Here are this week’s Accolades, a roundup of some of the honors and accomplishments of College of Medicine and UAMS faculty, staff, residents, fellows and students I’ve heard about recently.
Medical Humanities in Spotlight at National Conference
Congratulations to Dr. D. Micah Hester, Professor and Chair of Medical Humanities and Bioethics, on being selected to receive the Distinguished Service Award from the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities (ASBH). Dr. Hester will be honored during the organization’s annual meeting in St. Louis next month for his leadership in advancing the goals of the ASBH, the largest society devoted to bioethics and health humanities professionals. He has served in many ASBH roles, including Chair of the Annual Conference Program Committee, member of the Nominating Committee, and At-large Director on the society’s Board of Directors. Dr. Hester has served at UAMS for 20 years, including the past 13 as Department Chair.
The department will be well represented at the ASBH conference. Assistant Professor Dr. Lauren Bunch will present a paper exploring practical considerations with “trust” in health care. Assistant Professor Dr. Eva Regel will present on a humanistic approach to health care with refugees. Dr. Hester will discuss the ethics of the relationship between hospital and organ procurement organizations.
Quality Improvement Recognition for CF Team
Congratulations to the UAMS Adult Cystic Fibrosis Care Center team on being selected to receive the 2024 Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Quality Improvement Award for their work to ensure the very best care for patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). The center is directed by Dr. Larry Johnson, Professor of Internal Medicine and Director of the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. The team (click here for a photo and names) will be recognized at the North American Cystic Fibrosis Conference in Boston in late September. The center’s quality improvement initiatives include increasing referrals for colonoscopies, because patients with CF patients can have significantly earlier onset of colorectal cancer than the general population.
AAP Presentation to Highlight QI Project
Dr. Rebecca Martin, a third-year fellow in the Section of Pediatric Critical Care, has been selected to present an ongoing QI projected titled “Improving PICU Fellow Feedback” at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) National Conference in Orlando, Florida, in September. Additional authors are faculty members Dr. Katherine Irby (Pediatrics-Critical Care); Dr. Deidre Wyrick (Surgery-Pediatric General Surgery); and senior author Dr. Tyler Cunningham (Pediatrics-Cardiology). Their early interventions have improved feedback delivered to PICU fellows from 17.2% in academic year 2022-2023 to 46.7% in the first quarter of academic year 2023. The project also received an AAP Section of Critical Care Early Faculty Travel Award as the highest-scoring abstract.
Monkeypox’s Neuropsychiatric Side Effects
Dr. Abhilash Thatikala, Academic Chief Resident in the Department of Neurology, is first author on an article in the journal Heart and Mind discussing the neuropsychiatric manifestations of monkeypox. The World Health organization declared monkeypox a global health crisis in 2022, and the disease has been in the news recently with cases once again rising in Africa. The research team included colleagues from the departments of Neurology, Radiology and Psychiatry. They found that neuropsychiatric symptoms such as pain, headache, mood disorders, emotional issues and/or anxiety were present in about one-third of the monkeypox cases documented in the retrospective cross-sectional study, warranting awareness by clinicians.
Inspiring Future Doctors & Health Professionals
Medical students juggle a heavy load of classwork, studying and other obligations, and yet many, like M2 Grant Broadway, still manage to find time to pay it forward. Grant recently organized outreach activities for students in a summer program at That After School Place in Little Rock. He first presented a talk at the center for elementary and middle school students to help raise awareness of medical careers. Most recently, he organized a tour of UAMS for 10 middle school students. (Here are a couple of photos.) Other tour volunteers included College of Medicine Assistant Dean for Student Affairs Sharanda Williams and Nick Pettus with UAMS Academic Pathways and Workforce Partnerships. Kudos to these team members and all who take the time to inspire future health professionals.
Nationally Recognized Breast Cancer Care
A shout-out to Dr. Ronda Henry-Tillman, Professor of Surgery and Chief of Breast Oncology, and the entire team in the Breast Cancer Program in the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, for their work to achieve reaccreditation from the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC). The NAPBC designation from the American College of Surgeons distinguishes the program as one of the best breast cancer treatment programs in the nation. The UAMS Breast Center, a part of the Breast Cancer Program, is likewise designated as a Breast Imaging Center of Excellence by the American College of Radiology. The Breast Center is directed by Dr. Gwendolyn Bryant-Smith, Professor of Radiology. Read more in the UAMS Newsroom.
UAMS Top Docs (and more!)
Finally this last week, congratulations to the many College of Medicine faculty physicians honored in the annual health care-focused “Best of” lists of two Little Rock publications. The August issue of Little Rock Soirée features its Little Rock’s Top Docs 2024 list, a compilation of outstanding physicians as voted on by peer physicians across many specialties. The August issue of AY About You features the 2024 AY’s Best Health Care Professionals, as voted on by readers. UAMS honorees who have provider profiles on the UAMS Health website are also showcased on these webpages: UAMS Top Doctors/Soiree 2024; UAMS/AY Best of 2024. Kudos to all for your dedication to excellent patient care.
Meanwhile, UAMS team members, clinics and UAMS as a whole are among the Top 5 finalists in 11 categories of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s Best of 2024 competition – and you can help push them all on to victory. Voting is open through Aug. 26. More information and ballot links are available in this UAMS Announcement.