Table of Contents
Program History & Mission
UAMS Regional Campuses, formerly Area Health Education Centers (AHECs), were founded in 1973. The goal was to encourage UAMS medical school graduates to remain in Arkansas and address the state’s shortage and uneven distribution of primary care physicians. Over time, our mission has expanded to include other health professions such as pharmacy, nursing, physician assistants and behavioral health.
UAMS Regional Campuses has eight regions with nine sites: Batesville, Fayetteville, Springdale, Fort Smith, Jonesboro, Pine Bluff, Texarkana, El Dorado and Helena/West Helena. This statewide network is an educational outreach platform for UAMS and decentralizes health education throughout the state.
Future health professionals are exposed to rural communities and more varied hands-on experiences than they might receive in a traditional urban, academic environment. Each regional campus serves a multi-county region.
Mission
To improve the health of Arkansans, through community and academic partnerships, by training health professionals and delivering quality patient-centered primary care.
Training Approach & Overview
Training in settings away from the academic medical center exposes trainees to underserved communities, fostering a desire to choose rural practice. Our interprofessional team-based teaching bolsters provider retention and ultimately strengthens the participating community health care systems.
This past year, we provided training for:
- 2,070 – High school/college students in health career programs
- 13,023 – Students in group presentations or events
- 245 – Health professions students
- 146 – Family medicine residents
Recruiting Students into Health Careers
Academic preparations for some healthcare professions begin as early as middle school. For example, physicians must select advanced math and science courses starting in ninth grade to prepare them for medical school. Thus, we heavily invest in the health career pipeline to ensure an adequate supply of healthcare providers for the future.
UAMS Regional Campuses offers the following programs:
High School Students
- A Day in the Life
- MASH
(Medical Application of Science for Health) - CHAMPS
(Community Health Applied in Medical Public Service) - Find Your Future in Healthcare
- Hands-on Health Care
- Club Scrub
- ACT prep
- Medical interpreting (UAMS Northwest Campus only)
- Group presentations or events
College Students
- Individual advising sessions
- MCAT prep
- Mock interviews
- Professional application review
- Assistance with writing personal statements
- Job shadowing
- Volunteer/community service
- Group presentations or events
Health Careers Recruitment Photos
Education Coordinators
Education coordinators in the eight regions serve as mentors and academic advisors, linking students with regional opportunities and resources. Students, parents, teachers or school counselors can reach their education coordinator through the contact info listed here.
Educating Arkansas’ Future Health Care Professionals
Medical Students
In 2024-2025, 226 UAMS medical students learned about family medicine at three different levels: preceptorships and/or service-learning projects, junior clerkships, and senior rotations. Some students participate in a preceptorship and/or a service-learning project between their first and second year of medical school, shadowing a family physician or working with the faculty. Junior clerkships are four weeks, coming at a time when medical students are deciding on specialty and practice location and are an important recruitment tool for our residency programs. Senior rotations focus on clinical skills, preparing them for residency and reaching career goals.
Pharmacy, Physician Assistant, Nursing and Behavioral Health Students
During 2024-25, physician assistant students and pharmacy students from the UAMS Little Rock campus completed rotations at one of our regional sites. The northwest campus also offers programs in nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy, genetic counseling and radiologic imaging sciences. Regional pharmacy and behavioral health faculty are integral to complex care committees at family medicine clinics and their centers’ scholarly and academic leadership initiatives.
Honors in Underserved Primary Care (HUPC)
In April 2025, UAMS celebrated its largest graduating class from the Honors in Underserved Primary Care (HUPC) program since it began in 2020. HUPC is designed to prepare and retain medical students to care for rural and underserved populations across Arkansas. Participants graduate from medical school with an honors designation. Six of the 11 graduates from this year’s class matched into family medicine and primary care residency programs in Arkansas, a key indicator of the program’s success in encouraging medical students to stay and practice in-state.
HUPC is a guided track that connects medical students with similar interests, supported by faculty and staff, UAMS resources, and educational opportunities that encourage students to pursue community-based primary care.
This program is supported by the HRSA medical student education grant.
Training Family Physicians
Graduates Practicing in the State
Arkansas urgently needs more primary care physicians. A quarter of those now practicing are nearing retirement. UAMS Regional Campuses is committed to recruiting and retaining physicians who understand – and are equipped to care for – the specific needs of people in rural communities in the state.
