Did you see this news in the College of Medicine Dean’s Accolades? The Department of Family and Preventive Medicine (DFPM) will develop an Arkansas Family Medicine Residency Network Educational Collaborative with support from the American Board of Family Medicine Foundation. The foundation awarded an initial grant of $5,000 for the network, which will support graduate medical education innovation and outcomes, professional collaboration, and the sharing of best practices to enhance population care across the state. Leaders in the initiative include Dr. Shashank Kraleti, Garnett Chair of Family Medicine and Director of the Primary Care and Population Health Service Line, Dr. Julea Garner, Director of the Baptist Health/UAMS Family Medicine Residency Program, and Dr. Diane Jarrett, Director of the DFPM Office of Communication and Departmental Relations.
Department News
Dr. Meghan Gibson Accepted to the UAMS Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship
Dr. Meghan Gibson will become a Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellow at UAMS in 2024-2025.
She is graduating from our Family Medicine residency program in June 2024 and already has her next step lined up. Congratulations, Dr. Gibson!
Dr. Gibson-Oliver Wins a National Award
Dr. Lauren Gibson-Oliver has been chosen for the 2024 STFM (Society of Teachers of Family Medicine) New Faculty Scholar Award. Part of this honor includes a year of coaching, learning, and networking opportunities and also presenting at the STFM Spring Annual Conference. Click here for more details. Congratulations to Dr. Gibson-Oliver for this prestigious distinction.
Dr. Bryant and Dr. Turnage on TV
Did you see Dr. Bryant and Dr. Turnage on TV discussing the physician shortage in Arkansas and statewide?
Click here for the video.
New Chief Residents Chosen for 2024-2025
Dr. Germán Corrales and Dr. Divya Krishnan Seethapathy were chosen by the faculty and their fellow residents to serve as Chief Residents for 2024-2025.
This is an important honor that carries responsibility and implies trust. They will take over from Dr. Jeff Balkenbush and Dr. Meghan Gibson in 2024.
Two New Appointments in the DFPM
Dr. Shashank Kraleti, Garnett Chair of the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, has announced two new appointments.
Nikki Edge PhD will assume the position of Vice Chair of Research and Faculty Affairs, and Diane Jarrett EdD will become the Director of the Office of Communication and Departmental Relations.
The DFPM is growing! Stand by for more details.
Courtney Hampton Named “Ally of the Year.”
DFPM-RED’s Courtney Hampton was recently named “Ally of the Year” by The Strilite Foundation. Courtney is Research Program Manager for DFPM-RED’s HIV Education and Prevention team. Her team works on a variety of projects throughout the state to educate and reduce stigma related to HIV. The team also provides multiple points of access to free HIV testing for Arkansans.
The Strilite Foundation’s recent announcement:
The organization would like to announce and congratulate, Ms. Courtney Hampton as the entity’s “2023 Ally of the Year,” award winner.
The presentation will take place during the Red Dress Fest Gala, Dec. 1, 6 pm, at the Junior League building, 401 Scott Street in downtown Little Rock.
The organization cited, Ms. Hampton’s decades long commitment to addressing the HIV continuum of care and her laser focused efforts to ensure that available resources were directed into communities most impacted by the pandemic.In her tenure with the Arkansa Department of Health, she championed for innovative programming, increased communications and supported numerous community driven projects including the genesis of the first Black gay men’s support group named,”Strilite.”
Throughout her career, she’s been a national conference presenter, worked to develop the UAMS Gap Services in two locations, served as chairperson for H4H Health & Wellness Fair and been an invaluable support to her family, friends and community.
The Strilite Foundation
Nicola Edge Named Vice-Chair
Nicola Edge, Ph.D., was recently named Vice-Chair for Research in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine (DFPM).
Dr. Edge joined the UAMS faculty in 2000 in the Department of Pediatrics. In 2010, her primary academic appointment was moved to the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, where she was promoted to Professor in 2018 on the basic scientist track. She has served as the Associate Director of the Research and Evaluation Division (RED) and has most recently supported the DFPM as Vice-Chair of Faculty Affairs. In 2019, she was honored to receive the UAMS College of Medicine Faculty Award for Excellence in Research.
UAMS Names Shashank Kraleti, M.D., Chair of Department of Family and Preventive Medicine
By Tamara Robinson
June 12, 2023 | LITTLE ROCK — The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Medicine appointed Shashank Kraleti, M.D., as chair of the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, effective July 1.
Kraleti will also hold the Dr. Algernon Sidney Garnett Chair in Family Medicine.
“Dr. Kraleti has served in numerous leadership roles since completing his residency training at UAMS and joining the faculty in 2012,” said G. Richard Smith, M.D., interim College of Medicine dean and executive vice chancellor of UAMS. “He has gained national recognition for his outstanding work to enhance the Little Rock Family Medicine Residency Program. He is highly respected by residents and faculty colleagues for his clinical skills and for the passion he brings to training outstanding family physicians.”
