HJAR Jul/Aug 2019

Q&A 20 JUL / AUG 2019 I  Healthcare Journal of ARKANSAS   dependent on the clinical enterprise, and the Medical Center is dependent on the college. Arkansans don’t always realize that our fac- ulty members are the physicians providing care in UAMS’ hospital, outpatient clinics, and institutes. The physicians at Arkansas Children’s are largely our faculty members, and we also have faculty practicing at the VA hospital and Baptist Health. We are grateful for our strong collaborative relationships with these outstanding institutions. Are most of the graduates staying in Arkan- sas? Is that a goal? Our goal is to provide top-quality physi- cians for Arkansas. We have graduated well over 10,000 physicians since opening our doors in 1879. There are UAMS-trained phy- sicians in over 90 percent of Arkansas coun- ties. Currently, 59 percent of our graduates, and 81 percent of our graduates who also complete their residencies in Arkansas, go on to practice in Arkansas, which ranks us third in the nation for retaining graduates. We are here for the state of Arkansas, so we are very proud of this accomplishment. Which specialties are increasing/decreasing in market place demand? There is an increasing demand for many specialties, such as cancer, orthopaedics, cardiology, geriatrics, and women’s health. This is driven in many cases by the fact that people are living longer, so are in more need of these services. UAMS is training medical residents in each of these specialty areas. At the same time, certainly we need more family practitioners and other primary care doctors. Much of our state is designated by the federal government as having a shortage of primary care health professionals. The College of Medicine has frequently been recognized as one of the top 10 producers of family physicians in terms of the percent- age of graduates entering family medicine residencies. And 53 percent of our graduates this year matched to residencies in primary care specialties, including family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, and obstetrics and gynecology. What are you hearing from students and faculty? One of the things I enjoyed most in my first year as dean was my nearly weekly breakfasts with small groups of first- and second-year medical students. I’ve heard first-hand how much they appreciate their diverse learning experiences. They raved about their team-based learning sessions, the gross anatomy lab, numerous courses, and volunteer-learning experiences in places such as the UAMS 12th Street Health & Wellness Center. More than anything, “We have had very successful matches in recent years. This year we had the most graduates ever achieve residencies, with every student who wanted a position obtaining one”