Department News

UAMS Invests Shashank Kraleti MD in Dr. Algernon Sidney Garnett Chair in Family Medicine

The UAMS College of Medicine invested Shashank Kraleti MD in the Dr. Algernon Sidney Garnett Chair in Family Medicine during an April 10 ceremony. From left: Steven Webber MD (COM Chair), Dr. Kraleti, and Cam Patterson MD, MBA (Chancellor).

Dr. Kraleti is chair of the UAMS Department of Family and Preventive Medicine in the College of Medicine and serves as the director of primary care clinical services, providing oversight for clinical and population health initiatives for Arkansas. Further, he is the senior vice president for UAMS Health. Click for more details.

Congratulations, Dr. Kraleti!

2023 Medical Knowledge Awards Presented to LR FM Residents

Every year, the UAMS LR FM residency program recognizes the top scores on the in-training exam, with a winner at each PGY level and one of them (usually just one of them!) being named the overall winner.

This year, we had a tie for the overall winner: Jeff Balkenbush (PGY3) and Germán Corrales (PGY2) earned the same score. The top PGY1 score was earned by Tatiana Lino.

Dr. Balkenbush gets kudos for earning the top PGY score both in PGY1 and PGY2 and then the combo of top PGY3 score and overall score.

Congratulations to all.

MK 2023 — From left: Dr. Balkenbush, Dr. Corrales, Dr. Lino, with Dr. Gibson-Oliver in each photo.

New Offices and New Roles in the DFPM and the Service Line

Dr. Shashank Kraleti, DFPM Chair and Director of the Primary Care and Population Health Service Line, is announcing new structure to the DFPM, including new offices and directors to lead the way. Dr. Kraleti himself has acquired another title, that of Senior Vice-President for UAMS Health. New offices, positions, and leadership are outlined below, with more details to come.

Vice-Chair for Community Health and Engagement
Dr. Julea Garner

Dr. Garner is the inaugural Program Director of the Baptist Health-UAMS Family Medicine residency program. Her experience in Family Medicine education goes back to the early 1990s, and she has held multiple roles in the American Academy of Family Physicians. Dr. Garner was honored with the Ben Saltzman MD Professorship in Rural Family Medicine and was in private practice in Hardy, Arkansas, for almost 20 years.

Vice-Chair for Research and Faculty Affairs
Nikki Edge PhD

Dr. Edge has been on the faculty of the DFPM Research and Evaluation Division (RED) since 2011 and is now the Director of RED. Her research focuses on factors that place children at risk for poor social and emotional outcomes. She has held leadership positions in grant projects that have brought millions of dollars to UAMS and better health to children and adults around Arkansas. She has dozens of peer-reviewed publications and extensive experience in promotion and tenure processes.

Vice-Chair and Assistant Service Line Director for Clinical Operations
Dr. Scott Dickson

Dr. Dickson has been Program Director of the UAMS Northeast Family Medicine residency program since 2009. He graduated from the Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors’ National Institute for Program Director Development Fellowship in 2008 and has won several teaching awards. In 2018, he was the recipient of the Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield, George K. Mitchell MD Endowed Chair in Primary Care. He has been significantly involved with the Arkansas Chapter of the American Academy of Family Physicians by serving on the Board in several officer roles.

Assistant Service Line Director for Clinical Quality
Dr. Tabasum Imran

Dr. Imran began work at UAMS West in 2011. Since 2014, she has been the Associate Program Director and Medical Director. As an Epic Super User and trainer for end users, she has contributed significantly working with other Epic team members at UAMS to train clinic employees and physicians in the Epic healthcare record system. Her distinctions in quality improvement initiatives are numerous, as are her wide-ranging achievements in patient safety. Her leadership and participation in grant-funded projects and activities pertaining to value-based participation have been impressive, and she has won awards for teaching and scholarship.

Director, DFPM Division of Medical Student Education
Dr. David Kelley

Dr. Kelley joined the DFPM faculty in 2022, but he is not a newcomer to medical education. For eight years, he was Director of the Clerkship Program at the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. He has developed curricula and mentored Family Medicine residents, medical students, and other learners. Dr. Kelley has won multiple teaching awards and has received superior evaluations not only from learners but also from patients.

Director, DFPM Office of Communication and Departmental Relations
Diane Jarrett EdD, MA

Dr. Jarrett joined the UAMS Little Rock Family Medicine residency program in 2008. After 15 years of serving as an educator, she has transitioned to being a communicator for the DFPM statewide. Her doctorate is in higher education, and her master’s degree is in journalism/mass communications. In 2023, she was named as the AAFP Fellow for the History of Family Medicine, and she also won the UAMS Dr. Edith Irby Jones Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion Award.

Director, DFPM Office of Digital Health
Dr. Stephen Foster

Dr. Foster is an Assistant Professor at the UAMS Northeast Regional Campus, an ambulatory physician builder in clinical informatics, and an ambulatory quality officer in the Primary Care and Population Health Service Line. His awards and honors include a Digital Health Fellowship from Doximity, an Emerging Leaders Fellowship from the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, and acceptance to the Implementation Sciences Scholars Program from the UAMS Translational Research Institute. He holds many certifications in Epic Systems.

Co-Directors, DFPM Office of Leadership and Professional Development
Dr. Julea Garner and Dr. Diane Jarrett

Their biosketches are above.

Director, DFPM Office of Wellness
Kathy Emans LCSW

Ms. Emans is a licensed clinical social worker with more than 30 years of experience in working with mental health and substance use issues. She has a master’s degree in social work from the Indiana University School of Social Work.

