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!
Centers on Aging to Receive National Award for Education
Congratulations to Dr. Amy Leigh Overton-McCoy and team in the UAMS Centers on Aging on being selected as the 2024 recipient of the American Society on Aging (ASA) Gloria Cavanaugh Award for Excellence in Training and Education. UAMS will be recognized for making significant contributions to training and education in the field of aging during ASA’s On Aging 2024 conference in San Francisco on March 26.
UAMS was selected from a record number of nominations from across the country. That speaks volumes about the excellent leadership of Centers on Aging Director Dr. Overton-McCoy, who also holds the Murphy Endowed Chair for Rural Aging Leadership and Policy. The honor is also a testament to the dedication of the team members in the eight Centers on Aging to transforming the lives of older Arkansans.
Teach the Teacher
A shout-out to all who made the 15th annual Teach the Teacher Symposium a terrific success. The symposium last Friday included sessions on teaching professionalism across cultures, providing feedback in clinical teaching, and teaching professionalism in both classroom and clinical settings. Faculty presenters included Drs. Jan Shorey, Sara Tariq, Alan Diekman, Tiffany Huitt, Becky Latch, Becca Perin and Rachel Ekdahl. Many other faculty, residents and students presented posters on educational research topics. Special thanks to Dr. Karina Clemmons, Assistant Dean for Medical Education and Associate Professor of Medical Humanities and Bioethics, for leading the symposium for the third year, Dr. Helen Hu, Director of the UAMS Educational and Student Success Center, and to Jennifer VanEcko, Program Manager in COM Academic Affairs, for her organizational contributions. Learn more about the presentations and posters here.
Kidney, Liver Transplant Teams Excel
Congratulations to the UAMS Kidney and Liver Transplant Programs on once again being ranked among the best in the nation in the newest Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR) report. The report is conducted on behalf of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. UAMS shined in several areas, with both the kidney and liver programs scoring five out of five bars, the highest score, for the speed at which patients on the waiting list obtained an organ from a deceased donor. As Dr. Lyle Burdine, Associate Professor of Surgery and Director of Solid Organ Transplants, explains in a UAMS news story, “A key element of the success of our transplant programs is the effective team structure at UAMS, enabling the delivery of world-class care comparable to any top-tier hospital in the United States.” Kudos to the many departments and services that made this possible.
Thank You, CRNAs and Physician Anesthesiologists
UAMS celebrated National Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNA) Week Jan. 21-27, and we are honoring our faculty and resident anesthesiologists during Physician Anesthesiologist Week through Feb. 3. Anesthesia professionals at UAMS are instrumental in our ability to provide outstanding and safe care for our patients. I join with Dr. Jill Mhyre, the Dola S. Thompson Professor and Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology, in thanking all of you for your expertise and contributions to our clinical mission.