Each year, students in all four classes in the UAMS College of Medicine vote for the faculty members they consider to be the most outstanding educators. The honorees are recognized during the college’s Honors Convocation ceremony on the eve of UAMS Commencement.
Red Sash winners in attendance at the May 19, 2023 ceremony were entitled to wear red sashes over their regalia robes. These honorees were named by students as outstanding teachers. Gold Sash honorees are the faculty members who received the highest number of votes by students across all four classes. The person voted by each class as the best teacher of the year receives the prestigious Golden Apple Award. In the list below, the Gold Sash and Golden Apple Honorees are noted and in bold type. The others are Red Sash winners. All faculty are listed in their primary department.
Read more about this year’s Golden Apple recipients.
Congratulations to all of these exemplary College of Medicine faculty members!
Anesthesiology
Shannon Dare, M.D.
Riley Lide, M.D.
Jill Mhyre, M.D.
G. Lawson Smith, M.D.
Matthew Spond, M.D.
Kyle Stoner, M.D.
Sushma Thapa, M.D.
Biochemistry/Molecular Biology
Giulia Baldini, M.D., Ph.D.
Alan Diekman, Ph.D. Gold Sash, Freshman Golden Apple
Samantha Kendrick, Ph.D.
Dermatology
Megan Evans, M.D.
Thomas Jennings, M.D., Ph.D.
Sara Shalin, M.D., Ph.D.
Henry Wong, M.D., Ph.D.
Emergency Medicine
Meryll Bouldin, M.D.
Carly Eastin, M.D.
Lauren Evans, M.D.
Rachael Freeze-Ramsey, M.D.
Family/Preventive Medicine
Scott Dickson, M.D.
Michael Gann, M.D.
Stephen King, M.D.
Sharon Reece, M.D.
Julia Rouiler, M.D.
Leslie Stone, M.D., MPH
Patrick Sullins, M.D.
William Ventres, M.D., M.A.
Jordan Weaver, M.D.
Internal Medicine
Alice Alexander, M.D.
Ahmed Abuabdou, M.D.
Ramez Awad, M.D.
Robert Bradsher, M.D.
Jose Caceres, M.D.
Sheena CarlLee, M.D.
Ryan Dare, M.D.
Steven Deas, M.D.
Katie DeFore, M.D.
Matthew Deneke, M.D.
Harmeen Goraya, M.D.
Nick Gowen, M.D. Gold Sash, Junior Golden Apple
Yusef Hassan, M.D.
Robert Hopkins, M.D.
Sumant Inamdar, M.D.
Krishna Kakkera, M.D.
Robert Lavender, M.D.
Riley Lipschitz, M.D.
Michael Lowry, M.D.
Caroline Miles, M.D.
Hakan Paydak, M.D. Gold Sash
Juan Carlos Rico, M.D.
Michael Saccente, M.D.
A. Mazin Safar, M.D.
Kristen Shealy, M.D.
Manisha Singh, M.D.
Kalaivani Sivakumar, M.D.
Ples Spradley, M.D.
Sara Tariq, M.D.
Ramakrishna Thotakura, M.D.
Tobias Vancil, M.D.
Taylor Washburn, M.D.
Microbiology/Immunology
Karl Boehme, Ph.D.
Neurobiology/Developmental Sciences
Noor Akhter, Ph.D.
David Davies, Ph.D. Gold Sash
Kevin Phelan, Ph.D.
Neurology
Lee Archer, M.D.
Tarek Bakdash, M.D.
Dale Carter, M.D.
Rohit Dhall, M.D., MSPH
Neil Masangkay, M.D.
Walter Metzer, M.D.
Hillary Williams, M.D.
Obstetrics/Gynecology
Melissa Helmich, M.D.
Laura Hollenbach, M.D.
Renee McGraw, M.D.
Luann Racher, M.D.
Maria Ruiz, D.O.
Dora Smith, M.D.
Kate Stambough, M.D.
Lindsey Sward, M.D. Gold Sash, Senior Golden Apple
Ophthalmology
Paul Phillips, M.D.
Otolaryngology-Head/Neck Surgery
Ozlem Tulunay-Ugur, M.D.
Orthopaedic Surgery
Robert Martin, M.D.
Simon Mears, M.D., Ph.D.
Pathology
Jennifer Forsyth, M.D.
Murat Gokden, M.D.
Susanne Jeffus, M.D.
Vijay Patel, M.D.
Charles Matthew Quick, M.D.
Nicholas Zoumberos, M.D.
Pediatrics
Megan Baber, D.O.
Elijah Bolin, M.D.
Carla Brown, M.D.
Joshua Dailey, M.D.
Rachel Ekdahl, M.D.
Jacob Filipek, M.D.
Stacie Jones, M.D.
Rebecca Latch, M.D.
Joana Mack, M.D.
Safia Nawaz, M.D.
Steven McKee, M.D. Gold Sash
Cindy Nguyen, M.D.
Robbie Pesek, M.D.
Amna Qasim, M.D.
Angela Scott, M.D., Ph.D. Gold Sash
Amy Scurlock, M.D.
Maxwell Taylor, M.D.
Julie Tate, M.D.
Tara Venable, M.D.
Gwenevere White, M.D.
Dustin Williford, M.D.
Physical Medicine/Rehabilitation
Tory Hunton, M.D.
Physiology/Cell Biology
Michael Jennings, Ph.D.
Jerry Ware, Ph.D.
Psychiatry
Jessica Coker, M.D. Gold Sash
Margaret Ege-Woolley
Amy Grooms, M.D.
Lewis Krain, M.D.
Michelle Ransom, M.D.
John Spollen, M.D.
Lindsey Wilbanks, M.D.
Radiology
Sateesh Jayappa, M.D.
Ruizong Li, M.D.
Surgery
Avi Bhavaraju, M.D.
Nolan Bruce, M.D.
Emmanouil Giorgakis, M.D.
Hanna Jensen, M.D., Ph.D. Gold Sash, Sophomore Golden Apple
Eveline Klenotic, M.D.
Melissa Kost, M.D.
Joe Margolick, M.D.
Jason Mizell, M.D.
Conan Mustain, M.D.
Anna Privratsky, D.O.
Matthew Roberts, M.D.
Kevin Sexton, M.D.
Christian Simmons, M.D., Ph.D.
Rachel Slotcavage, M.D.
Matthew Steliga, M.D.
Keith Wolter, M.D., Ph.D.
Deidre Wyrick, M.D.
James Yuen, M.D.
Urology
Timothy Langford, M.D.
Michail Mavros, M.D.
Julie Riley, M.D.