Department of Internal Medicine

Gerry Dean Ezell, M.D., has joined the Department of Internal Medicine as an Associate Professor in the Division of General Internal Medicine. Dr. Ezell received his medical degree from UAMS. He completed his internship at Pensacola Naval Hospital and residency at Portsmouth Naval Hospital. Dr. Ezell has extensive experience as an internist and has held numerous positions in Arkansas. Dr. Ezell will serve as a core faculty member in the newly established Baptist Health-UAMS Internal Medicine Residency Program based at Baptist Health North Little Rock, which will welcome its first 12 residents in July.

Asif Sewani, M.D., has joined the Department of Internal Medicine as an Assistant Professor in the Division of Cardiology. Dr. Sewani received his medical degree from Aga Khan University Medical Center in Karachi, Pakistan. He completed his internship and residency at the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis. He continued his training with a fellowship in cardiovascular disease at the University of Texas Medical Center in Galveston followed by a fellowship in cardiac electrophysiology at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston. Dr. Sewani will practice primarily at the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System while also providing coverage and support at UAMS Medical Center.

Anand Venkata, M.D., has joined the Department of Internal Medicine as an Assistant Professor in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care. Dr. Venkata received his medical degree from Osmania Medical College in Hyderabad, India. He completed his residency at the University of Connecticut in Farmington. He continued his training with a pulmonary and critical care fellowship at St. Luke’s and Roosevelt Hospital in New York City.

Department of Radiology

Fang Lu, M.D., has joined the Department of Radiology as an Assistant Professor in the Division of Pediatric Radiology. She received her medical degree from the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver. Dr. Lu completed her residency in diagnostic radiology at Bridgeport Hospital/Yale University in Bridgeport, Connecticut, in 2016. She continued her training, completing a fellowship in pediatric radiology in 2017 followed by a fellowship in pediatric neuroradiology in 2018, both at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Daniel Voth, Ph.D., has been appointed interim chair of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology in the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Medicine, effective following the July 31 retirement of current chair Kevin Young, Ph.D.

Voth has made numerous contributions to the College of Medicine and faculty throughout UAMS in addition to his field of research since his recruitment to the Department of Microbiology and Immunology in 2009. His research leadership posts have included chairing the UAMS Institutional Biosafety Committee since 2014 and serving on the committee that conducted the search for the next UAMS vice chancellor for research, Shuk-Mei Ho, Ph.D., who will join UAMS in May.

“Dr. Voth will bring strong leadership skills, collegiality and dedication to our institution to this new role,” UAMS Executive Vice Chancellor and College of Medicine Dean Christopher T. Westfall, M.D., FACS, said in a March 4 announcement to faculty.

As chair of the UAMS Academic Senate in 2016-2017, Voth worked to enhance faculty life across campus and ensure that faculty concerns were addressed quickly and efficiently to best serve the education, research and clinical missions of UAMS. During this time he also served on the committee that conducted the successful search for Chancellor Cam Patterson, M.D., who joined UAMS last June. Voth was promoted to associate professor in 2014 and has been approved for promotion to professor on July 1.

Voth’s research has focused on strategies used by bacterial pathogens to manipulate human cells and cause disease. He completed his doctoral research at the University of Oklahoma, where he studied the impact of bacterial toxins on eukaryotic cell signaling. Voth’s postdoctoral research at the National Institutes of Health (Rocky Mountain Laboratories, Hamilton, Montana) and his ongoing research at UAMS have focused on the causative agent of human Q fever, Coxiella burnettii.

Voth’s host-pathogen research has been published in 43 peer-reviewed articles and invited reviews to date and has been funded with over $4 million in continual funding from the NIH through various grant mechanisms during his time at UAMS. Voth and his colleagues currently are using novel human-derived lung infection systems to define the pulmonary innate immune response to Staphylococcus aureus.

