: :
A digital survey was created using the Google Forms platform, it was approved and endorsed by the scientific committee of PANLAR and later sent to the different rheumatology associations of the region. The data was analyzed in the statistical program SPSS v.23.

Results: :600 surveys of rheumatologists from 23 countries were received. The majority were females (53%). The mean age was 46.8 ± 11.7 [25-78] years, with a majority of mixed race 58%. 63.2% are married, 22.5% are single, 7.8% are divorced, 5.2% in free union and 1.3% are widowed. The mean number of children was 1 [0-7]. Birthplaces included Argentina (25.8%), Brazil (15.8%). The setting of the professional practice after obtaining the title of specialists was: public hospital (36.7%), private (23.8%), private / teaching in a university hospital (12.5%), public / teaching in a university hospital (12.6%), and industry (0.2%). The main place of work was in public / government hospitals by 33.5% followed by private practice 28.8%, private hospital 20.8%, university hospital 15.5%, nonprofit organizations 1% and retired 0.3%. The average of weekly working hours was 37.8 ± 17.7. 87.5% of the sample practices adult rheumatology, 12.7% pediatric rheumatology, 1.5% immunology and 3.5% another specialty. 30.2% had an early arthritis care center at their workplace, 70% had an infusion unit, 56.2% had ultrasound, 48% had a densitometer, 48.7% had a resonator and 78.5% had X-rays. 28.7% have training in ultrasound and 9.5% are in training period, 74.8% have training in reading densitometry and 3% in training period, 52.7% have training in resonance reading and 12.2% in training period. The average satisfaction with practice as a rheumatologist was 5.3/7, career options 4.3/7, geographic location 4.7/7, income 3.5/7, job security 3.7/7, colleagues and co-workers 4.5/7. 33.5% had an annual compensation of < 19,000 US dollars. Only 57.2% have malpractice insurance and 87.5% have medical insurance. 38.2% present at least one clinical comorbidity.

Conclusion: The majority of rheumatologists in the region feel satisfied with their clinical practice. This survey shows a low level of income for the region, however, more data should be obtained. This is the first study of its kind in Latin America, being an initiative for similar projects.

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ACR Meeting Abstracts - https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/lars-study-latin-american-rheumatologist-survey/