HJAR May/Jun 2023

42 MAY / JUN 2023  I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF ARKANSAS   Healthcare Briefs physician shortage in Arkansas and the Missis- sippi Delta region. This year, 63% of NYITCOM at A-State graduates were placed into programs that will keep them in Arkansas, a targeted Delta state, or a state contiguous to Arkansas. This year, 21 students placed in Arkansas programs, and an additional 15 matched into programs that are within 100 miles of the Arkansas border. Rangaswamy Govindarajan, MD, Named Chief of UAMS Hematology and Oncology Division Rangaswamy Govindarajan, MD, hematologist and oncologist at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, has been appointed chief of the Division of Hematology and Oncology at the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute. Govindarajan, who is also a professor in the divi- sion, will lead a growing team of physicians treat- ing patients with benign and malignant hemato- logical disorders, multiple myeloma, and solid tumors. He will help the faculty develop inves- tigator initiated clinical trials, including transla- tional research. The UAMS Hematology and Oncology Division, part of the Department of Internal Medicine in the College of Medicine, includes the state’s only stem cell, bone marrow transplant, and cellular therapy programs. Govindarjan joined UAMS in 1998 after com- pleting medical training at UAMS, including a res- idency in internal medicine and a fellowship in hematology and oncology. He is board-certified in internal medicine and hematology and oncol- ogy and is a diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine and the National Board of Internal Medicine. Govindarajan received a medical degree from Mysore Medical College, University of Mysore in India. He is also a member of the Royal College of Physicians, United Kingdom. UAMS Department of Neurology Adds Specialists inMovement Disorders, Epilepsy The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Department of Neurology recently added Aditya Vikram Boddu, MD, and Hisham Elkhider, MD, as assistant professors. Boddu, a fellowship-trained neurologist spe- cializing in movement disorders who is board- certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, is seeing patients in the Move- ment Disorders Clinic in the UAMS Jackson T. Ste- phens Spine & Neurosciences Institute on the Lit- tle Rock campus. Elkhider, a fellowship-trained neurologist spe- cializing in epilepsy, is seeing adult patients at the UAMS Health Epilepsy and Neurology Clinic in the Freeway Medical Tower, Suite 605, at 5800 W. 10th St. in Little Rock. Boddu came to UAMS from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where he completed a two-year clinical fellowship in movement disor- ders. Previously, he completed a neurology res- idency, including a year as chief resident, at the University of Missouri at Columbia. He obtained a medical degree in 2015 from Gandhi Medical Col- lege and Hospital in Secunderabad, India. Elkhider is board-certified in neurology with expertise in comprehensive management of epilepsy in adults. He completed a clinical fel- lowship in epilepsy at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital at Harvard Medical School in Boston. Earlier, he completed a neurology residency at UAMS, preceded by a neurology fellowship and a residency in internal medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine Qatar/Hamad Medical Corporation in Doha, Qatar. He earned a medical degree in 2004 from the University of Khartoum in Sudan. Counties Designated Health Professional Shortage Areas Monroe, Drew, and Phillips Counties have been added as Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) for primary care by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). HPSAs are areas with a shortage of primary healthcare professionals and facilities. This des- ignation can be based on several criteria, includ- ing geography, facilities, population, and medi- cally underserved areas or populations. This new designation allows qualifying health- care organizations to use federal funding to recruit medical professionals, such as doctors, nurses, dentists, and behavioral healthcare pro- fessionals, to rural areas in need by offering stu- dent loan repayment. The counties’ HPSA des- ignations provide an opportunity to increase recruitment and retention of healthcare providers and ultimately increase access to medical care. The applications for this designation were sub- mitted November 2022. Find more information about HPSA designations at https://bhw.hrsa.gov/shortage- designation or contact ADH’s Office of Rural Health and Primary Care at orhpc@arkansas.gov . Aditya Vikram Boddu, MD Hisham Elkhider, MD Rangaswamy Govindarajan, MD