RED’s HIV team will partner with UAMS HealthNow to offer a new digital health program for the prevention of HIV Infections. The program will include telehealth access to screening, monitoring, and medication services focused on decreasing the impact of HIV.
Read the full story on the UAMS News site.
By Amy Widner
COVID-19 really made Alexa Martin, M.D., a third-year resident in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, see the “big picture.”
Thankfully, the last six months have also made her feel like she can tackle it, because of leadership experiences and educational opportunities she couldn’t have imagined before.
“I think I was always interested in the big picture, but sometimes as a med student and resident you’re so focused on learning that you can get task-oriented – focusing on one skill at a time, one patient at a time,” Martin said. “The COVID-19 pandemic really reminded me of the big picture of what medicine is all about – improving human health.”
Martin received the highly competitive and prestigious travel award from the National Institutes of Health and the National Medical Association to attend the NMA’s 2020 annual Convention and Scientific Assembly, which was held virtually in August.
She was recommended for the award because of the leadership role she held with UAMS’ drive-thru COVID-19 screening and testing triage that sprang up quickly in the early days of the pandemic’s impact on Arkansas.
“When the triage was only a few days old, they started pulling some of the residents in to help,” Martin said. “I did my first shift, and I did a good job at it and didn’t complain too much while I was sweating under my PPE. When it was time to go, my replacement didn’t show up, so I stayed on, and they were like, ‘hey, you’re good at this, can you train the next shift?’ So I did, and that’s how it all started.”
Martin ended up as a physician lead, training others who volunteered or were assigned to help. She spent all her spare time reading up on the latest on the disease. She and a few other residents turned out to have a knack for understanding systems and workflow, so when it came time to identify gaps and make improvements, she gave valuable feedback.
She was one of the staff members who suggested that the Family Medicine Clinic create a special clinic dedicated to acute respiratory illnesses so that patients who didn’t need hospitalization could still get valuable care in a time when fears were high but hospital beds were scarce. She also participated in the first mobile triage unit to take the skills of UAMS across the state. Their first stop was Helena.
“It was really good experience to see how quickly we could make changes and come up with solutions,” Martin said. “More than once since then in the hospital I’ve run into professors who under any other circumstances would outrank me, and they’ll say, ‘hey, you were the one that trained me my first day at triage!’ It’s humbling, but also empowering to have an experience as a resident where you see that you can really step into a leadership role and make a difference.”
It was through the COVID-19 triage that Martin met Gloria Richard-Davis, M.D., executive director of the Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at UAMS, who recommended she apply for the NIH travel award, which would have covered travel and expenses for the weeklong conference if it had been held in person.
Although the conference was held online, Martin said she still benefitted from learning about the opportunities the NIH offers for early-career physicians who are interested in research or academics. The award came with the title of 2020 academic medicine fellow, and Martin was featured in the conference program under that header and was able to do plenty of networking – even virtually – because of the prestigious distinction.
“I met so many people and learned so much,” Martin said. “I didn’t know there were so many avenues for research and funding to help with loan repayment. It was great to see all of these avenues that I didn’t know about.
“The COVID-19 pandemic had already made me start thinking about whether I should pursue a master’s in public health and go into issues dealing with community and population health, maybe getting involved with state or federal health offices or the Surgeon General’s office – places where you can practice medicine but also be involved in policymaking. This travel grant and fellowship helped me see what the next steps on that path might be.”
The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) has received a $420,000 gift from the estate of Jack T. Steele, M.D., to finalize the creation of the Jack T. Steele, M.D. Endowed Chair in Family and Preventive Medicine in the College of Medicine.
Jack T. Steel, M.D.
Endowed chairs allow UAMS to recruit and retain top leaders in the medical field who can provide the best care for patients. A chair is established with gifts of at least $1 million, which are invested and the interest proceeds used to support the educational, research and clinical activities of the chair holder. An endowed chair is among the highest academic honors a university can bestow on a faculty member. Those named to a chair are among the most highly regarded scientists, physicians and professors in their fields. UAMS will announce a professor to the Steele Chair at a later time.
Steele, a 1952 College of Medicine graduate and longtime supporter of UAMS, died March 6. Over several years, he gave more than $620,000 toward the creation of an endowed chair. Together with the $420,000 estate gift, Steele’s combined lifetime giving to UAMS exceeds $1million.
“We are grateful for the late Dr. Steele’s generosity and longtime support for our university and college,” said Christopher T. Westfall, M.D., executive vice chancellor of UAMS and dean of the College of Medicine. “As a family physician, Dr. Steele understood how important primary care physicians are for our patients and communities, and this has never been more true than today. The Jack T. Steele, M.D., Endowed Chair in Family and Preventive Medicine will support outstanding education and training of family physicians for generations to come.”
“Practicing medicine was integral to my dad’s identity,” said son Jeffrey Scott Steele, M.D. “He had a difficult time retiring completely from his practice and continued to work at least part-time, well beyond the age when most would have retired. Even after retiring he maintained his state medical license and satisfied the required continuing medical education.”
Steele was born in 1926 in Lynn, Arkansas, and moved to Walnut Ridge at age 3. He was a cadet at the U.S. Naval Academy from 1945-1946, and graduated from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville in 1948 with degrees in psychology and philosophy. In 1952, he graduated from the University of Arkansas School of Medicine (now UAMS), and completed an internship with the St. Louis City Hospital. He then served as a Navy physician from 1954-1956. Steele had a longtime medical practice in the greater St. Louis area, including Ferguson and Bridgeton. Four of his sons are physicians.
