Dr. Gibson-Oliver (she/her) is the Program Director of the UAMS Little Rock Family Medicine residency program. She joined our faculty as Associate Director in 2020 and has a faculty appointment of Assistant Professor. She is a graduate of the Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors’ National Institute for Program Director Development and the winner of the 2024 New Faculty Scholar Award from the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, along with the 2024 UAMS Excellence in Mentoring Award (Clinical Emerging Faculty category). In addition, the AAMC Southern Group on Educational Affairs has presented her with the 2024 M. Brownell Anderson Award that is designed to identify and support emerging educators on their career trajectory. Dr. Gibson-Oliver is one of the inaugural faculty co-chairs of the UAMS Graduate Medical Education Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, which is tasked with recruiting and retaining a more diverse resident and fellow cohort and improving the clinical learning environment experience across campus for trainees that are underrepresented in medicine. In 2023, she was named a UAMS Phenomenal Woman, one of the Best Women in Health Care by AY Magazine, and a Top Doc by Little Rock Soirée for the second year in a row. While a resident in our program, she earned the distinctions of serving as chief resident, resident council secretary, resident council co-chair, and achieving the top in-training exam score among her classmates for all three years. She also won the Outstanding Resident Award and the TOP Award for professionalism. Originally from Colorado, Dr. Gibson-Oliver graduated from the Caribbean Medical University in Curaçao and earned an MBA from Davenport University. Her clinical interests include lifestyle and preventive medicine, women’s and adolescent health, health equity, and healthcare for underserved and historically marginalized communities. Outside of the office, she enjoys practicing yoga, baking, sewing, and exploring the world with her family.
Lauren Gibson-Oliver, M.D., M.B.A.
Diorella López-González, M.D.
Dr. López-González joined our faculty in 2023 soon after she graduated from our residency program. During her time in training, she served as Chief Resident and won multiple awards including Outstanding Resident, the AFMRD Resident Scholarship Award, the TOP Outstanding Professional Award, the STAR Professionalism Award, the Medical Knowledge Award, and recognition for serving as a Community Medical Liaison. Her clinical interests include chronic disease management, geriatrics, and inpatient medicine. Dr. López-González is from Caguas, Puerto Rico, and she attended medical school at the University of Medicine and Health Sciences in St. Kitts. Outside of work, she enjoys cooking, baking, learning from art and history, and trying new restaurants with her husband. She also enjoys visiting museums with her husband and daughter.
Elizabeth “Beth” Schmit, Ph.D.
Dr. Schmit joined the faculty in 2020 as our Behavioral Scientist. From 1996 to 2019, she was in private practice in Portland, Oregon, serving individual adults and couples with a variety of mental health concerns. She has taught community-wide classes on marriage/relationships and parenting. Her areas of clinical interest are behavioral medicine, anxiety, mood disorders, trauma and resilience, couples and relationship issues, and parenting. Dr. Schmit’s doctorate and master’s degrees in clinical psychology are from Purdue University in Indiana. She also completed a predoctoral internship at Palo Alto VA Hospital and a postdoctoral fellowship in behavioral medicine at Stanford. Outside of the office, Dr. Schmit enjoys good coffee, exploring the outdoors, travel, writing, attending plays and choral concerts, and needlework and crafting. She is married and has two grown daughters, one on each coast.
Bala Simon, M.D., Dr.P.H., DipABOM, DipABLM, FAAFP
Dr. Bala is a board-certified family and preventive medicine physician, an epidemiologist, and the Deputy Chief Medical Officer at the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH). He joined the DFPM in 2013 and currently serves as an adjunct Clinical Associate Professor and precepts residents and medical students in the FMC. He obtained his medical degree from India and completed his Family Medicine residency at our program, where he was a chief resident. He obtained his Master of Public Health with emphasis in Epidemiology from the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. He further obtained his Doctorate in Public Health with emphasis in Health Policy and Epidemiology from UAMS. Dr. Bala completed a fellowship at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Preventive Medicine Residency and Fellowship Program, and became board-certified in Preventive Medicine. He is also board-certified in Obesity Medicine and Lifestyle Medicine.
Besides serving as the ADH Deputy Chief Medical Officer, he is also the State Chronic Disease Director, overseeing and providing medical guidance to chronic disease programs such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer, tobacco, substance use, nutrition and physical activity across the state through the ADH’s local health units. Additionally, he serves as an adjunct Associate Professor at the Department of Epidemiology in the UAMS College of Public Health. He is widely published both in national and international journals, and has obtained numerous awards for his work. These include the Director’s Science Award for his contribution to the ADH, the Chronic Disease Champion by the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors, and the Physician Volunteer of the Year award for his work at the Harmony Health Clinic, which serves the uninsured and underinsured residents of central Arkansas. Dr. Bala also is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of the Arkansas Medical Society, and is currently serving as the 73rd President of the Arkansas Chapter of the American Academy of Family Physicians.
Leslie Stone M.D., M.P.H.
Dr. Stone is the director of the DFPM Division of Medical Student Education and an experienced family physician with an interest in underserved populations and in chronic care. He completed an intensive course at the Institute for International Medicine to study public health challenges of the developing world and has worked in public health settings in Honduras and Cuba. Dr. Stone also worked at an FQHC (Federally Qualified Health Center) in East Harlem, New York, where he managed methadone maintenance therapy for patients with opiate addiction. He is a graduate of the UAMS medical school and the UAMS Northwest Family Medicine residency program. His MPH is from the State University of New York in Brooklyn.
Charles W. Smith, M.D.
Dr. Smith retired from full-time faculty status in 2019 after 30 years at UAMS, but he continues to precept in our clinic. He opened a direct care practice (Dr. Smith Direct Care) in 2019. He also serves as medical director for Cottages of Poplar Grove (a rehab and long-term care facility) and also for Arkansas Health and Nutrition (formerly the UAMS weight loss program).
Geeta Sakariya M.D., M.P.H.
Dr. Sakariya joined as faculty in 2018 and has been the Medical Director of the Family Medical Center since June 2022. She has years of experience as a family physician in addition to experience as a clinical researcher on topics such as decreasing overweight and obesity rates, the effects of smoking on pregnancy and offspring, and curriculum development on the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases. Her clinical interests include preventive medicine, chronic disease management, and women’s health. She has a special interest in procedures in Family Medicine and supervises the procedures clinic at the FMC. Dr. Sakariya graduated from medical school in India, then went on to earn a Master of Public Health from California State University, Long Beach. She completed her Family Medicine residency at UND, Bismarck. In her free time, she likes cooking, exercising, home improvement, spending time with her friends and family, and traveling.
David A. Nelsen, Jr., M.D., M.S.
Stephen King, M.D.
Dr. King is a hospitalist for the Family Medicine service. He graduated from UAMS in 1984 and completed his postgraduate training at Family Medicine Spokane (Washington). He was in private practice for 15 years in Spokane and later worked urgent care and emergency medicine before moving to hospital medicine. He was previously employed by UAMS in El Dorado at the AHEC (now Regional Programs) residency as interim residency director where he lead the program through successful accreditation. Through his career he has been involved in medical education at various levels, and he loves teaching. One of his most fulfilling medical endeavors was working in a refugee camp in Ethiopia during the famine of 1985. Dr. King is happily married to Beth and is the father of two beautiful girls, Mary and Lydia.