Bootcamp 101 · Cohort 2 · Toronto and virtual Early rate ends September 26 · Registration closes October 20
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Rheumatology Bootcamp 101 · October 22 to 25, 2026

Four days that change what you notice in a rheumatology patient.

Twenty-two hours of live teaching for allied health professionals, taught by two rheumatologists and three ACPAC-trained clinicians. Two virtual evenings, then two days in a Toronto clinic with your hands on the assessment.

Day 1 · VirtualThu, Oct 22

Inflammatory arthritis, physiotherapy and exercise

Day 2 · VirtualFri, Oct 23

Labs, pharmacotherapy, osteoarthritis

Day 3 · In personSat, Oct 24

History, joint counts, outcome measures, pain, imaging

Day 4 · In personSun, Oct 25

Spondyloarthritis, metrology, splinting, guidelines, cases

Who it is built for

Clinicians who keep meeting inflammatory disease in a general caseload.

You are seeing the swollen MCPs, the 40-year-old with three years of back pain, the psoriasis patient whose fingers have changed shape. The pattern recognition takes years to build on your own. This course compresses it.

Open to PT · OT · RN · RPN · NP · SW · PA · Pharmacist

Physiotherapists and occupational therapists

Community, hospital and private practice. You want a system for separating inflammatory from mechanical, and an exercise and splinting approach that holds up in active disease.

Nurses, nurse practitioners and RPNs

You are counselling patients on DMARDs and biologics and fielding the questions that follow. Labs, monitoring and safety are taught by a rheumatologist.

Pharmacists, social workers and physician assistants

Monitoring bloodwork and vaccination timing, work disability and psychosocial load, history taking and triage. The sessions that matter to your role are taught by the clinician who does that work.

ACPAC candidates and advanced practice clinicians

Either preparing for the program or already carrying an extended-role caseload. The practical days are where the joint count gets calibrated against someone who does it daily.

Where this sits

You have done the introductory course. This is the next one.

Bootcamp 101 assumes the foundation and spends its time on the assessment work that an introductory course can cover only in principle.

Before this

Introductory arthritis courses

Arthritis Society CPSIA and Mary Pack ACE. Useful groundwork, largely didactic, and where most allied health clinicians start. Graduates of either register at a reduced rate.

You are here

Bootcamp 101

Two days of supervised hands-on assessment with rheumatologists and ACPAC-trained clinicians who carry complex rheumatic caseloads.

Prior introductory training is welcome and not required.

After this

The ACPAC program

Bootcamp 101 is designed as preparation for the Advanced Clinician Practitioner in Arthritis Care program, the formal extended-role qualification in Canada.

The four days, hour by hour

Nothing here is a recorded module.

Every session is live and taught by a named faculty member. The two in-person days run long on purpose: the practical work needs repetition under supervision, and that does not fit an evening.

Day 1

Thursday, October 22

Virtual, Zoom 17:30–21:00 EDT
17:30–17:45
Welcome and introduction
Chunara · Papachristos · Mahendira
17:45–19:15
Introduction to inflammatory arthritis
Dr. Vinik
19:15–19:30
Break
19:30–21:00
Physiotherapy and exercise in rheumatology
Papachristos
Day 2

Friday, October 23

Virtual, Zoom 17:30–21:00 EDT
17:30–18:30
Autoantibodies and labs in rheumatology
Dr. Mahendira
18:30–19:30
Fundamentals of pharmacotherapy in rheumatology
Dr. Mahendira
19:30–19:45
Break
19:45–21:00
General osteoarthritis: pathophysiology and treatment updates
Chunara
Day 3

Saturday, October 24

In person, Toronto 12:00–20:15 EDT
12:00–12:30
Networking lunch, provided
12:30–13:00
History taking in inflammatory arthritis
Dr. Mahendira
13:00–13:30
Case study: history taking in IA
Dr. Mahendira · Papachristos
13:30–14:45
GALS screening, joint assessment and joint countsDidactic and practical
Full faculty
14:45–15:00
Break
15:00–16:00
Outcome measures in rheumatologyDidactic and practical
Papachristos
16:00–17:00
Vignette: history, objective findings, outcome measuresGroup based
Full faculty
17:00–17:15
Break
17:15–18:15
Pain review in inflammatory arthritis
Papachristos
18:15–19:15
Introduction to imaging in rheumatic disease
Dr. Mahendira
19:15–20:15
Self-management strategies for patients with IA
Papachristos · To
Day 4

Sunday, October 25

In person, Toronto 08:30–17:45 EDT
08:30–11:00
Early identification of spondyloarthritis, metrology workshop, case study
Papachristos · Chunara · Dr. Mahendira
11:00–11:15
Break
11:15–12:15
Hand management and splinting in arthritis
To
12:15–13:00
Lunch, provided
13:00–14:00
Evidence-based guidelines: RA and OA
Chunara
14:00–15:30
Case studies: RA, OA, spondyloarthritis
Chunara · Dr. Mahendira · Papachristos
15:30–15:45
Break
15:45–17:00
Using your role in inflammatory arthritis after the bootcamp15 to 20 minutes each
Full faculty
17:00–17:45
Quiz, evaluation and wrap-up
Full faculty

Refreshments and lunch are provided on both in-person days. Schedule subject to change.

What you take home

On the Monday after, here is what is different.

