Being Newly Diagnosed with Lupus -- the Wed., May 14 Webchat at the Lupus Foundation of America

Morning all.

Wanted to give you a reminder about the Lupus Foundation of America's Webchat this Wednesday afternoon, May 14, at 3 p.m. Eastern Time.

Dr. Don Thomas, who practices rheumatology with Arthritis and Pain Associates of Prince George's County in Maryland, will serve as the guest expert for the Being Newly Diagnosed with Lupus chat.

Dr. Thomas is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in both rheumatology and internal medicine, and is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians (FACP) and an active Fellow Member of the American College of Rheumatology (FACR). He is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, and he actively teaches courses in rheumatology at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Dr. Thomas also actively serves as a member of the Medical and Scientific Advisory Board of the Lupus Foundation of America, Greater Washington Chapter.

Dr. Thomas graduated as a Distinguished Military Graduate from George Military College in 1981 with an A.S. and then from the University of Houston in 1985 with his B.S. in Biology. In 1989, he received his M.D. from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX. He completed his residency training in internal medicine at Brooke Army Medical Center in 1993 and his fellowship in rheumatology at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in 1995, after which he stayed on as a member of the teaching staff until he joined Arthritis and Pain Associates. He is an active member of the D.C. Rheumatism Society, the American College of Physicians, the American College of Rheumatology, and the American Medical Association.

Dr. Thomas's awards include the AMA's Physician Recognition Award from 2000 - 2006, and the AMA’s Physician Recognition Award with Commendation from 2007 to the present. He is rated as one of America’s Top Physicians by the Consumers’ Research Council of America from 2004 - 2007 in the specialty of rheumatology.

We certainly hope you can join us Wednesday afternoon. To do so, you can log in to the live chat here.

After the chat, you are invited to continue the discussion in our message boards.

As always, copies of all chat transcripts are posted online within a day or 2 of the chat. Visit here to read the LFA's previous chat transcripts.