Voth has mentored numerous graduate students and postdoctoral fellows and has lectured extensively in graduate and medical school courses at UAMS. He directed the Microbiology and Immunology graduate program for four years and served on the UAMS Graduate Council for three years. Voth has also worked to increase diversity in science, participating in the Initiative for Maximizing Student Development program and the Summer Undergraduate Research Program to Increase Diversity in Research. In addition to mentoring students, he currently serves on the mentoring committees of three faculty members.

The 120 premedical students from colleges across Arkansas who came to UAMS for tours and information sessions on March 8 were asked a vital question by Richard P. Wheeler, M.D., executive vice chancellor for academic affairs in the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Medicine.

“Why do you want to become a physician?”

Wheeler’s aim during the opening session in the I. Dodd Wilson Education Building was for the students to dig deeper than the often-heard declaration of “wanting to help people.” Being a doctor, he explained, is about more than diagnosing diseases and conducting procedures to treat conditions.

“The answer should be that you want to take away their fear,” Wheeler said. “I’m talking about the deep, visceral fear that comes when there is something wrong with you that you don’t understand.”

Doctors, he explained, alleviate fear by providing answers when possible – and by being unfailingly compassionate.

Wheeler discussed benefits of attending medical school at UAMS, where the College of Medicine has been educating the vast majority of the state’s physicians since 1879. He noted the campus’ topnotch clinical, research and education facilities, robust research enterprise and dedicated educators. He also discussed opportunities for medical students to participate in research and even pursue dual medical and doctorate degrees.

The day-long annual event is organized by the College of Medicine Admissions Office. The team includes Tom South, assistant dean for medical student admissions, Jeanne McLachlin, Ph.D., director of admissions and recruitment, and Tammy Henson, admissions specialist/Rural Practice Program administrator.

“Our goal is to recruit the very best students to UAMS and the College of Medicine,” said McLachlin. “We want the best doctors for our state, and great doctors start out as great students. The annual premed tour gives many of Arkansas’ most promising college students their first on-the-ground look at UAMS and some of the many educational, research and clinical opportunities we offer.”

It was also an opportunity for the visiting students to ask questions – and nearly 30 faculty and staff members and 40-plus medical students were on hand to supply answers. College of Medicine students met with visiting students in small groups during lunch, which concluded with a panel discussion. Students met faculty physicians and researchers on 14 small-group tours:

Biomedical Research Buildings

Center for Clinical Skills Education

Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute

Main Operating Room and Outpatient Surgery

Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Neurology Research

Pat Tank Anatomy Teaching Complex

Psychiatric Research Institute

Brain Imaging Research Center

Center for Addiction Research

Perinatal Psychiatry

Radiology and Nuclear Medicine

Radiation Oncology Center

Simulation Center

Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute

On the Center for Addiction Research tour, three University of Arkansas Fayetteville students and two from Central Baptist College in Conway visited with Department of Psychiatry faculty physicians John Spollen, M.D., and Michael Mancino, M.D. Third-year medical student Morgan Tripod was their tour guide. Conversation ranged from addiction treatment and the opioid crisis to what to expect during the medical student interview process.

The visiting students also gained assurance from their hosts that medical school at UAMS is much more collegial than cutthroat. Spollen and Mancino emphasized that the faculty and staff are dedicated to making sure students succeed.

The visitors also heard that medical students also look out for one another. “We’re all in this together,” said Tripod.

Visiting students said they appreciated the tours and information sessions. “The conversations with medical students were open and engaging,” a Williams Baptist University (Walnut Ridge) student commented on a post-event survey.

“I loved hearing about research opportunities at UAMS,” wrote a University of Arkansas Fayetteville student.

“I enjoyed learning so much about UAMS and the different departments,” said another visiting student.

By Liz Caldwell

March 20, 2019 | With its largest class of graduating medical students about to begin their medical residencies, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) is helping expand access to health care across the state, helped in part by new residency programs.

Senior medical students are matched with a residency of three to seven years depending on their specialty through a national process revealed simultaneously across the country each March on Match Day.