- 874 (62%) UAMS Regional Campuses-trained physicians currently practice in 66 of Arkansas’ 75 counties.
- Almost 1,600 family medicine residents have graduated from UAMS regional residency programs.
- The approximate total active/practicing within the same region as their residency program is 570 (40%).
Family Medicine Residency Programs
Regional Campuses trained 146 residents in 2024-25, including 50 who completed their three-year residency to become board-eligible in family medicine.
UAMS had 79 first-year family medicine residency slots approved in 2025: 54 at regional campuses, seven at the two rural training programs in Berryville/Eureka Springs and Crossett, six in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine (DFPM) in Little Rock and 12 at the joint UAMS Department of Family and Preventive Medicine/Baptist Health program in North Little Rock.
Regional Residency Recruitment Events
Faculty Spotlights
Linda McGhee, M.D., receives Tom Bruce Arkansas Health Impact Award
The board of the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement (ACHI) in October 2024 honored long-time UAMS Northwest faculty member Linda McGhee, M.D., as one of two 2024 recipients of the Tom Bruce Arkansas Health Impact Award. The annual award recognizes individuals who have had outstanding impacts on the health of Arkansans.
McGhee has been a family physician, educator, and mentor at the UAMS Family Medical Center in Fayetteville since 1978. She earned her medical degree from UAMS in 1971 and joined the UAMS Department of Family and Preventive Medicine (DFPM) faculty in Little Rock. She relocated to UAMS Northwest in 1978, where she has trained family medicine residents for over four decades.
As an associate professor with the DFPM, McGhee has worked more than 45 years to prepare future family physicians to provide broad-range primary care for Arkansans. McGhee has also served as president of the Arkansas Academy of Family Physicians, vice chair of the Arkansas Minority Health Commission, and a member of the Arkansas State Board of Health and Arkansas State Medical Board.
At the beginning of the HIV/AIDS crisis, McGhee led in the treatment of HIV/AIDS patients and continues to serve on several community, county and state boards related to this issue. Since 1992, she has been the medical director of the Washington County HIV Clinic, the first county HIV clinic in Arkansas. McGhee has always been passionate about addressing health disparities and reaching underserved communities, including northwest Arkansas’ Marshallese population.
David Kelley, M.D.
David Kelley joined the UAMS Department of Family and Preventive Medicine in 2022 as an associate professor and clinician educator. Originally from Denver, Colorado, Kelley graduated from Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine and completed his residency at La Grange Family Medicine Residency in Illinois. He then practiced for three years in a high-volume private practice in Racine, Wisconsin.
Kelley chose family medicine after seeing the profound impact family physicians have through attentive listening, long-term relationships, and lifelong care of their patients. While in private practice, he developed a strong interest in teaching and mentoring future physicians, leading him to Oklahoma City where he served as a third-year clerkship director. He later became the fourth-year director and division head for education. He also worked for three years on a Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) grant promoting rural medicine and held multiple educational leadership roles prior to joining UAMS. He also was a member of the team that wrote the current national Society of Teachers of Family Medicine guidelines for fourth-year sub-internship rotations.
Kelley has extensive teaching experience, including roles as clerkship director and division head for education, being actively involved in multidisciplinary teaching. He has won numerous awards for his excellence in education including the Dwayne Andrews Teaching Award, the Aesculapian Award, the Residency Teacher of the Year Award at the University of Oklahoma, and the Stanton L. Young Master Teacher Award, the highest teaching honor at the University of Oklahoma. Since joining UAMS, he has received the Residency Teacher of the Year Award and the Leonard Towe Humanism Award.
An American Academy of Family Physicians Fellow, Kelley finds joy in connecting students with outstanding family medicine educators. He has also presented nationally on topics related to medical student education. At UAMS, he is the director of the Principles of Medicine II course, division director for undergraduate education for the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine as a house advisor for medical students, and principal investigator for the HRSA medical student education grant. He seeks to create learning environments where future physicians can experience the value of primary care and be inspired to pursue family medicine to serve patients in communities throughout Arkansas.
