Congratulations to the Yale Section of Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology team "Chronic Lyme" for winning the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) 2024 Knowledge Bowl!
Chronic Lyme—comprised of clinical fellows Mario Felix, MD, and Abhishek Madathanapalli, MBBS, who were coached by assistant clinical professor Harjinder Chowdhary, MBBS, MD—was one of 18 teams, including three from abroad, competing in the ACR 2024 Knowledge Bowl.
With only two weeks’ advance notice that the team would be competing—Chronic Lyme secured a spot in the competition when another team dropped out—Chowdhary, Felix, and Madathanapalli worked hard to prepare.
“We met three times a week for one to two hours, covering every aspect of rheumatology,” Chowdhary said. “We divided the portions we wanted to study, focusing on those we knew well while also preparing for the most challenging questions that could come our way.”
The team also worked to practice another essential skill in jeopardy: buzzing.
Having a strategy and game plan were crucial because in medical jeopardy, teams lose points if they answer a question wrong, Chowdhary explained.
Madathanapalli, who has always loved trivia and developed an interest in medical trivia during medical school, said part of their strategy was to play it safe. “We minimized risk by not blindly guessing and only going for the answer if we were reasonably sure of being correct,” he said. “Ultimately, this strategy worked for us, and we answered several of the big-ticket questions—1000 points and up—which helped us win!"
Most importantly, Chowdhary said, the team focused on enjoying the experience and not feeling too stressed. “We kept our strategy and high spirits, which allowed us to maintain our lead and resulted in our victory,” he said.
Richard Bucala, MD, PhD, chief of the Section of Rheumatology, Allergy, and Immunology, was especially pleased by the team’s response to a question about an initial treatment for a rheumatic condition. The team provided an answer that, while scored incorrectly by judges, was for an effective non-drug requiring intervention, Bucala said.
Felix and Madathanapalli expressed gratitude for the section’s faith in them and Chowdhary’s outstanding mentorship.
“The support from Yale Rheumatology helped motivate us, and we were excited to make Yale proud,” Chowdhary added. “Great work by Abhishek and Mario!”
Yale School of Medicine’s Department of Internal Medicine Section of Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology is dedicated to providing care for patients with rheumatic, allergic and immunologic disorders; educating future generations of thought leaders in the field; and conducting research into fundamental questions of autoimmunity and immunology. To learn more, visit Rheumatology, Allergy & Immunology.