This year, 160 UAMS students were appointed to residencies, the largest-ever number of UAMS graduates matching. Every student who wanted a match received one.

“We are so proud of our graduates,” said UAMS Chancellor Cam Patterson, M.D., MBA. “Students got into really good programs, both those who matched in state and those who matched out of state.”

In addition to the large number matching, 95 percent found a position in the original match, the largest percentage since 2006. Subsequent processes were able to find positions for the remaining 5 percent.

One of UAMS’ goals is to inspire doctors to stay in Arkansas for their careers, particularly those in primary care. Of the class of 2019, 72 seniors have taken residency positions in Arkansas. The remaining 88 took positions in 32 different states.

This year, 53 percent of the UAMS students matched in primary care — internal medicine, pediatrics, family medicine or obstetrics/gynecology. In internal medicine, 32 matched, the largest number since 2006.

Several UAMS students received appointments in the new Baptist-UAMS family medicine and internal medicine residency programs at Baptist Health North Little Rock.

“This is certainly a positive development in the effort to get more physicians to train in Arkansas and remain in the state to practice,” said College of Medicine Dean Christopher T. Westfall, M.D.

An increasing physician shortage nationwide and in Arkansas led medical schools across the country to increase class sizes starting about 10 years ago. In a rural state like Arkansas, the physician shortage is especially critical since more than two-thirds of the state’s 75 counties include federally designated Primary Care Health Professional Shortage Areas.

Residency positions are funded primarily by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The agency has not increased the number of residency slots in many years for hospitals that already have programs, leading many medical schools to come up with other ways of financing more slots to accommodate the increasing number of medical school graduates.

But hospitals that have never had a residency program may apply for one. That’s what led to new residency slots with Baptist Health North Little Rock and hospitals in Searcy and Batesville.

In 2018, UAMS partnered with Baptist Health to open two programs in North Little Rock, leading to 12 new slots each for the first year of both family medicine and internal medicine residency programs. The three-year programs may apply for CMS funding for the final two years. UAMS also assisted Searcy and Batesville with obtaining residencies.

“Our mission is to provide physicians for Arkansas and our goal is to generate as many positions as we can, whether it’s at UAMS or other sites in the state,” Westfall said.

Match Day is conducted by the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP). Students in their fourth year apply to programs, interview and then send a ranked list to the NRMP. Residency programs also submit a list of preferred candidates, and an NRMP computer, using an algorithm, reconciles the lists as best as possible.

By Amy Widner

March 15, 2019 | Dreams really can come true — and for the 160-plus College of Medicine seniors who attended the annual Match Day event on Friday, those fulfilled wishes came in the form of envelopes that revealed where they will spend the next three to seven years as they complete their residency training.

“It feels surreal,” said Daniel Escobar, who matched in emergency medicine at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. “It feels like you’re in a dream. All of that hard work coming to fruition like this, it just boggles the mind to actually be here.”

Each year Match Day starts at 11 a.m. Central Time, with senior medical students all over the nation simultaneously opening envelopes to reveal their “match” — or where they have been accepted to continue their training in a specialty residency.

Match Day is conducted by the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP). Students in their fourth year apply to programs, interview and then send a ranked list to the NRMP. Residency programs also submit a list of preferred candidates, and an NRMP computer, using an algorithm, reconciles the lists as best as possible.

Not everyone matches in the first round, and there are subsequent matching processes that try to account for that.

This year, 167 UAMS College of Medicine senior students participated in the match. One-hundred-sixty-three took part in the NRMP match. Eight graduating seniors who attempted to match did not do so initially. However, since the first round, all of the students who sought positions have placed through other matching processes.

Nationwide, the 2019 Main Residency Match was the largest in NRMP history. A record 38,376 applicants submitted program choices for 35,185 positions, the most ever offered in the Match. Of those, 7,826 failed to match.

