Dr. Deborah Parks, MD
Not yet claimedRheumatologist · Physician (MD)
St. Louis, MO
Deborah Parks is a rheumatologist and professor of medicine at Washington University in St. Louis. She cares for people with rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, vasculitis, and lupus, and uses musculoskeletal ultrasound and bone density testing.
About Dr. Deborah Parks, MD
Updated Sep 20, 2026 · next review Dec 19, 2026Dr. Deborah L. Parks is a rheumatologist in St. Louis, Missouri. She is a professor of medicine in the Division of Rheumatology at Washington University School of Medicine (WashU Medicine) and sees patients through the WashU Medicine Physicians practice. She earned her MD at the University of Louisville School of Medicine in 1982, completed internal medicine residency at Washington University/Barnes-Jewish in 1985, and finished a rheumatology fellowship at Washington University in 1988.
She worked at Barnes Hospital and Maryland Medical Group from 1988 to 2011, then returned to WashU full time in 2011 in a role centered on teaching and mentoring. Today she is the Clinical Operations Director for the Division of Rheumatology and directs the Musculoskeletal Ultrasound Clinic. She started the division's musculoskeletal ultrasound training program in 2012 for rheumatology fellows and extended it to physical medicine and rehabilitation residents in 2019. Her listed research interest is ultrasound-guided evaluation of joint lining (synovium).
In 2022 she was elected to the Board of Directors of the American College of Rheumatology, the main professional society for rheumatologists. She has co-authored published work, including a 2023 paper on a musculoskeletal and rheumatic disease education program for nurse practitioners, and has been a co-author on multi-center studies including a COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance registry study and the ADVOCATE study in ANCA-associated vasculitis. She was nominated for the 2026 WashU Medicine Dean's Impact Award for patient care.
In the CMS Open Payments database for 2021-2025, she is listed with about $3,488 in payments from drug and device companies across 110 records, with the largest amounts from Amgen (about $2,004) and AbbVie (about $1,111 combined). Payments from industry to doctors are common and legal, and are reported publicly.
- Rheumatology training at WashU
- She received her MD from the University of Louisville School of Medicine in 1982, completed internal medicine residency at Washington University/Barnes-Jewish in 1985, and completed a rheumatology fellowship at Washington University in 1988. physicians.wustl.edu
- Directs ultrasound clinic
- She is Clinical Operations Director of the WashU Division of Rheumatology and Director of the Musculoskeletal Ultrasound Clinic, and founded the division's MSK ultrasound training program in 2012. rheumatology.wustl.edu
- Elected to ACR board
- She was elected to the American College of Rheumatology Board of Directors at ACR Convergence 2022. rheumatology.wustl.edu
- Professor of medicine
- She holds the title of Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine, Rheumatology Division, at Washington University. pain.wustl.edu
- Teaching-focused return to WashU
- She practiced at Barnes Hospital and Maryland Medical Group from 1988 to 2011, then rejoined WashU full time in 2011 as a clinical professor focused on teaching and mentoring. rheumatology.wustl.edu
- Research and publications
- She co-authored a 2023 paper on a musculoskeletal and rheumatic disease education program for nurse practitioners and has been a co-author on multi-center studies, including work on ANCA-associated vasculitis and a COVID-19 rheumatology registry. profiles.wustl.edu
- Award nomination
- She was nominated for the 2026 WashU Medicine Dean's Impact Award for sustained excellence in patient care. faculty.med.wustl.edu
- Hospital affiliations
- Directory listings show affiliations with Barnes-Jewish Hospital and several other St. Louis-area hospitals, including Barnes-Jewish West County, Missouri Baptist, and Christian Hospital. care.healthline.com
- Industry payments reported
- CMS Open Payments lists about $3,488 total across 110 records for 2021-2025, mostly from Amgen and AbbVie. Such payments are common and legal. openpaymentsdata.cms.gov
Worth knowing
- Board certification in internal medicine and rheumatology appears on third-party directory listings, but primary verification through ABMS/ABIM was not completed during this research. zocdoc.com
- Online directories list inconsistent numbers for her years in practice (35, 43, and 44 years), so those figures should not be relied on. doximity.com
- No personal social media accounts were found for her on Instagram, TikTok, X, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, or Threads. This means none surfaced in searching, not that none exist. rheumatology.wustl.edu
Industry payments (CMS Open Payments)
Open the CMS recordFederal law requires drug and device companies to report what they pay clinicians: meals, travel, speaking, consulting, and research. Payments are common and legal; the point is that you can see them.
2021 to 2025
$3,488
110 payments
| 2021 | $139 |
| 2022 | $2,186 |
| 2023 | $403 |
| 2024 | $336 |
| 2025 | $424 |
Top payers
- Amgen Inc.$2,004
- ABBVIE INC.$972
- ARGENX US, INC.$245
- AbbVie Inc.$139
- E.R. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C.$59
Payment types
- Honoraria$1,925
- Food and Beverage$1,504
- Education$59
A word of caution about these numbers
A payment does not mean your doctor is compromised or acting unethically. Most of these entries are drug samples left for patients, or lunch brought in for the office staff, and the amounts are usually small. Research funding and speaking at medical meetings are also normal parts of a clinical career.
As a rough guide, a total under $15,000 a year is usually not a concern. Much larger sums, especially from one company whose product your doctor recommends to you, are worth asking about. You are allowed to ask.
Sources: rheumatology.wustl.edu · physicians.wustl.edu · profiles.wustl.edu · icts.wustl.edu · pain.wustl.edu · faculty.med.wustl.edu · rheumatology.wustl.edu · rheumatology.wustl.edu. Something wrong or out of date? Tell us and we will correct it.
Summary prepared with AI assistance from the public sources linked above, reviewed every three months. It is not a review, a rating, or an endorsement.
Practice location
WashU Medicine Rheumatology Division
4921 Parkview Pl
St. Louis, MO 63110
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