[Modern knowledge transfer in rheumatology-From the perspective of teachers]

Rheumatology is a clinical discipline of high relevance to healthcare, yet it is often underrepresented in medical studies. The discipline combines complex immunological principles with challenging differential diagnostics and a broad spectrum of practical skills, including clinical and musculoskeletal examinations, joint ultrasound examination, invasive procedures and the interpretation of laboratory and pathology findings. As there are only a few rheumatology chairs in Germany, students have only limited contact to patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases. Teachers also face considerable didactic and structural challenges, in particular limited curriculum time and increasing economic pressure in routine clinical practice. The aim of this article is to present the current developments in rheumatology teaching and to critically evaluate conventional and innovative teaching formats. In addition to conventional teaching methods, contemporary digital and multimodal approaches, including blended learning and augmented and virtual reality, are discussed. Particular emphasis is placed on the competence-oriented approach to teaching, the integration of skills laboratories and student participation and the practical challenges of implementation. Finally, the importance of a stronger curricular anchoring of rheumatology for recruiting young colleagues and concrete recommendations for action in the teaching practice are summarized.