A new study from researchers from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and Louisiana Tech University highlights how children’s pester power may influence food consumption and habits at home. The study appears in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior.
Press Release (no longer online)
July 27, 2020 | The UAMS Department of Family and Preventive Medicine has received $2.5 million from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for a five-year project to increase colorectal cancer screening in Arkansas.
Partnerships in Colorectal Cancer Screening in Arkansas is a project of the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine’s Community Health and Education Division. Alysia Dubriske, director of Community Health and Education at UAMS, is leading the program and managing the grant.
Arkansas ranks near the bottom of the list at 34th in the nation for the number of people per capita who are screened annually for colorectal cancer. Nationwide, colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths when men and women are combined.
The American Cancer Society predicts 1,540 Arkansans will be diagnosed with colorectal cancer in 2020 and 610 will die of the disease. According to CDC guidelines, people over the age of 50 should be screened annually for colorectal cancer, and people with a family history of the disease should start at a younger age.
Alysia Dubriske
“This grant allows us to address these disparities in Arkansas by working with both health care providers and the public,” Dubriske said. “We will educate providers on evidence-based approaches for increasing colorectal cancer screening and then partner with them to implement those interventions. This will be supported by a communication campaign directed at the public so they better understand the importance of screening.”
The approaches include automatic reminders for health care providers to touch base with patients who are overdue for screenings, increasing public awareness about screening though media and communication efforts, and reducing structural barriers that allow Arkansans in rural areas access to prevention, early stage diagnosis, and treatment.
The program will target primary care clinics, especially in counties with low screening rates and low average household incomes. The program will work directly with providers to teach them best practices and help them implement the techniques in their clinics.
“Ultimately, our goal is to reduce the amount of late-stage colorectal cancer in Arkansas and the number of colorectal cancer deaths in Arkansas,” Dubriske said. “Colorectal cancer is a highly treatable disease, especially if caught early, and we know that screening saves lives. We’re looking forward to partnering with clinics to make a difference.”
UAMS will work with Federally Qualified Health Centers and Arkansas’ Quality Improvement Organization to implement the project.
The National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities has named Dr. Taren Swindle a 2020 Health Disparities Research Institute Scholar.
Dr. Swindle Studies factors in early childcare and home environments that affect obesity. Co-Inventor of WISE, a prevention program for children under age 7, which has shown significant improvements in child and parents’ nutrition practices using principles of implementation science.
Dr. Kanna Lewis has joined DFPM-RED as an Assistant Professor as of July 1. Dr. Lewis received a doctorate in mathematics from the University of Maryland and published five peer-reviewed manuscripts while pursuing her doctoral degree. She previously was employed at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, where she developed and implemented various term structure models used for simulation, decomposition analysis, and evaluation of key metrics such as inflation expectation, term premia, expected short rate, and risk measures.
Dr. Lewis will continue current projects with Arkansas Center for Health Improvement (ACHI) as well as new projects with DFPM-RED’s Dr. Lorraine McKelvey.
See the KATV story here.
Much of DFPM-RED’s activity surrounding early childhood projects have met the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic by moving online. Read the full story here.
March 2, 2020 | Incarcerated women who are new breastfeeding moms at the J. Aaron Hawkins Sr. Center in Wrightsville, Arkansas, will have access to over 200 pounds of breastfeeding supplies recently donated by Medela, a leading manufacturer of breast pumps in the United States.
The donation came about through UAMS’ partnership with the Hawkins’ Growing Together program. Growing Together was formed to support the needs of incarcerated pregnant and postpartum women in Arkansas. It includes a lactation program, prenatal education classes, and a mental health support group. Childbirth support will launch soon as part of a pilot grant provided by UAMS’ Translational Research Institute.
Melissa Zelinski, Ph.D. with donated boxes from Medela.
Marybeth Curtis, B.S.N., a nurse educator in the UAMS College of Medicine Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, saw the need for breastfeeding supplies and contacted Medela.
Medela gave hospital-grade breast pumps, storage bags, maternity and nursing shirts, lanolin, and other products to the new breastfeeding initiative. The items were donated through Hope Rises, a Little Rock non-profit that offers services to women impacted by addiction, trauma and incarceration.
Annemarie McGahagan, SPAN nutrition coordinator at UAMS, is breastfeeding coordinator for the CDC State Physical Activity and Nutrition grant that helps support Growing Together.
“When Annemarie shared with me the need for breast pumps and supplies for the Growing Together program, my first response was to reach out to Medela,” said Curtis. “I have always been amazed at their generosity. I have learned that acts of charity are waiting all around us once you make the need known.”
Melissa Zielinski, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist in the UAMS College of Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, spearheads UAMS’ involvement with Growing Together.
Board members of Little Rock non-profit, Hope Rises.
“Gender-responsive programs like Growing Together are critical. Many people don’t realize that over 75% of incarcerated women are of childbearing age and about 4% are pregnant at intake to prison. Few prisons have specialty services available to meet incarcerated pregnant women’s needs. It will take time, but we are working toward that goal,” said Zielinski.
All pregnant women at the Hawkins Unit receive their routine pre- and postnatal care and deliver their babies at UAMS.
Other groups have joined in the Growing Together initiative: UAMS lactation specialists, the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, doctoral-level psychology student interns from UAMS and the University of Central Arkansas who co-lead mental health support groups, retired RNs with the Presbyterian Women USA who teach prenatal classes for the women, and one volunteer who offered to sew lactation capes for the women who would like to use them when breastfeeding during visitation.
For more information, contact Zielinski at mjzielinski@uams.edu.