At the UAMS Match Day event, held at the Metroplex Live, the class of 2019 also re-enacted another tradition. It can be nerve wracking to wait for your name to be called, so each student who goes up to the podium puts cash in a vase. The student whose name is called last gets a big cash prize for their extra stress from waiting.

Escobar was this year’s winner.

“It almost gave my wife a heart attack,” Escobar said. “She wanted me to be one of the first, so waiting so long — she was a nervous wreck.”

As far as the money goes, Escobar was thrilled, of course, but he said, looking around the room, “it’s exciting to see that everyone seems so happy with their choice — that’s the most important thing.”

For couples and families with children, Match Day poses additional logistical challenges. Often couples are trying to match in the same geographical area, while still considering each other’s career goals. There is a “couple match” option through the NRMP that tries to factor in geography, but still, it’s tough.

Rachel and Cale White held their baby, Kade White, after the ceremony and reflected on the stressors of the last few months. They were relieved when they found out they both matched at UAMS, where Rachel will be working in emergency medicine and Cale in physical medicine and rehabilitation.

“It’s exactly what we were hoping for,” Rachel said.

“The most important thing for us was that we could be together and not have to disrupt our family with a big move,” Cale said. “This is perfect, and we’re looking forward to taking on new challenges and having more of a say in our patients’ care and well-being as residents.”

For Jessie Koster, who has been at the UAMS Northwest Regional Campus in Fayetteville for the last two years, Match Day was also a fun time reuniting with her classmates. Given the difficulties of medical school, students can forge strong bonds.

“I feel great,” Koster said, adding that her match, radiology at University of Kansas Medical Center, was her No. 1 choice. “There were a lot of nerves, a lot of excitement, and now, a lot of relief to know where life is going to take me next. My residency, radiology, will take five years, so that’s a big part of my life that I now know for sure — and need to start planning for. We’ve got to move!” Koster said, looking at her boyfriend with a laugh. “It’s a lot, and it’s all very exciting.”

This year, 53 percent of the UAMS students matched in primary care — internal medicine, pediatrics, family medicine or obstetrics/gynecology.

One of UAMS’ goals is to inspire doctors to stay in Arkansas for their careers, particularly those in family medicine. Of the class of 2019, 72 seniors have taken residency positions in Arkansas. The remaining 88 took positions in 32 different states.

Richard Wheeler, M.D., executive associate dean for academic affairs in the College of Medicine, started keeping statistics related to Match Day in 2005 and helps organize the event. Wheeler said UAMS is working with other hospitals and programs in the state to open additional residency slots in an effort to train more physicians in Arkansas to fulfill doctor shortages. Every year the staff continues to help students find positions even if they didn’t match in the first round.

By Susan Van Dusen

March 13, 2019 | LITTLE ROCK — A study led by University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) surgeon Brendan C. Stack Jr., M.D., has shown the potential to alter neck dissection surgeries in about 21 percent of head and neck cancer patients.

Stack served as co-investigator on the international study examining the effectiveness of PET/CT scans in determining whether a patient’s cancer has spread to their lymph nodes. The study’s results were published Feb. 15, 2019 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

For patients found to have positive lymph nodes, a surgery called neck dissection, which involves an incision across the neck, is required to remove the positive nodes.

If a patient’s cancer has not spread to the lymph nodes, neck dissection surgery may not be required, reducing the patient’s pain and recovery time.

“Our study showed that when a patient has negative nodes on a PET/CT scan, 96 percent of the time the result is truly negative. With a high level of confidence, we can say to a patient that if your neck is negative on PET/CT, there is probably no need for a neck dissection,” said Stack, professor in the UAMS College of Medicine Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.

Cancers that are collectively known as head and neck cancer usually begin in the squamous cells inside the moist surfaces of the head and neck. These cancers can affect the oral cavity, throat, larynx (voicebox) and nasal cavity.

While it was commonly assumed by physicians that a negative scan of the neck meant there was no need for a neck dissection as part of cancer therapy, this assumption had never before been established in a prospective, multi-institution trial.

