Frederick “Rick” Bentley, M.D., has served as chair of the Department of Surgery since 2015. He retires this month. We gathered some farewell messages from around the department. Thank you Dr. Bentley for your service and leadership!
Residents:
Dr. Bentley: You have been a great mentor through my residency. Appreciate all you have done for us! Congratulations on your retirement.
Thank you,
Thu Ha Nguyen
Dr. Bentley,
Thank you for your leadership and your example both as a gentleman, and as a surgeon. You will be missed. I wish you well in retirement!
God bless,
Clay Williams, M.D., PGY-5
General Surgery Resident
Dr. Bentley,
Thank you for your dedication and hard work towards this program over the years. I wish you and your wife the best in your retirement and your travels.
Sincerely,
Joseph A. Savarese II, M.D.
Resident Physician
Dr. Bentley,
Thank you for your support and leadership over the past year. You have set a true example of what a surgeon and leader should strive to be. I wish you the best in your retirement. You will be missed.
Whitney Taylor
Thank you for making the general surgery residency program at UAMS better then when you came. I hope you enjoy retirement.
Jordan Greer
Faculty:
We have been very privileged to have Dr. Rick Bentley and his wife, Shawne, as part of our Department of Surgery for the last 13 years. He came here to develop a Liver Transplant Program which he did in a wonderful way. He has recruited a group of transplant surgeons that are doing excellent work both in quantity and quality. Rick was the Program Director for the General Surgery Residency Program for about 10 years. He stressed recruiting good residents, educating them in a happy environment, and turning out caring, competent surgeons. Recently, he guided the development of a Division of Surgical Research. In the long run, this will probably be his premier contribution to the department. Shawne has provided great support for Rick and the department, hosting numerous social events every year. We will miss Rick and Shawne Bentley, will remember them fondly, and wish them well. Thank you, Kent and Jonnie Westbrook.
Kent C. Westbrook, M.D.
To Rick:
Dr. Bentley has done an outstanding job as our Chairman. He has been a role model to so many young surgeons. He has led the Department well and left us in a strong position. He is universally respected on this campus. I am honored to be his successor but the shoes to fill are large. I am grateful for the time he took to orient me to my new role. I wish him a wonderful retirement and many wonderful memories and new adventures.
Sincerely,
Ron Robertson
Dr. Bentley,
Thank you for your mentorship and support over years. Enjoy your retirement.
Jonathan Laryea
Wherever your travel takes you, My advice is: It is always good to know where is the Tsunami line.
I wish you always Safe Traveling
Your travel gift is in the mail
Thanks for all you have done
Gary W. Barone, M.D. & Transplant Surgery
Dr. Bentley, thank you for your tireless dedication to student and resident education at UAMS. You will be missed! Congratulations on your retirement!
Katie Kimbrough
Dr. Bentley,
Thank you very much for your years of service. We appreciate your hard work and wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors.
Daniela Ochoa
Hope you build some great memories during retirement with your family as you did with your surgery team here at UAMS. We will miss you!
James Yuen
Dear Dr. Bentley, I hope you will enjoy your well deserved retirement. You have been always fair to us, and we appreciated your even keeled approach very much.
We will miss you,
Aytekin Ozdemir, M.D.
So thankful to have met and have worked with you at the beginning of my career. Best wishes.
Jason Muesse, M.D.
Thank you Dr. Bentley for your Leadership and dedication to the Department of Surgery. Enjoy life and I’m wishing you a long , healthy, adventurous and relaxing retirement.
Ronda Henry-Tillman, M.D.
Dr. Bentley,
Best wishes to you as you embark upon your journeys beyond UAMS. I am grateful to you for your support, vision, and guidance that has helped us grow here. Your leadership has allowed us to develop our clinical and educational missions which benefit our entire state for a generation of surgeons and beyond. It has been a pleasure and honor to be a part of your team. With gratitude,
Matthew Steliga, M.D.
Dr. Bentley – thank you for being a terrific leader, a great mentor, and true friend. Your counsel has been invaluable for me over the time I have been at UAMS. Best of luck to you and Shawne, and safe travels!
Keith G. Wolter, M.D., Ph.D.
Staff:
Dr. Bentley:
Sincere thanks & farewell to you as you start your life’s next chapter, “retirement.”
Dr. Bentley, I became your assistant around October 1, 2010. I have had the blessing to be a part of something I enjoy and that is my job. I look forward to coming to work and I tell people, it’s because I like who I work with and who I work for. You are a big part of that happiness for me. I am fortunate to have a job I love. I am even more fortunate that I have had the blessing to continue to mature professionally and be influenced by you that even transcends into my personal life. I am quite proud to tell people that I work at UAMS and that I am your assistant. That role has allowed me to experience UAMS services and people…all across campus and even beyond our campus. You have been a remarkable leader on our campus and especially in our department and residency program. You are truly a “shepherd of the flock.” You have kept your focus on all things related to the department and have been incredibly fair to each and every person you’ve interacted with. You have epitomized the term “strong leadership.” As long as we’ll be around to talk about our department, your name will always be synonymous with being one of our strongest leaders in the history of the Department of Surgery. I am very proud that I have had the blessing to be part of everything that has gone on while you have been the captain of our ship. You’ve done an amazing job through and through. I know lots of fishing adventures are ahead for you, and I want you to know that I will miss you but am happy that you’ll be able to really start enjoying life day after day.
I wish you the very best,
Sandi Bennett