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!
Enhancing the Physician-Patient Relationship
The Department of Family and Preventive Medicine (DFPM) and UAMS Regional Programs welcomed 14 faculty members and behavioral health providers from DFPM, Regional Programs and Baptist Health to campus last week for the first Balint Leadership Training Intensive. A Balint group is a group of clinicians who meet regularly to present clinical cases in order to better understand and improve the clinician-patient relationship. Dr. Richard Turnage, Vice Chancellor of Regional Programs and Interim DFPM Chair, has championed the initiative and is the Principal Investigator of a Health Resources and Services Administration grant that is underwriting the training. The goal is for training participants to initiate Balint groups in their residency programs and clinics.
Kathy Emans, LCSW, Director of Behavioral Health for Regional Programs, and Dr. Beth Schmit, an Assistant Professor in DFPM, have been instrumental in organizing the training. Chris Rule, LCSW, Director of Behavioral Health for the UAMS-Baptist Residency Program, led the training along with representatives from the American Balint Society. I join with Dr. Turnage in thanking these team members and the training participants from across the state for their commitment to enhancing patient care.
Implementation Science Scholars
The UAMS Translational Research Institute (TRI) and UAMS Center for Implementation Research (CIR) have named five College of Medicine clinical faculty members as Implementation Science Scholars. Congratulations to Dr. Stephen Foster (Family and Preventive Medicine/UAMS Northeast Regional Campus); Dr. Chelsea Mathews (Orthopaedic Surgery); Dr. Veronica Raney (Psychiatry); Dr. Jarna Shah (Anesthesiology); and Dr. Shruti Tewar (Pediatrics). Over the next two years, CIR faculty will guide the scholars in didactic sessions and mentor them in experiential implementation science projects. Learn more about the scholars and their projects on the TRI website.
Vascular Anomalies Conference Hosts
A shout-out to the Vascular Anomalies team at Arkansas Children’s, which is hosting the American Society for Pediatric Hematology/Oncology (ASPHO) Vascular Anomalies National Fall Conference this Friday. About 30 vascular anomalies experts from across the country will be in Little Rock for the all-day meeting, with another 50 joining virtually. Kudos to Dr. Joana Mack, Dr. Shelley Crary and colleagues in the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Hematology/Oncology, the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery’s Dr. Gresham Richter, and colleagues for their leadership on this conference. This is a big honor and great national exposure for the program.
Nationally Ranked Ophthalmology Training
The Ophthalmology Residency Program’s commitment to excellence in education, research and clinical care is reflected in the latest Doximity Residency Navigator rankings for medical students interested in matching into the specialty. Significantly, the program was ranked 13th this year for research output among 124 schools nationwide. Special thanks to Residency Program Director Dr. Ahmed Sallam, Ophthalmology Chair Dr. Paul Phillips, and everyone on the Jones Eye Institute team who contributes to residency education.
Otolaryngology Shares Expertise
The four-day annual meeting of the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (AAO-HNS) in Philadelphia this month was chock-full of insightful presentations by College of Medicine Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery faculty and trainees. Click here for an overview of the 17 oral presentations, panel discussions and more. The presenting authors and lead presenters included 12 faculty members, four residents and one fellow. Kudos to Professor and Chair Dr. John Dornhoffer and team for sharing their expertise and representing UAMS so well.
Urology in the Spotlight
Department of Urology faculty and medical students were in the spotlight at the recent South Central Section (SCS) of the American Urological Association Conference in Coronado, California. Congratulations to Dr. Julie Riley, Associate Professor and Program Director for the Urology Residency, who was elected SCS Secretary. Assistant Professor Dr. Bruno Machado presented his research on a novel surgical approach for Peyronie’s disease using 3D printed penile models. Dr. Riley and Dr. Tim Langford, Professor and Urology Chair, served as panelists for podium sessions. And third-year medical students Tara Bates and Alberto Ocampo did a great job presenting the research they conducted in the Honors in Research Program under Dr. Stephen Canon.
International Honors
Congratulations to the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine’s Dr. Jawahar “Jay” Mehta and Dr. Srikanth Vallurupalli on the honors they received at the recent joint North American Meeting of the International Society of Heart Research and the International Academy of Cardiovascular Sciences in Winnipeg, Canada. Dr. Mehta, Distinguished Professor of Internal Medicine, Physiology and Cell Biology, and Pharmacology and Toxicology, received a Medal of Merit for his many contributions to the field. Dr. Vallurupalli, Associate Professor of Internal Medicine, received the Roberto Bolli Young Investigator Award for his oral presentation, “Gender differences in Takotsubo cardiomyopathy – etiology or biology?”
Outpatient Treatment for Hemangioma
Dr. Gresham Richter, Professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, and colleagues have published a study into the use of propranolol to treat infantile hemangiomas. While there has been a shift toward outpatient management for these patients, no prior studies had looked at the costs and safety of this practice. Using data from the Pediatric Health Information system to assess trends, Dr. Richter and team determined that outpatient management is safe and cost-effective. UAMS collaborators included Dr. Hayden Hairston, Dr. Anvesh Kompelli and Dr. J. Reed Gardner (residents); research fellow Dr. Kyle Davis; Dr. Elijah Bolin (Pediatrics), and 2021 COM graduate Dr. Muhammad Abu-Rmaileh.