Student Spotlight
I Found My Calling Through MASH
By MyLisa Thiels, MS, CCC-SLP
As a junior in high school in 2008, I attended a MASH program. I was interested in the medical field, and MASH was the perfect way to explore various careers and see them in action, firsthand. We were able to witness a mock emergency scene with LifeNet and transfer a patient from the helipad to triage in the ER. We made casts and had them removed (only slightly traumatic with the saw!), stitched a pig’s foot, and toured the rehabilitation hospital… where I decided then and there that I wanted to pursue speech-language pathology (SLP). Instructors discussed the role of SLPs in teaching people to eat and swallow again post-stroke, as well as improving their communication, speech, and cognition. I was always fascinated by the brain, and it was like a light bulb went on!
Because of MASH, I pursued a bachelor’s degree at Ouachita Baptist University, then a master’s in communication science disorders at University of Central Arkansas. As a fresh graduate, I was hired by Christus St. Michael Rehabilitation Hospital in Texarkana where I decided to be an SLP. I’ve been here since that time, working between inpatient and outpatient therapy. I have a passion for all things speech-path and educate any staff or community members that will listen about the potential benefits because the reach of speech pathology is vast. Over the years, I’ve been able to give back by educating some of the MASH students coming through UAMS Southwest about speech pathology, so it’s a full-circle moment for me.
The MASH program is so important because it provides experiences and education for young minds that are at a pivotal point in thinking about their futures. I know at least five other MASH participants from my group that went on to be registered nurses, a physician assistant, and another speech-language pathologist. I’m thankful this program exists because it was the driving force in choosing my career. I’m now ten years in, and every day I find something new to love about it. I look for new ways to educate our community on the ways SLPs are helping and healing, whether it be physician communications or TikTok videos. You may be thinking, “What does a medical speech pathologist actually do?” Please contact me. I take any and every chance to talk about all the things we do. And yes, it’s much more than just “speech.”
MyLisa Thiels, MS, CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist
Christus St. Michael Rehabilitation Hospital
Regional Campus News & Highlights
UAMS East Receives Grant from Helena Health Foundation to Support Solid Organ Transplants in Arkansas Delta
UAMS East in Helena received a $125,000 grant from the Helena Health Foundation to support the solid organ transplant clinic at UAMS East Family Medical Center in Helena. UAMS opened a satellite clinic for UAMS Health’s kidney and liver transplant at UAMS East Family Medical Center in 2023. This grant will help elevate transplant care for Phillips County and the surrounding area.
“We are very honored and grateful for the support of the Helena Health Foundation as we provide much needed care to the Arkansas Delta. Partnerships like this ensure people throughout Arkansas have access to high-quality solid organ treatment.”
~ Lyle Burdine, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of transplant surgery and director of organ transplant in the UAMS College of Medicine Department of Surgery.
UAMS Northwest Internal Medicine Residency Program Receives Accreditation
The UAMS Northwest-Washington Regional Internal Medicine Residency Program earned continued accreditation status from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education in March 2025. Reaccreditation relies on annual data from resident/fellow and faculty surveys, scholarly activity and board pass rates. The three-year program was originally accredited in 2015 and admits 10 residents each year.
UAMS South Launches Fellowship in Family Medicine Surgical Obstetrics
UAMS South in El Dorado has launched Arkansas’ first family medicine surgical obstetrics fellowship, led by Donya Watson, M.D. Developed throughout 2024 and early 2025, the one-year program was created to strengthen rural maternity care and build future faculty for the rural residency program.
Arkansas has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the nation. The new fellowship addresses a critical gap in obstetric services across Arkansas, preparing family medicine physicians to deliver full-spectrum care in underserved communities.
Each year, the fellowship will select at least one physician for advanced training in prenatal, intrapartum, and postpartum care, including cesarean sections and operative vaginal deliveries. The curriculum also includes gynecologic procedures, simulation-based learning, outpatient continuity clinics, and leadership development. Graduates will commit to remaining in clinic for a designated period, supporting long-term workforce stability.
Fellows will also engage in quality improvement, documentation, and teaching—contributing to UAMS South’s mission to recruit, train, and retain physicians dedicated to improving maternal health in rural Arkansas.