The study was conducted from August 2010 to December 2016 in 23 centers around the world. Of the total 287 patients enrolled, 42 were from UAMS.

“More patients participated in this study at UAMS than at any other center,” said Stack, who developed the concept 18 years ago with co-investigator Val J. Lowe, M.D., professor of radiology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

“Our first article hypothesizing this concept was published in the journal Cancer in 2001. Now, almost two decades later, we have shown that with the help of PET/CT technology it may be possible to significantly reduce the number of neck dissections performed on head and neck cancer patients,” said Stack.

PET scan is a type of nuclear medicine imaging that uses a small amount of radioactive material, called a tracer, to determine the severity of disease. In the case of this study, the tracer used was fluorodeoxyglucose, or FDG, a molecule similar to glucose.

CT imaging uses X-ray equipment to produce images of the inside of the body. When combined, PET/CT gives doctors the ability to see the body’s abnormality in relation to the anatomy, making it a more precise scan.

Another major result of the study involves the mapping of positive lymph nodes in the neck.

“There has been no other area of the body that has been mapped this way as it relates to PET scanning,” Stack said, adding that it could be beneficial for other types of surgeons to use the study’s results in determining the likelihood of positive lymph nodes in their own patients.

The study was initiated by the American College of Radiology Imaging Network, which later joined with the Easter Cooperative Oncology Group. Results were presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting in Chicago in June 2017, and a two-year patient follow-up concluded in December 2018.

The Cancer Clinical Trials and Regulatory Affairs office provided internal support for the study while it was being conducted at UAMS.

“Ideally, research should provide information that is both usable and capable to being built upon. I’m glad to say that researchers at another institution are already designing a follow-up trial to ours, which will develop this concept even further,” said Stack.

By Susan Van Dusen

March 6, 2019 | With his first medical licensing exam in the books, Corbin Norton was ready to relax.

“It was a really tough exam. I had been studying for weeks,” the 27-year-old UAMS College of Medicine student said.

An Atlanta native, Norton landed at UAMS after his brother, then a resident in the Department of Otolaryngology, suggested he give it a look.

“Little Rock wasn’t even on my radar, but he gave me a tour and I was really impressed,” he said.

After being accepted into the college in 2016, Norton left his job at the Centers for Disease Control, moved to Arkansas and delved headfirst into the challenges of medical school.

“My brother was getting excellent training in his residency at UAMS, so I felt confident the College of Medicine would also be a good choice for me,” he said.

It was about two years later, after Norton completed his first licensing exam and was preparing to enter his third year of med school, when he noticed something alarming: a bump had developed on the back of his testicle.

With his newly acquired medical knowledge top of mind, Norton immediately knew he fell squarely in a high-risk group for testicular cancer. According to the American Cancer Society, about half of testicular cancers occur in men between the ages of 20 to 34, and the cancer is more common in white men than in African-Americans or Asian-Americans.

“Knowing I fit into that category, I was a little worried,” he said.

A visit to Norton’s primary care physician temporarily eased his fears when he was told the bump appeared to be a simple cyst. When it began to hurt a few weeks later, the same doctor determined it to be a condition known as epididymitis, an inflammation of the tube at the back of the testicles that stores and carries sperm.

But for Norton, the diagnosis of epididymitis didn’t ring true.

“I didn’t really think that was the problem,” he said, since epididymitis is most commonly caused by sexually transmitted diseases he does not have.

However, Norton followed the doctor’s orders and tried an over-the-counter pain killer, hoping it would relieve the increasing discomfort.

As days went by and the pain worsened, Norton decided it was time to see a specialist and made an appointment in the Urology Clinic at UAMS.

His treatment began with a round of antibiotics, but they offered no relief. It was then that an ultrasound was performed and revealed the true cause of Norton’s pain: a tumor of about 2.5 centimeters in his testicle.

“The ultrasound was on a Friday, and then it was a whirlwind,” Norton said. His family arrived from Atlanta, and there was talk over the weekend of going home for treatment. Ultimately, though, Norton decided that UAMS was where he was meant to be.

