Amy Huggins, M.D., D.ABA
Hi everyone! My name is Amy Huggins and I completed medical school (c/o 2013), residency (c/o 2017), and fellowship (c/o 2018) at UAMS/ACH. I grew up in Little Rock, AR and love doing all the awesome outdoor activities our city has to offer- hiking, kayaking, boating, etc! I felt extremely prepared to become a staff pediatric anesthesiologist after completing residency and fellowship here. My required index cases were not only completed but also above and beyond the national requirements necessary to graduate. There was great mentorship throughout my time as a resident/fellow preparing me well for the basic, advanced and oral exam. I believe I had extremely good training and am thankful I chose to stay in Little Rock.
Amy Huggins, M.D., D.ABA
Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology
Pediatric Anesthesiology Staff
Arkansas Children’s Hospital
Little Rock, Arkansas
Sara B. Robertson, M.D.
I trained at UAMS from 2010-2014 as an anesthesia resident and at Arkansas Children’s Hospital as a pediatric anesthesia fellow from 2014-2015. Without a doubt, I know that I received an excellent clinical and didactic education during my residency and fellowship! From the moment I started in the program, I was welcomed, and this program always (and still does!) feel like home and family. Each of the attending staff takes the time to teach you all the basic and advanced skills required to function both in either an academic or private practice setting. When I graduated I felt more than ready for any case that came my way and can genuinely say my training was superior! Now that I’ve been practicing on my own for five full years, I can absolutely confirm that this is the truth. The training was long and hard, but I would choose both anesthesiology as a specialty and UAMS for my training over again without a doubt. I am very thankful UAMS Department of Anesthesiology!
Sara B. Robertson, M.D.
Associate Professor
University of Mississippi Medical Center
Division of Pediatric Anesthesiology
Jackson, Mississippi
Josh Dilley, M.D.
The residency program at UAMS provides an excellent clinical experience. I felt comfortable taking care of everything from pediatric to adult cardiac procedures when I finished.
If your goal is to be a well-trained clinician, you won’t find a better opportunity than the UAMS program.
Josh Dilley, M.D.
Clinical Director of Anesthesia
Arkansas Heart Hospital
Little Rock, Arkansas
Nazish K Hashmi, M.D.
My anesthesia residency at UAMS was instrumental in shaping my career trajectory. As residents, we were exposed to a wide variety of cases and clinical scenarios very early on in our training. The trauma experience was fantastic since UAMS is the only Level 1 trauma center in the state. Residents were given autonomy commensurate with their training. Needless to say, by the time we were CA3s, we were able to manage complex intraoperative situations competently. There is a lot of emphasis on communication and teamwork, as well as didactics. The attendings were always available and approachable. The program leadership, including Drs. Lienhart and Napolitano, Mary Beth Gresham and Jennifer White were fierce advocates for their trainees. I realized the worth of my training once I started my fellowship. I was better equipped with knowledge and skills than my peers. The three years of my anesthesia residency at UAMS were some of the best in my medical training, and I would definitely choose UAMS for my residency again.
Nazish K Hashmi, M.D.
Assistant Professor
Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine
Duke University Hospital
Durham, North Carolina
Hassan Rayaz, M.D.
I felt that my residency experience at UAMS really provided me with a lot of hands-on experience and responsibility that larger programs with a number of fellows may not have provided. My residency program gave me a strong foundation that helped me prosper at Yale University and Johns Hopkins University. My training held up well. I’m now the Director of Regional Anesthesiology at Johns Hopkins Hospital and I’ve won two fellowship teaching awards there as well. I owe a great deal of my teaching style and success to my mentors at UAMS.
Hassan Rayaz, M.D.