Dr. Gibson-Oliver Wins an Award from the AAMC SGEA

The AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges) Southern Group on Educational Affairs (SGEA) has named Dr. Lauren Gibson-Oliver as the winner of the SGEA regional “M. Brownell Anderson Award.” This award goes to a faculty member with no more than five years’ experience in medical education and is designed to identify and support emerging educators on their career trajectory, and to celebrate their potential and talent.

Her award letter says, in part: “Your nomination stood out among a pool of highly qualified candidates, demonstrating a strong commitment to teaching and scholarly excellence. Your passion for education, enthusiasm, engagement in the medical education community, and innovative approaches was evident in your nomination.”

As the SGEA regional winner, she will be honored at their upcoming regional meeting in Houston. Dr. Gibson-Oliver and the winners from the other three regions will be considered for the national award that will be presented later this year.

In case you’re thinking: Wait a minute, didn’t she just win an award? She did! In a handful of months, she has won the STFM New Faculty Scholar Award, the UAMS Clinical Emerging Faculty Excellence in Mentoring Award, and the UAMS Phenomenal Woman Award. She was named to AY Magazine’s list of Best Women in Health Care and was chosen as a Soirée Top Doc for the second year in a row. Other than that, not much has been happening!

Dr. Rajalakshmi Cheerla Presents at STFM Conference

Dr. Rajalakshmi Cheerla, Associate Professor of Family and Preventive Medicine, Clerkship Site Director and Family Medicine Residency Clinic Medical Director at the Baptist-UAMS Medical Education Program, delivered multiple presentations at the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM) Conference on Medical Student Education in Atlanta last week.

She was the lead presenter for a session on conducting an innovative preventive care workshop in clerkship education and for a roundtable discussion on effective clinical teaching in the patient’s presence. She was a co-presenter for a session on designing fourth-year electives in sports medicine.

Dr. Cheerla graduated from the UAMS Little Rock Family Medicine residency program in 2012 — the same class as our department chair, Dr. Shashank Kraleti.

Three DFPM Residents Receive Sports Medicine Fellowships

Three residents from the UAMS Department of Family and Preventive Medicine (from three different residency programs) have been accepted into sports medicine fellowships beginning later this year.

Jeff Balkenbush MD is going to the University of Oklahoma (Oklahoma City), which is near his hometown of Edmond, Oklahoma. Currently he is a chief resident in the UAMS Little Rock Family Medicine residency program.

Jake Martin MD matched into the fellowship at the Northwest Regional Campus in Fayetteville where he has been serving as a chief resident for the Family Medicine residency. He is originally from Alma, Arkansas.

Hamilton Newhart MD, who is a chief resident at the Baptist Health/UAMS program in North Little Rock, matched into the Henry Ford Sports Medicine fellowship in Detroit. As part of his training, he will work with the Detroit Lions, Pistons, and Tigers. He is originally from Charleston, Arkansas.

Fellowship recipients — From left: Dr. Balkenbush, Dr. Martin, and Dr. Newhart.

Dr. Eruemulor (class of 2018) Is Featured on Fox 16 News

Aleobe Eruemulor MD is a 2018 graduate of the UAMS Little Rock Family Medicine residency program. Now she is reaching out to help physicians, especially international graduates, to be their best.

On February 13, 2024, Fox 16 News in Little Rock featured a story about Dr. Eruemulor, who practices at CHI St. Vincent in Scott, Arkansas. She talked about the challenges she faced in residency training but how she conquered them.

She has begun an initiative called Physician’s Keepers and also has her own YouTube channel devoted to helping graduates from international medical schools to prosper during residency training in the US.

Dr. Eruemulor is the winner of the 2023 Outstanding Young Physician Award from the Pulaski County Medical Society. Besides her Fox 16 appearance, she was featured on Channel 7 news in December 2023, also talking about her journey and how she wants to empower others.

Scholarly Activity Showcase Coming Up in Little Rock

The UAMS Little Rock Family Medicine Scholarly Activity Showcase is scheduled for Tuesday, May 14, 2024.

The annual event will feature posters by residents and faculty, along with presentations by the PGY3 residents.

The event will be held on the 12th floor of the Stephens Spine Institute. More details will follow as the time nears.

Jennilee Foster Joins the Little Rock Residency Team

The UAMS Little Rock Family Medicine residency program is happy to announce that Jennilee Foster has joined the team as Residency Coordinator.

She has been with UAMS since 2018 and has served as an Executive Assistant and Education Coordinator, as well as interim Residency coordinator.

Dr. Lauren Gibson-Oliver, Program Director, says “Jennilee brings a wealth of administrative experience to the team and has already made significant contributions to our department. She is an exceptional team member, and we are excited to see her continue to thrive in her new role.”

DFPM Posters at the UAMS Teach the Teacher Symposium

Poster display — From left: Dr. Jasna Vuk, Dr. Diane Jarrett, Dr. Karina Clemmons

The 15th Annual UAMS Teach the Teacher Symposium was held today, and the DFPM was represented by two posters.

One poster was about the efficacy of a faculty champion to make residency improvements and was authored by Dr. Shashank Kraleti, Dr. Lauren Gibson-Oliver, and Dr. Diane Jarrett. The other poster addressed the usefulness of virtual mock interviews for medical students and was authored by Dr. Jarrett, Dr. Karina Clemmons, and Dr. Jasna Vuk.

The symposium is an educator’s workshop hosted by the College of Medicine’s Academic Affairs Office and the Educators Academy.

Funding for this conference is provided by a MEFFA grant, the UAMS Educational and Student Success Center, and the Arkansas Medical Society.