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Project Name: Affordable Care Act Teaching Health Center (THC) Graduate Medical Education (GME) Payment Program (T91)
Applicant Title: UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS FOR MEDICAL SCIENCES
Abstract Text: Project Title: Establishment of a Teaching Health Center in Fort Smith, AR Applicant Organization Name: UAMS West Training Discipline: Family Medicine Project Director: Katherine Irish-Clardy, MD Address: 612 South 12th Street, Fort Smith, AR 72901 Phone #s: (phone) xxx-xxx-xxxx; (fax) xxx-xxx-xxxx Email address: xxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx Organizational website: regionalcampuses.uams.edu/west/residency Arkansas is a very rural state and needs more family medicine physicians where there are significant primary care shortage gaps. Currently 9 of the 13 counties in UAMS West’s service area are Health Professional Shortage Areas. The rural communities in Arkansas often lack resources needed for optimal health and wellness, and healthcare resources are not easily available in these areas. The UAMS West residency program, formerly known as AHEC West, began in 1974 to help combat this primary care shortage issue. Through the Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education (THCGME) program, UAMS West, a fully accredited family medicine residency program that manages all educational, financial, and clinical aspects of the program, proposes to continue supporting 4 additional residency slots. Our goal is to support a total of 4 THC residents for academic year 2024-2025 (1,1,2). This will allow us to train 27 residents versus only 23, which we receive support for from partner hospital Baptist Health. UAMS West’s objectives for the THCGME grant are: 1) provide residents with the medical knowledge and skills needed to effectively function as practicing Family Physicians upon graduation and provide a full range of outpatient and inpatient primary care services; 2) provide residents with educational and patient care experiences that include significant exposure to underserved patients; 3) provide residents with training and longitudinal experiences in providing care within the context of Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) concepts, electronic health systems, management of chronic diseases, electronic patient/provider communication systems (i.e. MyChart), coordination of care across multiple health care systems, and telehealth; and 4) provide residents with training to deliver compassionate and culturally competent care for underserved and culturally diverse populations. The objectives will be accomplished through: 1) UAMS West’s inter-disciplinary faculty of Family Medicine, a Pediatric APRN, a PharmD, and a Masters level Social Worker that includes four OB faculty who help provide a well-rounded program that trains all aspects of family medicine; 2) resident work experience and curricular instruction in PCMH concepts, electronic health systems, electronic prescribing, chronic disease management, and quality improvement systems; 3) residents providing care for diverse patient panels that include minority populations (Black and Hispanic) that exceed the percentage of those populations in UAMS West’s overall community, Limited English Proficiency (LEP) patients, and medically underserved patients; and 4) resident training that includes access to UAMS electronic library resources, AMA, AAFP resources, the Family Physicians Inquiry Network (FPIN), and MedMastery, a comprehensive online education program. UAMS West operates in a 30,000 square foot clinic facility which includes 48 exam rooms, lab and x-ray facilities, and minor surgery room. UAMS West also has a 23,360 sq ft building for the Administration offices and educational conference space. UAMS West is located next to partner hospital Baptist Health, where the residents also receive adult medicine, emergency care, pediatrics as well as maternity and newborn care training in the inpatient setting. These 4 additional THCGME slots will result in more family physicians establishing their practices in rural Arkansas, increased access to primary health care by medically underserved individuals, and improved health outcomes for Arkansans.