Summer 2023 (Volume 33, Number 2)
RheumJeopardy!
2023
By Philip A. Baer, MDCM, FRCPC, FACR
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Pictured, from left to right, Dr. Philip Baer, the host, and team
captains, Dr. Vinod Chandran (East) and Dr. Raheem Kherani (West).
RheumJeopardy! has become a fixture at CRA Annual
Scientific Meetings (ASMs), to the extent that the year
it began antedates the time that most of the CRA staff
have been working for the CRA. RheumJeopardy! returned as
a plenary session at the 2023 CRA ASM for an eighth consecutive
year according to my records. After two years in virtual
format, the 2023 event was hybrid in nature, allowing
both live and virtual attendees to answer the questions. Fortunately,
seamless integration between the HOPIN meeting
platform, the AV team from BBBlanc, and MKEM averted
any possible technical glitches. I moderated from the Quebec
City conference centre. After a West victory by 5,200 to
3,700 in the 2022 edition, Dr. Alison Clifford from Edmonton
returned as Chair and scorekeeper. We maintained the
traditional East versus West format, with Toronto the dividing
line again this year, though to balance the attendees
it was placed in the West camp! Our team captains were
Dr. Vinod Chandran from Toronto and Dr. Raheem Kherani
from Vancouver, both outgoing CRA committee chairs, and
veterans of past RheumJeopardy! events. As in 2022, only the
members of the team whose captain had selected a question
voted on the answer, which had the effect of lowering the
potential scores. The team captains selected the Final Jeopardy
wagers and answered the Final Jeopardy question on
their own.
The session drew a large audience of enthusiastic participants.
The practice question related to the ChatGPT artificial
intelligence program. The answer revealed that the program
thought that only people with the first name “John”
could possibly be top Canadian rheumatologists, including
the semi-fictional Dr. John Pope and Dr. John Inman.
Ten questions were selected in the main game. They proved
to be challenging, but our teams were more than up to
the task. Potpourri and Sight Diagnoses were once again the
most popular categories, and the 1,000-point row of questions
was frequently selected. Questions picked related to
the SURPASS and TARGET studies, CAR-T cell therapy for
systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), congenital malformations
from mycophenolate mofetil (MMF), and the failure of
curcumin as a therapy for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Voters
correctly identified the function of ARTHUR, the ARTHritis
Ultrasound Robot. They also knew that the BIOBADASAR
registry was based in Argentina, while the similar-sounding
BIOBADASER registry originated in Spain. Stumpers included
the “Dirty Dish” hypothesis of gout therapy, and the
fact that rheumatologists scored highest for introversion of
all medical specialties, according to a humorous article in
the Postgraduate Medical Journal from the BMJ group.
At the end of the main Jeopardy round, the score favoured
East with 3,600 over West with 2,000. Both captains
maintained tradition and elected to wager everything on
the Final Jeopardy question. The category was also familiar :
“Famous Canadian Rheumatologists.” The question focused
on efforts by Canadian rheumatologists to train rheumatologists
in an African country of 12 million people which
had no rheumatologists at all, using a grant from the Royal
College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. The shape
of the country and the colours of its flag were provided as
a hint.
The correct answer was Rwanda, with efforts there led
by Dr. Carol Hitchon and Dr. Rosie Scuccimarri. Only the
West captain answered correctly. That left West as the winning
team with 4,000 versus East’s score of 0. This means
Dr. Raheem Kherani will likely chair RheumJeopardy! in 2024
in Winnipeg if the ASM Scientific Committee grants us a
place on the agenda. I am already preparing a question bank
if we are renewed for another season. Thanks to everyone
who participated, and to Dr. Jane Purvis who tracked the
questions we used in 2023 to ensure they do not reappear
in future years.
Philip A. Baer, MDCM, FRCPC, FACR
Editor-in-chief, CRAJ
Scarborough, Ontario
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