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!
A+ for Anesthesiology
Congratulations to our Anesthesiology residents on their outstanding in-training examination results this year. The Clinical Anesthesia 2 (CA2) class as a whole performed better than 90% of their CA2 peers around the country. Four residents achieved a perfect scaled score: CA3 resident Dr. Andrew Wright and CA2 residents Dr. Ashley Bartels, Dr. Nikhil Kamath and Dr. Jessica Yeh. Also scoring above the 90th percentile were CA2 resident Dr. Jonathan Aronson, CA1 residents Dr. Bardia Azar and Dr. Prannal Bansal, and first-year resident Dr. Scott Smith. Well done!
Pathology Presenters
College of Medicine faculty did a great job as invited faculty for the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology (USCAP) annual meeting last week. Dermatology Chair Dr. Sara Shalin presented on “nodules and neutrophils” during a dermatopathology slide session. Pathology Chair Dr. Jennifer Laudadio and Assistant Professor Dr. Ericka Olgaard were faculty for a short course, “Minding your Ps and Qs: Process and Quality Improvement for Anatomic Pathology Services.” Also during the meeting, third-year Pathology resident Dr. Amrit Singh presented “Therapeutic monoclonal antibody (t-mAb) effect on the interpretation of serum protein electrophoresis and immunofixation in patients with plasma cell myeloma” – earning him a nomination for the Stowell-Orbison Award for residents and fellows. Congratulations to Dr. Singh and his faculty mentors, Associate Professor Dr. Daisy Alapat and Assistant Professor Dr. Hoda Hagrass.
Representing Radiology
The Department of Radiology is well represented at the Society of Interventional Radiology’s virtual annual meeting this week. Assistant Professor Dr. Mudassar Kamran is presenting on CT perfusion in acute stroke. Residents Dr. George Vilanilam and Dr. Iqbal Haq are presenting a poster, “Middle Meningeal Artery Embolization for the Management of Chronic Subdural Hematoma. They are mentored by Dr. Kamran along with Associate Professor Dr. Adewumi Amole and Dr. Martin Radvany, Professor and Chief of Interventional Neuroradiology, who has a number of speaking and moderating roles at the meeting.
In the Spotlight
Congratulations to Dr. Akilah Jefferson, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Allergy and Immunology, on being named a 40 Under 40 Leader in Minority Health by the National Minority Quality Forum. The list honors young leaders who have led the charge to improve patient outcomes and build sustainable, healthy communities. In addition to her excellent clinical work, Dr. Jefferson conducts research in the Arkansas Children’s Research Institute (ACRI) focused on asthma, health disparities, health policy and ethics. Read more about Dr. Jefferson in this ACRI Weekly Research Update.
Lifestyle Medicine
A shout-out to Dr. Gina Drobena and Dr. Kathryn Neill on their new grant from the Ardmore Institute of Health to create interprofessional learning opportunities at UAMS focused on lifestyle medicine. Dr. Drobena, Associate Professor of Pathology and Course Director for the Culinary Medicine elective, and Dr. Neill, Associate Provost for Academics and Director of Interprofessional Administrative and Curricular Affairs, were awarded $75,000 to develop content grounded in the key concepts of lifestyle medicine such as healthful eating, physical activity, stress management, social connection and avoidance of substance misuse. Learning activities will be available to students in all 72 UAMS degree programs and to faculty through continuing education.
Top Reviewer
The American College of Physicians recently commended Dr. William Golden, Professor of Internal Medicine and Public Health and Medical Director for Arkansas Medicaid and the Arkansas Office of Health Information Technology, for his exceptional efforts as a reviewer for the Annals of Internal Medicine. Dr. Golden received the journal’s top grade for his contributions and role in improving the quality of published articles in 2020.
Diabetes Symposium
Kudos to Dr. Joseph Henske, Associate Professor and Director of the Diabetes Program in the Division of Endocrinology, and colleagues for their excellent work on the 26th annual UAMS Diabetes Update Symposium. Along with Dr. Henske, UAMS speakers for the March 12 conference included Endocrinology fellows Dr. Aashka Shah and Dr. Arwa Albashaireh, who spoke on type 1 and type 2 diabetes, respectively; Associate Professor of Pathology Dr. Gina Drobena, who presented on culinary medicine and also served on the planning committee; Dr. Nafisa Dajani, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, who spoke on pregnancy and diabetes; UAMS Northwest’s Dr. Emily English, who discussed food resources; and the College of Health Professions’ Amber Teigen, M.M.Sc., PA-C, who spoke on stress and mindfulness. Dr. Joseph Thompson, President and CEO of the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement, presented a talk on diabetes and COVID-19. State and national experts shared information on numerous other topics.
Jeopardy!
Internal Medicine residents Drs. Prachi Saluja, Marina Joseph, Thomas Augustine and Barrett Burger made an impressive showing in the “Jeopardy” competition at the recent Society of General Internal Medicine (SGIM) Southern Meeting. The team made it to the final round with their knowledge of clinical topics in internal medicine. I join with team “Coach” Dr. Steven McKee, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Internal Medicine, in saying, “Way to Go!”