The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) will expand its residency programs in south Arkansas thanks to a $2.5 million grant from the Arkansas State Legislature.
The state’s PEER Joint Budget Committee recently approved a request for $2,550,225 in funding from the restricted reserve fund to support the development of family medicine residency programs in El Dorado and Crossett. The funds will help create 22 new residency slots in hospitals in the two cities as well as one new family medicine obstetrics fellowship.
“Expanding the number of physicians starting their careers in Arkansas through their medical residency increases the chance they will remain in the state to practice, so partnering with hospitals around the state to increase the number of residency slots is a pathway for addressing physician shortages in rural Arkansas,” said Stephanie Gardner, Pharm.D., Ed.D., UAMS provost and chief strategy officer. “We are grateful for the State of Arkansas providing startup funds for these new family medicine residency programs in Crossett and El Dorado.”
The news comes almost one year after UAMS held the grand opening of the new UAMS Health Family Medical Center in El Dorado, part of UAMS’ efforts to reestablish a regional campus in El Dorado. Through the Regional Campuses around the state, UAMS strives to create sustainable educational and training pipelines to address the state’s shortage of primary care physicians in rural communities.
The Crossett program earned accreditation in 2023 and enrolled its first cohort of residents in 2024. The El Dorado program aims to earn accreditation this year and enroll its first residents in the summer of 2026. Trainees in both programs will complete part of their residency in Little Rock at UAMS and Arkansas Children’s Hospital, though most of their training will be spent immersed in south Arkansas-based rural clinical settings.
UAMS is the state’s only health sciences university, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a hospital; a main campus in Little Rock; a Northwest Arkansas regional campus in Fayetteville; a statewide network of regional campuses; and eight institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Psychiatric Research Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, Translational Research Institute, Institute for Digital Health & Innovation and the Institute for Community Health Innovation.
UAMS includes UAMS Health, a statewide health system that encompasses all of UAMS’ clinical enterprise. UAMS is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 3,485 students, 915 medical residents and fellows, and seven dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 11,000 employees, including 1,200 physicians who provide care to patients at UAMS, its regional campuses, Arkansas Children’s, the VA Medical Center and Baptist Health.
Visit www.uams.edu or uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube or Instagram.