HJAR Jul/Aug 2026

DIALOGUE 10 JUL / AUG 2026 I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF ARKANSAS when I was interim, I realized that there was some money in the Chancellor’s Foundation Fund that could be spent. And so, we started a program to fund — I think there were 40 scholarships — 15 of them were [for the] College of Medicine, the other 25 in our other colleges, and they’re full scholarships for the length of the program. So for medical students, it’s four years. They have four years of tuition paid. For the programs that are three years, it’s whatever it is for the degree program for that school. And we think this is just huge. The nice thing is we’ve had others make donations to this and so that number has gone up. We’ll have a press conference next week, I think, announcing another major gift that has been made to further fund scholar- ships. I think this is just a great thing for us to be doing and great that Arkansans see the importance of this and have bought into it and have given their money to help us con- tinue this program. Editor That’s life-changing for these doctors to come out with no debt. Barnes Yeah. Unfortunately, some of them still come out with debt because they have undergraduate debt and they may still have some expenses on top of their tuition, but yeah, certainly it will decrease the debt load. Currently, my medical students graduate with an average debt of $250,000, which is just a tough, tough way to start practice. They haven’t done residency at that time. So most of themhave four or five years of extra training to do at pretty low pay, especially low pay-per-hour work. Editor What has surgery taught you about leadership, pressure, preparation, and trust? Barnes Yeah, great question. Obviously, surgeons are probably under the gun every day. Every time we take a patient to the operating room, we know that we are their hope of getting their problem fixed Dianne Hartley, Editor Thank you for taking the time out of your schedule, Dr. Barnes. You’re leading UAMS at a pivotal time in healthcare in Arkansas. Before we talk about the institution, I’d like to ask: What formed you as a human, as a physician, and as a leader? C. Lowry Barnes, MD I’m an Arkansan. I moved to Pine Bluff when I was 11 and graduated from Pine Bluff High, went to University of Arkansas in Fayetteville and then came to UAMS for med school, UAMS for residency, and then went to Boston for a year and came back to our great state. So I am absolutely committed to our state, and my leadership inmy various roles in the past, other than healthcare organizations that are regional or national, has been very much focused onArkansas, and that truly is what motivates me. Editor How did being a Zebra transform your view of life? Barnes Well, I’m not sure if it was being a Zebra. It was being part of Arkansas. Pine Bluff, however, was a great place to grow up. I was introduced to medicine at Jefferson Regional. I knew as a young child that I wanted to be a doctor. I was the first to go to college on either side of the family, but for some reason by the time I was five or six, I was determined that I was going to be a physician. By the time I finished high school, I pretty well knew I wanted to be a surgeon and was leaning toward orthopedics. I was very lucky to work at Jefferson Regional, initially in the pharmacy and then as an orderly on the floor, where I had the opportunity to meet the man who became my mentor, Banks Blackwell. He was an orthopedic surgeon and I worked on the floor where his patients were. Early in my time as an orderly, I was asked to shave one of his patients the night before a hip replacement. Obviously, I had never shaved a leg and I nicked that man’s leg in lots of places. Instead of going home at 11 that night, I just stayed there until Dr. Blackwell came around early the next morning. And when he did, I introduced myself and told himwhat I had done and he said, “Well, let’s go see.” So he went in and saw the patient. We came out and he jokingly said, “Well, it looks like you started the operation for me. Why don’t you come watch me?” And so, I went to the operating roomwith him and he became a mentor and no telling, I probably went to the OR with him a thousand times over the next five years. He actually paid for my medical school. I’d gotten a letter fromUAMS saying that I’d been given the Banks Blackwell Scholarship for full tuition. He did that for eight semes- ters, but I went to thank him that night after having my first tears of joy when I opened that letter and he said, “Two rules. One, you can’t tell anybody about it until I die. . . . And I hope you’ll do something like this, too, to help other medical students.” I found out he did it for 17 of us from Pine Bluff; some like me who needed the help financially, and others who did not need help, but he was very committed to Southeast Arkansas and helping doctors get their education. There’s now a Blackwell-Barnes Schol- arship at the UAMS College of Medicine for medical students. I was very fortunate. I met a mentor there and grew up in the hospital. I’ve been back to Jefferson many times. I went as a medical student and did a rota- tion there and I loved my upbringing in Pine Bluff. I was fortunate enough to go to Fayetteville after that and met many, many people. I probably knew more people by name when I finished college than I do now. I served as the president of our fraternity and also president of the fraternity council. So I was quite social at the time and really enjoyed my time there and came to UAMS and had a great experience here. I was just very, very fortunate. Editor Tell us more about the Blackwell- Barnes Scholarship. Barnes That was a scholarship that I got, but