UAMS Family Medicine Residency

Launch your career with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Family Medicine Residency. St. Bernards Medical Center is the primary teaching site and has had a strategic, educational partnership with the program since UAMS accepted the first class of residents in 1980.

Comprehensive Training

UAMS Northeast provides training on the full breadth of family medicine, with an appropriate balance of:

Adult medicine, including care of older adults
Emergency medicine
Pediatric and newborn care
Women’s health

As a resident, you’ll focus on preventive care and population health while practicing medicine in a family-like, supportive and engaging environment. Because the program office is near St. Bernards, you’ll transition to it easily from hospital rotations. You can look forward to support on an academic and personal level from outstanding faculty, who strive for excellence in medical knowledge, clinical skills and teaching.

Goals & Objectives

The mission of UAMS Northeast is to train excellent clinicians who provide compassionate, comprehensive and patient-centered medical care to our communities. Our program has three aims:

Teach residents and students to deliver high-quality, evidence-based care to patients and families
Foster a supportive and engaging learning environment for students, residents and faculty
Recruit diverse, talented, knowledgeable and compassionate resident physicians and program faculty

Procedural Skills

Expect to learn a variety of inpatient and outpatient procedures during training.

Inpatient Procedures

Inpatient procedures include:

Artificial rupture of membranes
Central vascular line placements
Chest tube insertions
Fetal scalp electrode placement
Intubations and airway management
Paracentesis
Resuscitation (adult, pediatric and neonatal)
Thoracentesis
Vaginal and cesarean deliveries

You’ll gain exposure to other procedures when rotating with surgical specialties.

Outpatient Procedures

Outpatient procedures in the family medicine clinic include:

Colposcopy with biopsy
Endometrial biopsies
Excisional and punch biopsies of the skin
Incision and drainage of abscesses
IUD and Nexplanon insertion and removal
Joint aspiration and injections
Neonatal circumcisions

Didactic Curriculum

You’ll take part in didactics every weekday at noon. Topics encompass the breadth of family medicine. Core faculty and volunteer community physicians give most of the didactic presentations, which take place over 18 months. This allows you to hear the material twice during your three years of training.

Didactics also include a monthly resident support group, program directors’ meeting and quality improvement meetings.

Leadership Opportunities

You’ll participate in and learn to lead an interprofessional care team in the family medicine clinic. You must also participate in hospital committees, where you learn the importance of provider input regarding patient care and quality improvement.

You may serve as chief/co-chief resident or resident representative on the Graduate Medical Education Committee for Regional Programs.

Lastly, you can participate in advocacy efforts through the state and national chapters of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP).

Resident Wellness

Residency training is exhilarating and exciting. It’s the culmination of years of dedicated, hard work and the fulfillment of your dream.

However, residency can also be daunting and challenging because of the long hours, sleepless nights, adaptation to a new role and environment and the responsibility of providing high-quality care. The demands of residency can take a toll on resident well-being. UAMS has a robust residency wellness program that includes screenings, counseling and psychiatric care resources if needed.

After-hours activities throughout the year foster camaraderie and offer you a chance to relax. The program develops other wellness activities and resources to promote a balance between work and personal life.

Life in Jonesboro

Jonesboro is a beautiful community in which to live, work, play and raise a family. It’s located among several large metropolitan areas, including Memphis, Nashville, St. Louis and Little Rock. Jonesboro is only 81 miles from Memphis International Airport, which makes travel abroad accessible and convenient.