Family Medicine Residency Grows in South Arkansas
A $2.5 million grant from the Arkansas State Legislature is supporting the expansion of residency programs in south Arkansas. The state’s PEER joint budget committee supported the development of family medicine residency programs in El Dorado and Crossett. These funds will help create 22 new residency slots in hospitals in the two cities as well as one new family medicine obstetrics fellowship.
The Crossett program earned accreditation in 2023 and enrolled its first class of residents in 2024. The El Dorado program earned its accreditation in 2024 and will enroll its first residents in 2026. Trainees in both programs will complete their first year of residency in Little Rock at UAMS and Arkansas Children’s Hospital, with the last two years immersed in south Arkansas-based rural clinic settings.
UAMS Southwest Hosts two Healthcare Events in Nevada County
Residents of southwest Arkansas got free medical screenings and health resources during two community events in Rosston Nov. 22, hosted by UAMS. The event, “Filling the Health care Gaps in Nevada County,” offered free medical tests, general health screenings and screenings for lung, breast, prostate, and colorectal cancers. Confidential testing for HIV, sexually transmitted diseases and hepatitis C was also available. Ambulatory services offered information on what to do while waiting on emergency services, and information was given on mental health, COVID-19, heart health, and opioid awareness.
UAMS West Family Medical Center Recognized as National Leader in Hypertension Care
The UAMS West Family Medical Center (FMC) in Fort Smith was named a 2024 Million Hearts Hypertension Control Champion by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). They are one of just 32 health organizations nationwide to receive the prestigious recognition and one of only two in Arkansas. The CDC’s Million Hearts Hypertension Control Challenge recognizes clinicians, practices and health centers that achieve blood pressure control for at least 80% of their patients with hypertension. At the end of 2024, the UAMS Fort Smith FMC had achieved a control rate of 85%.
Most adults with hypertension fail to manage it, which can lead to heart disease and stroke. The Fort Smith FMC helps patients manage hypertension in several ways: accurate initial blood pressure measurement, rechecks for those with blood pressure over 140/90, instruction on how to control hypertension with diet, and nurse visits for two-week rechecks. The plan also includes collaboration with pharmacists and other providers as well as quarterly follow-up visits.
“This recognition means a lot to us. It shows that we are contributing to the health improvement of all of Arkansas. More than five years ago, we started a comprehensive initiative to improve hypertension control for area patients aged 18 to 85. Our high-performing team has been a huge part of our success.”
~ Tabasum Imran, M.D., medical director, UAMS West FMC
Clinical Patient Care
Our regional family medicine clinics provide comprehensive primary care for thousands of Arkansans across the state. Faculty, residents, and staff care for patients from all stages of life, including routine checkups, treatment for severe and sudden health problems, chronic issues, minor surgeries, immunizations and sports physicals.
2024 – 2025 Clinic Patient Services
Key Partnerships & Hospital Affiliations
UAMS Regional Campuses and the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement created a dashboard that shows Arkansas’ primary care physician workforce data by county, region and state. The dashboard pulls data from Medicare into easy-to-understand infographics, showing the number of physicians practicing, their subspecialties, payer mix and where they’re located. Policymakers, healthcare leaders and other stakeholders can use the tool to make decisions about provider access in Arkansas.
Dashboard: Arkansas Primary Care Physician Workforce
Arkansas Farm Bureau is our long-term partner making MASH and CHAMPS summer camps possible across the state. To mark MASH’s 35th anniversary in 2023, Arkansas Farm Bureau established a new Fund for Excellence, pledging $500,000 over five years to guarantee these programs’ sustainability.
More Arkansas Delta students are engaged each year through mobile health unit activities and internships at Arkansas Rural Health Partnership hospitals, encouraging students to pursue health careers in this underserved region.
The partnership with community health centers allows UAMS students to get clinical and practicum experience, exposing them to federally qualified health center settings across the state as potential practice locations.
UAMS Regional Campuses has affiliation agreements with hospitals across the state, serving as host institutions and training facilities. These hospital partnerships contribute facilities, funds and staff to support our mission.