“I’m a med student here. People know me, and I know the doctors and nurses. There was a level of familiarity that was comforting. Plus, I knew I would get the best care here,” he said.

Early the next week, Norton met with his surgeon, Mohamed Kamel, M.D., and surgery was scheduled for Wednesday, a mere five days after his diagnosis. Norton also made the decision to bank his sperm prior to surgery, as treatment for testicular cancer can lead to infertility.

“I can’t say enough about Dr. Kamel. He answered all of my questions, even the simple ones. He was really in my corner and pushed to get things done on my behalf,” he said.

Kamel is an associate professor in the UAMS College of Medicine Department of Urology.

After the surgery, it was determined that Norton’s cancer, which had already spread to his lymph nodes, was a nonseminoma tumor with a high embryonal component, meaning it was an aggressive form of the disease that affects the precursors to sperm cells known as germ cells.

Genetic testing also determined him to have the isochromosome 12p gene mutation, which contributed to the tumor’s invasive and aggressive nature and, at times, its resistance to treatment.

Rashmi Verma, M.D., a medical oncologist in the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, oversaw Norton’s chemo regimen, which included four stays in the hospital, as well as outpatient treatments.

“Chemotherapy for testicular cancer involves three drugs that require the patient be monitored around the clock,” said Verma, assistant professor in the UAMS College of Medicine Division of Medical Oncology.

While low blood counts delayed Norton’s treatment for a few days, Verma’s close attention to his condition allowed her to restart the chemotherapy regimen as soon as his counts were back up.

“We monitored his blood counts every 48 hours and started chemo again as soon as it was safe to do so,” she said.

Verma also worked closely with Norton and his family to ensure he avoided any potential risk of infection while home between hospital stays. Had he contracted an infection or pneumonia, his treatment could have been delayed for weeks, resulting in the possible development of residual cancer, she said.

“Dr. Verma was always very straightforward, and I appreciated that,” he said.

Finally, about four months after his surgery, Norton received the call he had been waiting for.

“I had a CT scan on January 31, and Dr. Verma called the next day to tell me I was cancer free. I was beyond relieved,” he said.

In total, Norton took about a five-month leave of absence from the College of Medicine and will return full time to his studies in March 2019.

“Everyone at the College of Medicine has been very supportive. At first I wanted to power through and avoid falling behind in school, but they reassured me I didn’t need to feel guilty for taking time off to care for my health,” Norton said.

With his treatment successfully completed, Norton said he’s now ready to put this experience behind him and get back to life, using his own experience as a patient to help guide his future as a more empathetic and understanding physician.

“Being a med student, I had to remind myself that it was OK to be the patient. Cancer makes you accept new roles in life that you never expected,” he said.

By David Robinson

An international team of researchers led by the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) is the first to deploy a pocket-sized nanopore device for rapid genetic sequencing of multiple human viruses.

The findings are published in the journal Frontiers in Microbiology, the world’s most cited microbiology journal.

UAMS’ Thidathip (Tip) Wongsurawat, Ph.D., and Piroon Jenjaroenpun, Ph.D., developed the technique, setting the stage for rapid, mobile virus tracking in rural regions across the globe. They were joined by collaborators from UAMS, including David W. Ussery, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Biomedical Informatics, College of Medicine, and Intawat Nookaew, Ph.D., associate professor in the department.

“Using the new hand-held device, in just two hours we had complete genomes of six viruses,” Wongsurawat said. “This is an exciting development that could have life-saving potential as we combat future infectious disease epidemics around the globe.”

The research project’s external collaborators are from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis; University of Sao Paulo Ribeirao Preto, Brazil; Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand; and University of Louisville, Kentucky.

The team’s findings were made possible by recent advances in gene sequencing technology. The team used an Oxford Nanopore Technologies device called MinION, the only portable real-time device available for DNA and RNA sequencing.

