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!
Kindness Beats Bad Weather
Last week’s icy conditions were no match for the kindness and dedication of team members throughout our college and UAMS. I want to take a moment to thank all of you who helped patients, colleagues and others weather the storm. Third-year Radiology resident Dr. Razvan Zemianschi is a great example. Dr. Zemianschi came in early and stayed late while on call, and he literally went the extra mile by giving rides to fellow on-call residents in his truck, so the call team could get to campus and back home safely. It was heartwarming to hear about this and other examples of team members’ kindness, such as Geriatrics faculty members offering to deliver medications and groceries for patients, and much more. Thank you all for being the best part of UAMS.
Honoring a Pediatric Radiology Icon
A shout-out to the Department of Radiology for doing a fantastic job hosting a three-day educational celebration last week in recognition of Emeritus Professor Dr. Joanna Seibert. Dr. Seibert was Arkansas’ first pediatric radiologist and led the program at Arkansas Children’s for 23 years. In 2021, she received the Gold Medal Award, the top honor from the Society for Pediatric Radiology. The virtual UAMS conference included Visiting Professor lectures on topics relating to Dr. Seibert’s career contributions and a capstone CME course co-directed by Assistant Professor Dr. Sumera Ali and Professor Dr. Charles James with 10 speakers including a keynote address from Dr. Dorothy Bulas of Children’s National Medical Center.
The event, which drew 75 attendees from across North America, also featured a Regional Pediatric Interventional Radiology Challenging Case Conference and a UAMS Radiology Residents Challenging Case submission contest. Congratulations to residents Dr. George Vilanilam and runner-up Dr. Joyce Joseph on topping the field in the residents’ competition, and to Assistant Professor Dr. Spencer Lewis, runner-up in the Pediatric IR contest.
Eliminating Child Abuse
Congratulations to Dr. Nicola Edge, Professor of Family and Preventive Medicine, and Dr. Sufna John, Associate Professor of Psychiatry, on their appointment by Gov. Asa Hutchinson to the Blue Ribbon Task Force to End Child Abuse. Created during last year’s regular session of the Arkansas General Assembly, the task force will pursue a systematic and holistic approach to eliminating child abuse in the state. Dr. Edge and Dr. John are Co-Directors of the ARBEST (Arkansas Building Effective Services for Trauma) program, which works to improve outcomes for children and families who have experienced trauma through activities promoting excellence in child care, advocacy, training and evaluation.
Giving Matters
Finally this week, I would like to mention something that has become so clear over the months I have been at UAMS. Your excellent work in all of our mission areas and across our state continues to inspire generous contributions from patients, philanthropists, foundations and many others. For instance, the Don and Carolyn Kirkpatrick family recently gave $1 million to create an endowed chair in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine. The endowment will provide crucial support for Division Director Dr. J. Paul Mounsey, who will become the inaugural holder, and his outstanding team in the UAMS Health Heart Center.
Meanwhile, the Share Foundation pledged $1.5 million to help establish a UAMS Family Medicine Residency Program in El Dorado at what will become UAMS’ ninth regional campus. Kudos to Amy Wenger, MHSA (now Vice Chancellor for UAMS Northwest) for the outstanding leadership she brought to UAMS Regional Campuses, and to Dr. Richard Turnage, current Vice Chancellor for Regional Campuses, for his ongoing work on the El Dorado campus. I plan to highlight more examples of inspiration and generosity in future Accolades, because they reflect how you are making a difference for UAMS and those we serve. Thank you.