Kraleti has served as director of the department’s family residency program since 2016 and previously held other leadership roles in the program. He assumed the role of clinical informaticist in 2019. Since May 2022, he also has served as director of primary care services, a position he will continue to hold.
“I am excited for the opportunity to continue to serve and lead my family medicine and UAMS family that I have been a part of for more than a decade,” Kraleti said. “I look forward to working towards our vision of improving the health of Arkansans by providing relationship-centered and equitable care, while training the best and brightest family physicians, and conducting pioneering research in primary care.”
He has received many honors at UAMS and the national level. Kraleti was invested as the Jack W. Kennedy Chair in Family and Preventive Medicine at UAMS in 2013. He received the College of Medicine Residency Educator-Program Director Award in 2019. Recent national honors include the 2023 Parker J. Palmer Courage to Teach Award from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and the Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors Program Director Silver Recognition, also this year.
Kraleti succeeds Richard Turnage, M.D., vice chancellor of Regional Campuses, who has served as interim chair since July 2020.
Kraleti earned his medical degree at Andhra Medical College in Visakhapatnam, India, in 2005. He came to UAMS for his family medicine residency in 2009 and served as chief resident in his final year of training. He completed the National Institute for Program Director Development Fellowship in 2013-2014 and more recently completed a practice pathway Clinical Informatics Fellowship at UAMS in 2022. He also completed the Association of Departments of Family Medicine (ADFM) Leadership Education for Academic Development and Success (LEADS) fellowship in 2023.
He has been a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians (FAAFP) since 2017. He is active in several other national professional organizations, including the Society of Teachers in Family Medicine, for which he serves on the Family and Behavioral Health Collaborative and the Global Health Educators Collaborative. He is a board member of the Arkansas Academy of Family Physicians.
UAMS is the state’s only health sciences university, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a hospital; a main campus in Little Rock; a Northwest Arkansas regional campus in Fayetteville; a statewide network of regional campuses; and seven institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Psychiatric Research Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, Translational Research Institute and Institute for Digital Health & Innovation. UAMS includes UAMS Health, a statewide health system that encompasses all of UAMS’ clinical enterprise. UAMS is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 3,240 students, 913 medical residents and fellows, and five dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 11,000 employees, including 1,200 physicians who provide care to patients at UAMS, its regional campuses, Arkansas Children’s, the VA Medical Center and Baptist Health. Visit www.uams.edu or uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or Instagram.
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Physician Wins Award for High Colorectal Cancer Screening Rate
Dr. Clinton Smith with 1st Choice Healthcare was named the Arkansas Cancer Coalition Healthcare Provider of the Year at the Arkansas Cancer Summit March 7 for his 75 percent rate of colorectal cancer screening with his patients.
The family physician has participated in the UAMS Partnerships in Colorectal Cancer Screening for Arkansas (PiCS-AR!) since 2020, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention grant that seeks to raise colorectal cancer screening rates in the state. His 75 percent rate is closing in on the national goal of 80 percent set by the National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable.
Smith’s first year with the PiCS-AR! grant showed a screening rate of 65 percent. His rate grew to 70 percent in 2021 and has escalated in one year to 75 percent. He said the reasons for his higher screening rate stem from frequently reminding the patients of screening, making it easy for them to screen, and relaying the facts.
“Each time I have a checkup with a patient (not even necessarily a wellness checkup), I try to mention (screening) and see if they’re due for anything. And if they are, we try to go ahead and facilitate that and get it set up,” said Smith. “The best time to (mention) it, in my opinion, is when you see them. Sometimes people are non-compliant and you may not see them for a while. Now, it does take extra time, and sometimes I get behind, but I feel that prevention is the key. It’s better to prevent a problem than to have to treat it later.”
Smith gives his patients several screening options: stool-based tests and a colonoscopy. The stool-based tests (FIT or Cologuard) require that the patient send a sample of their stool in the mail, which takes minutes and is not invasive and requires no dieting, fasting or anesthesia. The colonoscopy is considered the most accurate for colorectal cancer screening, but with his rural patient population in northeast Arkansas, arranging a colonoscopy can be cost- and time-prohibitive.
“I tell them about the options and let them decide. I think the FIT tests have helped a lot. We’re rural, so to get a colonoscopy, you not only have to take a day off of work, you have to drive 30 miles outside of town,” said Smith.
Colorectal cancer is the second deadliest cancer for Americans, and it’s on the rise with younger age groups, according to the American Cancer Society. The rate of new colorectal cancer cases among Americans younger than 55 increased from 11 percent of all cases in 1995 to 20 percent in 2019. The recommended screening age for those with average risk is 45, which the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force lowered from age 50 two years ago because of this new trend. Screening at an earlier age means cancer will be caught in its first stage and is highly treatable if detected early.
Smith also credits his employer, 1st Choice Healthcare, for allowing him to spend more time with his patients who are often chronically ill and require more than the suggested 15 minutes many physicians are tethered to. 1st Choice is one of two healthcare partners working with the PiCS-AR! five-year grant. Mid-Delta Healthcare System in eastern Arkansas is the latest system to join.