What a Match!
Congratulations to our graduating seniors and to our residency programs on a very successful Match last week. The Class of 2025 celebrated Match Day on Friday, with most learning where they will complete their residency training with the opening of envelopes among family, classmates and faculty at the Statehouse Convention Center.
We are thrilled that 100% of our seniors who participated in the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) obtained a position in the highly competitive process. We look forward to having 74 of these seniors join outstanding Arkansas residency programs in July. Ninety-four matched to other residencies across the nation, including programs at top institutions and in exceptionally competitive specialties. Nearly half will train in primary care positions. (See where everyone is headed in this 2025 Match List.)
Meanwhile, UAMS residency programs also had one of the most successful Match Days ever. We are very pleased that all first-year positions in the 23 COM-sponsored residency programs participating in the NRMP main Match filled. Across all UAMS and UAMS co-sponsored programs, 261 new resident physicians will begin their training this summer.
A great Match Day doesn’t just happen. We have phenomenal students! But it’s important to remember that the success of our students and our training programs is also the result of the dedication of faculty and staff across our college. Many thanks to all of you who contribute to undergraduate and graduate medical education at UAMS.
Simulation and Surgical Education Special Series
Dr. Karen Dickinson, Assistant Professor of Surgery and Director of IPE Simulation and Clinical Skills Training, successfully pitched an idea for a special series on simulation and surgical education for the journal Surgery as a member of the editorial board. After a year of work as guest editor, the special section was published this month. The collection of articles by internationally recognized experts in the field addresses issues including the global challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic that have necessitated changes to the platform of surgical simulation education and spurred evaluations of how to best use distance simulation for surgical learners going forward. Read Dr. Dickinson’s introduction to the series here.
Inaugural National Nutrition Fellow
Andrew Brown, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Biostatistics, has been named an inaugural Excellence in Nutrition Fellow of the American Society for Nutrition (FASN). The new distinction recognizes scientists, clinicians and other professionals who have demonstrated significant impact in their career paths as well as service to the ASN. Dr. Brown and the other newly named fellows of the society will be recognized at the Nutrition 2025 conference in Orlando on May 31. In Arkansas, Dr. Brown has lent his expertise to studies on nutrition, childhood and adult obesity, research rigor and other topics at UAMS and Arkansas Children’s.
Surgical Research Symposium
Kudos to Department of Surgery and the faculty, organizers, residents and students who made the fourth annual Surgical Research Symposium a great success. More than 100 attended the March 18 event hosted by the Department of Surgery, including several from the departments of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation and Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. The event featured 45 poster presentations. Breast Surgical Fellow Dr. Nicholette Black received the award for Best Clinical Study. Second-year medical student Beau Belcher received top honors for Best Case Study. M.D./Ph.D. student Randall Rainwater received the award for best Basic Science poster. Special thanks to Surgery faculty members Dr. Marie Burdine, Dr. Hanna Jensen and Dr. Matt Steliga and Research Writer Sandy Moore, M.A., for their work organizing the event.
Outstanding Achievement in Brain & Behavior
A shout-out to second-year medical student Eva Allen, who was honored by the departments of Neuroscience and Psychiatry last week for academic excellence in the foundational Brain and Behavior module while a freshman last year. Eva was presented an award for earning the top score in the course by Dr. Laura Stanley, Assistant Professor of Neuroscience, who co-directs the module with Dr. Shona Ray-Griffith, Associate Professor of Psychiatry. Eva also received a monetary prize provided by the Department of Psychiatry, and she will be recognized on a plaque in the Education II building ground floor corridor.