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!
Celebrating GME Excellence
June is a time for celebrations across the College of Medicine and UAMS Regional Centers as our graduate medical education (GME) programs say farewell to graduating residents and fellows and honor them, along with many continuing trainees and faculty members, for their excellence. Congratulations to the 195 residents and fellows who are graduating from COM-sponsored programs and 64 Family Medicine and two Sports Medicine fellows who are graduating from Regional Centers programs on June 30.
While honing your knowledge and skills, you have all had a tremendous impact on UAMS patients and our clinical mission across the state. Likewise, you have been instrumental in our educational mission as teachers and mentors for medical students.
I also want to take a moment to congratulate the 66 COM programs that received continued accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) this year, along with three new programs that received initial accreditation. The new programs are Anesthesiology – Pediatric Cardiac, directed by Dr. Destiny Chau; Forensic Pathology, directed by Dr. Theodore Brown; and Pediatric Endocrinology, directed by Dr. Shipra Bansal. Click here for a list of COM programs receiving accreditation, and their directors.
All of UAMS’ longstanding Regional Centers programs received continuing accreditation. This summer, two new programs are welcoming their first residents. Dr. Sheena CarlLee directs the Internal Medicine Residency Program based at Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville. Dr. Ronald Brimberry directs the new Family Medicine Rural Training Program, in which residents spend their first year at Washington Regional and years two and three in nearby Carroll and Madison counties.
None of this would be possible without our outstanding leaders and team members in the Graduate Medical Education and Housestaff offices. I join with Dr. Molly Gathright, Executive Associate Dean for GME and Designated Institutional Official (DIO) for the COM; Dr. Stacy Zimmerman, DIO for UAMS Regional Centers; and Dwana McKay Yarberry, Assistant Dean for Housestaff Affairs, in thanking everyone on a job very well done.
Arkansas Children’s Nationally Ranked in 7 Areas – Again!
A shout-out to the many Arkansas Children’s and UAMS team members who helped Arkansas Children’s continue its streak on U.S. News & World Report’s Best Children’s Hospitals list. For the second year in a row, Arkansas Children’s has been ranked among the best in the nation in seven of its service lines. This year’s ranked services are Cancer, Cardiology and Heart Surgery, Diabetes and Endocrinology, Nephrology, Orthopedics, Pulmonology and Lung Surgery, and Urology. As Arkansas Children’s President and CEO Marcy Doderer, FACHE, noted, the rankings reflect how the entire team “consistently strives for excellence every day with every child.” Read more in the Arkansas Children’s Newsroom.
UAMS Honors Mentoring Excellence
Congratulations to the nine faculty and staff members from the College of Medicine and across UAMS who received Excellence in Mentoring awards at a ceremony last week. The awards were presented in an array of categories across mission areas. COM recipients included Dr. Wayne Bryant Jr. (Family/Preventive Medicine), Dr. Lawrence Greiten (Surgery/Pediatric Cardiovascular); Dr. William Ventres (Family/Preventive Medicine), Dr. Jessica Snowden (Pediatrics/Executive Associate Dean for Research), and Dr. Pearl McElfish (Office of Community Health and Research). Read more in the UAMS Newsroom.
Patent for Early Disease Diagnosis
Congratulations to Dr. Vladimir Zharov, Professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery and the Josephine McGill Chair in Cancer Research, on his new Divisional U.S. Patent for “Devices and Methods for Fractionated Photoacoustic Flow Cytometry.” This is his tenth patent for noninvasive detection of multiple circulating disease markers using the advanced in vivo Cytophone platform. The technology focuses on early diagnosis of cancers, infections (e.g., malaria), and cardiovascular disorders (e.g., stroke). Clinical trials using this innovative diagnostic platform are in progress at UAMS and in Africa.
Neurobiology Researchers Present at Endocrine Society
The Department of Neurobiology and Developmental Sciences was well represented at the recent annual meeting of the Endocrine Society. Professor and Vice-Chair Dr. Angus MacNicol was an invited presenter at a symposium on post-transcriptional regulation as a mediator of hypothalamic pituitary function. 2023 Ph.D. graduate Dr. Jewel Banik was invited to present a late-breaking talk in an oral session. Dr. Tiffany Miles, a postdoctoral scholar in the Translational Research Institute’s Health Sciences Innovation and Entrepreneurship (HSIE) program, was an invited presenter for a “rapid fire” oral session based on her research poster. Distinguished Professor and Chair Dr. Gwen Childs chaired a session on the hypothalamic tanycyte. Ph.D. students Ashley Herdman, Juchan Lim and Katie Bronson, and Associate Professor Dr. Melanie MacNicol all presented posters.
National Radiology Resident Honors
Fourth-year Radiology resident Dr. George Vilanilam was recently chosen as the American College of Radiology (ACR) 2023-2024 Informatics Fellow. One fellow is selected annually for the competitive program, which provides hands-on experience in the field of informatics through mentoring and projects in collaboration with the Data Science Institute, ACR-AI Lab, and other organizations. Meanwhile, Dr. Vilanilam and second-year resident Dr. Shruti Kumar have been appointed to the editorial board of the American Journal of Roentgenology as podcast editors for the 2023-2024 year.
Simulation Education in National Spotlight
Dr. Karen Dickinson, Assistant Professor of Surgery and Director of Interprofessional Education (IPE) Simulation and Clinical Skills Training, was the guest expert for a recent episode of the renowned health care simulation-focused “Simulcast” podcast series. The interview focused on the collaborative work of the UAMS Centers for Simulation Education, Department of Surgery and Office of Interprofessional Education, including establishment and best practices for an IPE simulation education program. In March, the “Simulcast Journal Club” also highlighted an article by UAMS and UA-Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law collaborators. Published in the International Journal of Healthcare Simulation, the article discussed an interprofessional, interinstitutional medical malpractice mock trial developed and conducted by the team.
Putting Patients First
This edition of Accolades started with a shout-out to our residents and fellows for their excellent work during their time with us at UAMS. I would like to end with one example I heard about recently. Dr. Lindsey Wilbanks, an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Associate Program Director of the Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship and a Section Chief at Arkansas State Hospital, took the time to write to Neurology Residency Program Director Dr. Neil Masangkay to commend the professionalism of second-year resident Dr. Abhilash Thatikala. Dr. Thatikala had evaluated a patient at the State Hospital for a possible neurological issue during the weekend, and then documented what could have been a frustrating visit in neutral, non-judgmental manner.
“While there is a stigma against mental illness in general, it is so much more with our State Hospital patients,” Dr. Wilbanks explained. “I was very impressed with Dr. Thatikala’s note and professionalism. This may seem like a small thing, but it meant a lot to me, and I am so appreciative of your resident’s kindness toward my patient.”
Accolades is taking a short break and will return later in July. Meanwhile, I hope everyone has a happy and safe Fourth of July holiday!