UAMS East
- Crittenden Memorial Hospital
- Helena Regional Medical Center
- Chicot Memorial Hospital
UAMS North Central
- White River Health
UAMS Northeast
- St. Bernards Regional Medical Center
UAMS Northwest
- Washington Regional Medical Center
- Northwest Medical Center Springdale
- Mercy Hospital Berryville
UAMS South
- South Arkansas Regional Hospital
UAMS South Central
- Jefferson Regional Medical Center
UAMS Southwest
- CHRISTUS St. Michael Health System
UAMS West
- Baptist Health Fort Smith
Directory of Regional Campuses
UAMS East
1393 Highway 242 South
Helena, AR 72342
870-572-2727
Area Director:
Stephanie Loveless, MPH
Administrative Director:
William McClain
Charge Nurse:
Angela Ward, BSN, RN, AMB-BC
UAMS North Central
1993 Harrison Street
Batesville, AR 72501
Phone: 870-698-9991
Family Medicine Residency Director:
Jordan Weaver, M.D.
Administrative Services Director:
Faye Turner, Ph.D.
Clinical Services Manager:
Kendall Barron, BSN, RN, AMB-BC
UAMS Northeast
311 East Matthews
Jonesboro, AR 72401
Phone: 870-972-9603
Family Medicine Residency Director:
Scott Dickson, M.D.
Administrative Services Director:
Faye Turner, Ph.D.
Clinical Services Manager:
Bendi Bowers, MSN, RN
UAMS Northwest
1125 North College
Fayetteville, AR 72703
Phone: 479-713-8000
Family Medicine Residency Director:
Michael Macechko, M.D.
Administrative Services Director:
Stephanie Kruger
Clinical Services Manager:
Stacia Dean, BSN, RN
UAMS South – El Dorado
620 W. Grove St., Suite 202
El Dorado, AR 71730
Phone: 870-639-9939
Family Medicine Residency Director:
Donya Watson, M.D.
Administrative Services Director:
Richard Reeves
Clinical Services Manager:
Semekia Amerison, BSN, RN
UAMS South Central
4010 Mulberry Street
Pine Bluff, AR 71603
Phone: 870-541-7611
Family Medicine Residency Director:
Toni Middleton, M.D.
Administrative Services Director:
Sheila Huskey, MBA
Clinical Services Manager:
Tammy Murray, BSN, RN, AMB-BC
UAMS Southwest
300 East 6th (Administration)
3417 U of A Way
Texarkana, AR 71854
Phone: 870-779-6017
Family Medicine Residency Director:
Matthew Nix, M.D.
Administrative Services Director:
Courtney Jones
Clinical Services Manager:
Sonia Bunyard, MSN, RN, AMB-BC
UAMS West
612 South 12th Street
Fort Smith, AR 72901
Phone: 479-424-3172
Family Medicine Residency Director:
Katherine Irish-Clardy, M.D.
Administrative Services Director:
Chris Holland
Clinical Services Manager:
Brenda Norris, RN
Regional Campuses Clinics & Service Line
Chair, Dept. of Family and Preventive Medicine, Director of Primary Care and Population Health Service Line
Shashank Kraleti, M.D.
Senior Nursing Director, Integrated Medicine, Primary Care & Population Health Service Lines
Sandra Meredith-Neve, BScN, RN, CPN
Regional Clinics Assistant Nursing Director
Deborah Hutts, MSN, RN, NE-BC
Regional Campuses Clinical Specialist
Holly Jenkins, MSN, RN
Regional Campuses Director of Behavioral Health
Kathy Emans, LCSW
Regional Campuses Central Program Administration
Brian Jones, DHSc, vice chancellor for Regional Campuses bjones7@uams.edu
Marcia Byers, Ph.D., RN, senior director of Regional Campuses, mabyers@uams.edu
Amber Fluharty, MEd, director of operations, ammarshall2@uams.edu
Sarah Eastham, BA, director of analytics, smeastham@uams.edu
Robin Howell, BA, senior program manager, howellrobina@uams.edu
Kendra Koehler, MEd, LPC, program manager, klkoehler@uams.edu
Sandra Tate, MA, program manager, state@uams.edu
Heidi Damron, MS, education coordinator, hldamron@uams.edu
Alex Holladay, MS, program manager, abholladay@uams.edu
Kwasi Boateng, Ph.D., manager of evaluation, kboateng@uams.edu
Angelica Nunez, administrative coordinator/data, apnunez@uams.edu
Sheila Williams, administrative coordinator, sswilliams@uams.edu