Meet the Program Directors | UAMS Department of Anesthesiology

Riley Carpenter Lide, MD, MHPE, Program Director & Vice Chair of Education

Dr. Lide grew up in rural Alabama and pursued medicine through the Early Medical School Acceptance Program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where she earned both her undergraduate and medical degrees. She completed her anesthesiology residency at the University of Texas Southwestern in Dallas before joining the faculty at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock in 2017.

Dr. Lide holds a Master’s in Health Professions Education from Maastricht University, completed through a collaboration with NYU. Her thesis examined the implications of the Basic Examination in anesthesiology education, and she continues to lead research on assessment validation in medical training. As Program Director, Dr. Lide leverages her educational expertise to enhance the residency curriculum, creating a supportive and effective learning environment that prioritizes resident well-being.

Her research also includes initiatives to reduce opioid use in outpatient thyroid surgeries and an NIH-funded study exploring ketamine’s impact on smoking cessation. Clinically, she is part of the liver transplant team, providing complex care for high-acuity patients. She finds particular joy in bedside teaching and mentoring residents.

Outside of work, Dr. Lide enjoys spending time with her husband, Thomas, a pilot, and their young daughter, Logan, with whom she loves to travel and explore local cuisine.

Shannon Dare, M.D., Associate Program Director for Curriculum Development

Dr. Shannon Dare is a native Arkansan from Hot Springs who has found her way back to Arkansas time and time again. After pursuing an undergraduate English Degree at the University of Virginia, she returned to Little Rock and attended the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences for medical school. After completion of medical school, she moved to Nashville, Tennessee for an anesthesiology residency at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Shortly after graduation, Dr. Dare moved back to Little Rock and began her career as faculty at UAMS in 2016, and she was promoted to Associate Professor of Anesthesiology in 2022. Since starting at UAMS, Dr. Dare has been a central member of the clinical team inside the operating room as well as an active leader outside the operating room. Her clinical interest includes anesthesia for liver transplantation. Her participation in the residency program began in 2019 as an Associate Program Director of Curriculum and since then she has developed numerous educational initiatives. She is most proud of her work co-creating and annually leading the anesthesia Bootcamp at the end of the intern year as well as organizing active learning each week through the anesthesia didactics program for resident education.

Dr. Dare lives in Little Rock with her husband, Ryan Dare, who also works at UAMS as an Infectious Disease Specialist. They share three children, Baker, William, and AnnaJane, who take up every minute of their time outside the hospital.

Jonathan Aronson, M.D., Assistant Professor & Associate Program Director for Didactic Curriculum Development

Dr. Jonathan Aronson was born and raised in Little Rock and graduated from the historic Central High School. He then attended a small college called Carleton in rural Minnesota, where he majored in Geology. Though he cannot be counted on to answer any Geology trivia questions correctly, he does have a favorite mineral which is Galena — pick it up sometime, and you will be amazed.

After college, Dr. Aronson lived in Memphis for four years, where he routinely got punked by 7th graders as he tried to teach them pre-algebra (turns out, this was great preparation for residency). Following his stint as a teacher, he was pleased to get the opportunity to study medicine at UAMS and then stay for residency. He enjoyed residency so much that he decided to continue the UAMS theme and seek a faculty position here, which he said he is grateful to have received. In addition to the day-to-day grind and fun stuff in the OR, he helps create and deliver educational curriculum for the residents.

When he is not at work, He enjoys hanging out with his wife and three boys. They like to frequent the zoo a lot, but mostly for the train rides. If he is not doing family stuff, you can find him hacking around one of the nearby municipal golf courses, still working on breaking 80… (Or 90).