Robert Laugherty, JD, MBA, PA-C, is the director of rheumatology at East Tennessee Medical Group in Alcoa, Tennessee. He earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Florida, his juris doctor degree and master of business administration degree from the University of Tennessee, and physician assistant degree from the Medical College of Georgia in 2000. He discovered that rheumatology was his calling after time spent in emergency medicine and internal medicine and has been in the specialty for almost two decades. He is a founding member of Rheumatology Advance Practice Providers, a society devoted to the education and training of physical associates and nurse practitioners in rheumatology practice.