Wongsurawat, a postdoctoral fellow who joined UAMS in 2017, said the results show the hand-held device can be used in real-world settings where human biosamples may contain multiple viruses. The team demonstrated the sequencing from a sample containing six viruses: Mayaro virus, Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus, Chikungunya virus, Zika virus, vesicular stomatitis Indiana virus, and Oropouche virus.

Wongsurawat said the team overcame challenges of rapid diagnoses of infectious disease epidemics, which are primarily driven by RNA viruses. Sequencing of RNA viruses previously required a number of steps (for reverse transcription of RNA to cDNA) that significantly slowed the process.

“Using our method, we were able to skip these steps and provide real-time sequencing, which makes rapid detection and characterization of emerging pathogens possible,” Wongsurawat said.

The team’s work was supported by the Helen Adams & Arkansas Research Alliance Endowed Chair, the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) award P20GM125503 and NIH award R01AI103053.

There’s no question that medical school is a long, hard climb. But a group of College of Medicine students has found that a literal climb is great for physical health and mental wellbeing – not to mention a lot of fun.

A dozen or so students have turned out for the appropriately dubbed “hangout” at the Little Rock Climbing Center on a Friday evening in early February. Harnessed to protective rope systems called belays, they scale the indoor facility’s 27-foot walls, following routes of varying difficulty. They reach for nubby, stone-like handholds and seek footing on other protrusions. They check their balance and continue climbing.

“This is definitely a major stress reliever,” freshman Madison Crosby said between climbs.

She appreciates the camaraderie as well as the exercise. “I was just talking to some of the M2s (sophomores) about classes I’ll be taking next year, so that has been really nice,” she said.

“One of the best things students can do for their mental health is simply getting regular exercise, and that’s exactly what our group wants to accomplish,” said sophomore Bryce Woods, who co-founded the Wellness through Climbing student organization with classmate Jace Bradshaw.

Both began climbing independently last summer. After discovering their mutual interest they started climbing together more often. “We were having a fantastic time and knew that a number of other students had also been climbing,” said Bradshaw. “We thought it would be great to bring everyone together and try to engage even more people.”

The classmates were also aware of the nationwide problem of stress-induced burnout among medical students. Like schools around the country, the College of Medicine has focused extensively on services to support student wellness. Under the leadership of Puru Thapa, M.D., M.P.H., a professor of psychiatry, the UAMS Student Wellness Program provides free, confidential clinical services for students along with extensive outreach activities such as talks on mindfulness and stress management.

Bradshaw and Woods organized the interest group late last year, recognizing that a climbing group would support the same goals. Matt Quick, M.D., an associate professor of pathology, signed on as the adviser.

“Medical school can be incredibly difficult, and it is easy for students to lose sight of what is important,” said Quick. “So often the focus becomes studying for the next test and students can neglect themselves. What makes this group so special is that climbing is not only mental, but also physical therapy for stress. Bryce and Jace should be commended for taking the initiative in setting up this incredibly valuable opportunity for their peers.”

The group aims to have a couple of hangouts each month, along with informational meetings on topics such as climbing basics, the benefits of exercise on mental health and wilderness medicine, which centers on providing care in low-resource environments and is the focus of another active interest group on campus. Woods and Bradshaw are interested in organizing outdoor climbing excursions someday and expanding their membership to include students from other UAMS colleges.

Meanwhile, there is the challenge of each climb and the satisfaction of persevering.

“My favorite thing about climbing so far has been that almost every time I go, I see improvement and I get to beat my last ‘personal record,’” said Woods. “One day I’ll be unable to complete a really hard route, then a few days later I’m back at it and able to climb it.”

Woods laughs when asked if medical school is something like scaling a towering wall.

“We hear all kinds of analogies about medical school, but it really is like we are just steadily climbing up a mountain – a ridiculously huge mountain,” Woods said. “At some point we’ll be at the top and be able to look back on all of the hard work we’ve done and the support from friends and family that got us here!”