James Graham, M.D., a longtime educational leader in the UAMS College of Medicine, has been named the college’s next executive associate dean for academic affairs. He will begin serving in his new role following the retirement of Richard P. Wheeler, M.D., on January 31, 2020.
“Those who have worked with Dr. Graham in his current post as associate dean for undergraduate medical education know that he brings great enthusiasm, collegiality and dedication to our educational mission, as well as extensive experience in medical education and strong institutional knowledge,” said Christopher T. Westfall, M.D., FACS, executive vice chancellor of UAMS and dean of the college. “These strengths will serve Dr. Graham very well as he leads our academic mission in collaboration with our outstanding leaders in undergraduate medical education and student affairs.”
Graham graduated from the College of Medicine in 1985 and remained at UAMS for his general pediatrics residency. He completed the University of Oklahoma-based National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect’s Interdisciplinary Training Program and continued his training in the Pediatric Emergency Medicine Fellowship at UAMS before joining the faculty as an assistant professor in 1991. He became an associate professor in 1996 and was promoted to professor in 2005.
Graham directed the Pediatric Emergency Medicine Fellowship in 1992-1997 and again in 2005-2010. He directed the Pediatrics Junior Clerkship in 2004-2009. He served as associate medical director of the Pediatric Emergency Department at Arkansas Children’s Hospital in 1992-2004 and as chief of Pediatric Emergency Medicine in 2005-2010.
Graham has held central educational roles in the college for the past two decades. He directed the Introduction to Clinical Medicine I course (now Practice of Medicine I) from 1999 to 2017. He has been active in numerous education-focused committees at UAMS and ACH, including the COM Curriculum Committee and the Undergraduate Medical Education Competencies Committee. Graham was appointed to his current post as associate dean for undergraduate medical education in 2010.
He has received many awards for teaching including the college’s student-selected Gold Sash and Red Sash awards, and he was three-time winner of the Educator of the Year award in the Department of Pediatrics. In addition to his work at UAMS, Graham served as chair of the Governor’s Trauma Advisory Council in 2008-2014, during development of Arkansas’ statewide trauma system.
“A strong mark of Dr. Graham’s leadership in our educational programs was the great success of our most recent Liaison Committee on Medical Education site visit and accreditation process in 2014-2015,” Westfall said.
With Graham as the primary leader of the comprehensive effort, UAMS received the maximum eight-year re-accreditation and exceptionally positive comments from the organization. Sponsored by the Association of American Medical Colleges and the American Medical Association, the Liaison Committee on Medical Education accredits medical schools in the United States and Canada.