The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) and Washington Regional Medical Center have received initial accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) to establish a neurology residency program and an emergency medicine residency program in Northwest Arkansas through their joint graduate medical education program.
These are the first non-primary care residencies accredited in Northwest Arkansas. The programs can begin recruiting residents in the fall. The initial two neurology residents and the initial six emergency medicine residents will begin in July 2026. When full, the four-year neurology program will have a total of eight residents, and the three-year emergency medicine program will have a total of 18 residents.
“Northwest Arkansas is experiencing rapid population growth, increasing the demand for specialized medical care,” said Ryan Cork, MHSA, vice chancellor of the UAMS Northwest Region. “Despite this growth, the region faces a shortage of neurologists and emergency medicine physicians, leading to longer wait times and limited access for patients. Expanding the number of specialists in the area is essential to meet current health care needs, improve patient outcomes and support the overall health infrastructure of our thriving community.”
The neurology program and the emergency medicine program are the first new residency programs accredited since the state’s PEER Joint Budget Committee approved $4.5 million for expansion of graduate medical education at Washington Regional. The funds, which were unanimously approved Feb. 26, will allow the UAMS/Washington Regional Graduate Medical Education Program to expand by an additional 26 medical residency and fellowship slots.
“The partnership between the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and Washington Regional provides residents with the benefits of being part of a health sciences university and opportunities to practice in a community hospital while caring for a diverse patient population,” said Larry Shackleford, president and chief executive officer at Washington Regional. “Neurology residents will work alongside the multidisciplinary team at Washington Regional’s J.B. Hunt Transport Services Neuroscience Institute, which offers the region’s highest level of neurosciences care, while residents in the emergency medicine program will care for patients in one of the busiest emergency departments in the state as well as the region’s only Level II Trauma Center.”
Washington Regional will be the primary clinical site for both residency programs. Other required rotation sites for neurology residents are Arkansas Children’s Northwest, UAMS Psychiatric Research Institute Northwest, Encompass Health, and MANA Sleep Medicine Clinic. The emergency medicine residents will also do pediatric rotations at Arkansas Children’s Northwest, an EMS rotation with Central EMS in Northwest Arkansas, and a pediatric intensive care unit rotation at Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock.
The UAMS/Washington Regional Neurology Residency Program is led by Jay Hinkle, MD, as program director, and Margaret Tremwel, MD, PhD, as associate program director. Both are adjunct assistant professors in the UAMS Department of Neurology, staff neurologists for the UAMS Institute for Digital Health & Innovation Stroke Program, and board-certified in neurology and vascular neurology. Hinkle and Tremwel are co-medical directors of Washington Regional’s Stroke Program, and Washington Regional is the only hospital in Northwest Arkansas to hold certification as a Comprehensive Stroke Center by The Joint Commission and American Heart Association/American Stroke Association.