Assistant Professor
Critical Care Medicine and Acute Pain Management
Johns Hopkins Medicine
Baltimore, Massachusetts
L. Tyler Burns, M.D.
The opportunity to be a resident in the UAMS anesthesiology department has afforded so many opportunities that I’m not sure would have come if I had chosen another program. This evidence is shown in the alumni section of the website showing the outstanding institutions that our residents have attended for fellowship. The trauma, pediatric, OB, and pain management training in this department is unparalleled across the country. I would put our daily adult cases up against any other programs. The faculty and support staff are world-class and have become family that I remain in close contact with after graduating several years ago. There are many anesthesiology residencies out there, but there are few that are quite like UAMS.
L. Tyler Burns, M.D.
Pain Medicine Physician
Oschner Health
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Madiha Syed, M.D.
I applied to the UAMS anesthesiology residency program because it was part of a tertiary care hospital which was also a Level 1 trauma center and would provide exposure to complex pediatrics, vascular, trauma and obstetric anesthesiology cases. During my residency I saw the attendings confidently handle critical cases in obstetrics, pediatrics, trauma surgery and surgical ICU; their skills and passion inspired me to pursue a Critical Care Fellowship after I completed my anesthesiology residency.
The Anesthesia Critical Care Attendings supported and encouraged my efforts which led me to complete my Critical Care Fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic where I am currently a Clinical Assistant Professor and Medical Director of a regional ICU.
I appreciated the level of autonomy given to us as we progressed to senior residents; the training structure gave me the confidence and skills to be an Attending on day one after residency. The sense of comradery and teamwork between the attendings, residents, operating room staff and PACU RNs made training at UAMS a special experience.
Madiha Syed, M.D.
Clinical Assistant Professor, CCLCM,
Medical Director Medina ICU,
Cleveland Clinic
Cleveland, Ohio
Bonita Franklin, D.O.
Choosing UAMS for residency was the best decision I made for my career. As a visiting medical student, I spent a month at UAMS and fell in love with the anesthesia program as well as the hospital. Because UAMS is the only Level 1 Trauma Center in Arkansas, training there allowed me to see a wide variety of cases, many of which were extremely challenging and complex. Training at UAMS also allowed me to interact with and learn from some of the best physicians and surgeons in the area. This, along with having access to our own dedicated children’s hospital is what truly provides the preparation needed for life after residency.
During the CA-2 and CA-3 year you will be given the duty of serving as “team leader”, where you will manage the operating room schedule/board, and deal with rising issues throughout the day. Looking back, this experience was paramount to success in private practice as it truly prepared me to comfortably make difficult decisions in times of calm and chaos alike. My transition from residency to private practice was seamless due to the training at UAMS. I went on to do a fellowship in Interventional Pain Management; however, I still feel that I can enter the operating room and provide anesthetic care without hesitation due to my time at UAMS.
While my training was superb, residency in general can often drain one’s personal life causing a feeling of emotional depletion. This absolutely was not the case for me during my training. The support and staff you will encounter at UAMS within the anesthesia department as well as the many other surgical and medical residencies will leave you with an incredible sense of camaraderie.
I often find myself reminiscing about my time at UAMS and sharing my experiences with others simply because the memories are wonderful. Years later, I would still choose UAMS anesthesia all over again!
Bonita Franklin, D.O.
Pain Management Physician
Utica Park Clinic
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Michael Fiedorek, M.D.
I graduated from UAMS in 2018 and I am now a pediatric cardiac anesthesiologist at Emory in Atlanta. I believe that the three most important qualities of an anesthesiology residency are excellent clinical training, a supportive training environment, and a great city to spend four years, in that order. The exceptionally high acuity and volume at UAMS allowed me to graduate with the confidence, knowledge, and technical skills I desired. Each subspecialty is very well represented and faculty are extremely helpful in teaching you their art and helping you decide your own path. The relationship between residents and attendings is fantastic and I looked forward greatly to coming to work each day both to care for patients under anesthesia as well as learn from my attendings who I felt were all my friends. Little Rock is a beautiful city with extraordinary access to the great outdoors as well as great restaurants and ease of living. I would rank UAMS #1 many times over again.
Michael Fiedorek, M.D.
Pediatric Cardiac Anesthesiologist
Emory University
Atlanta, Georgia