Course objectives written as things you do, not topics you were shown.

Faculty

Everyone teaching is still in clinic.

Two rheumatologists and three ACPAC-trained clinicians, all of whom see rheumatic disease every week.

Angelo Papachristos
Angelo Papachristos
PT, ACPAC
Advanced Practice Physiotherapist in rheumatology. Clinical Lecturer, University of Toronto.
St. Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto
Co-founder, RheumAcademy
Sameer Chunara
Sameer Chunara
PT, ACPAC
Advanced Practice Physiotherapist in community ambulatory care.
Co-founder, RheumAcademy
Dr. Dharini Mahendira
Dr. Dharini Mahendira
MD, FRCPC, MScCH
Rheumatologist. Associate Professor and Program Director for Adult Rheumatology, University of Toronto.
St. Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto
Dr. Ophir Vinik
Dr. Ophir Vinik
MD, FRCPC
Rheumatologist. Director, Myositis Clinic. Teaches inflammatory arthritis on Day 1.
St. Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto
Alison To
Alison To
OT Reg. (Ont.), ACPAC
Occupational therapist. Hand assessment, splinting and self-management.
St. Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto

All five faculty teach live. Nothing on the four days is pre-recorded.

From the first cohort

What the March group said was worth the four days.

Practical applications relevant to practice. Understanding how the rheumatologist assesses. Key differences between disease processes.March 2026 participant
Getting a full picture overview of assessment and management of rheumatic conditions and getting a better idea of where we fit into the picture.March 2026 participant
Having the up to date best practice guidelines.March 2026 participant
Speaking to, connecting to clinicians in the field.March 2026 participant

Fees and dates

Reduced rates, two deadlines, twenty seats.

WhoUntil Sept 26From Sept 27
Standard registration $995$1,095
Recent graduate, 25% off Accredited PT, OT, RN, RPN or Pharmacy program, less than 12 months in clinical practice. Six seats are held at this rate. $746.25$821.25
Mary Pack ACE graduate, 20% off Mary Pack ACE Introductory Assessment and Management Course, virtual or in person. $796$876
Arthritis Society CPSIA graduate, $185 off Completed within the last two years, virtual or in person. $810$910
Two registrations together
10% off the second

$1,890.50 for two until September 26. $2,080.50 from September 27.

Three or more together
15% off each

$845.75 per person until September 26. $930.75 from September 27.

All fees are in Canadian dollars and exclude HST. One discount per registration, whichever is largest. Reduced rates do not combine with each other or with the group rate.

To claim a reduced rate, send your documentation to support@rheumacademy.com and we will issue your code. Proof of your registration date for the recent graduate rate, or a certificate of completion for Mary Pack ACE and Arthritis Society CPSIA.

Group rates apply to registrations booked together in a single enrolment. Write to support before you register. Registration closes October 20 and late registrations are not accepted.

Reduced rates are offered for the October 2026 and March 2027 cohorts.

Key dates

  • Sept 26 Early rate ends
  • Oct 20 Registration closes
  • Oct 22 Day 1, virtual
  • Oct 25 Day 4, in person

Register for October

Included in the fee

  • 22 hours of live teaching across four days
  • 6 to 10 hours of preparatory material sent before Day 1
  • Slide decks, handouts and clinical cheat sheets
  • Lunch and refreshments on both in-person days
  • Certificate of attendance on successful completion
  • Receipt for professional development claims

Sending a team? Three or more booked together is $845.75 each at the early rate. Write to support@rheumacademy.com before you register.

Do I need rheumatology experience to take this?

No. The course starts at the level of a clinician who sees rheumatic disease inside a general caseload and wants a system for it. Faculty pitch the practical sessions so that a new graduate and a clinician of fifteen years both leave with something they did not have.

Can I attend the virtual days and skip the weekend?

No. The two in-person days carry the practical assessment work, which is the part of the course that changes practice. The four days are sold and taught as one course.

Is this accredited?

A certificate of attendance is issued on successful completion, and the certificate plus the receipt is what most colleges and employers require for a self-directed professional development claim. Check your own college's requirements before you register.

What preparatory work is there?

Between 6 and 10 hours of reading and short pre-recorded material, sent after registration. It is there so that Day 1 can start at the clinical question rather than the definitions.

My employer is paying. What do they need?

Write to support@rheumacademy.com and we will send a one-page summary written for a manager, with the dates, hours, cost and time away from clinic set out for a professional development request, plus an invoice made out to your organisation.

How do I claim a reduced rate?

Email support@rheumacademy.com with your documentation before you register and we will send you a code. For the recent graduate rate that is proof of your registration date with your college. For Mary Pack ACE and Arthritis Society CPSIA it is your certificate of completion. Codes are issued individually, which is also how we hold the six recent graduate seats.

I qualify for two of the reduced rates. Can I combine them?

No. One discount per registration, and you take whichever is largest. The rates do not add together, and an individual rate does not stack on top of a group booking. If you are within twelve months of licensure the recent graduate rate is the biggest reduction in every case, including against the group rate.

Where exactly is the in-person venue?

St George Physiotherapy Clinic, 180 Bloor St. West, Suite 1202, Toronto, ON M5S 2V6. It is a short walk from St George and Museum stations, and there is paid parking in the building.

Twenty seats. Four days. October 22 to 25.

The early rate holds until September 26, and registration closes October 20.

Register for October