The answer is “Physician who paid for his medical education with winnings from TV game show appearances.” The correct response would be, “Who is Shane Whitlock?”

A fourth-year resident in UAMS’ Department of Radiology, Whitlock won $94,000 and a car during a total of seven appearances on the syndicated television game show “Jeopardy.” The Benton native’s most recent appearance was May 11 during “The Ultimate Tournament of Champions,” a 15-week competition that pitted the top players from the show’s 21-year history. Whitlock was one of 135 players competing for the chance to face Ken Jennings, who won more than $2.5 million last year during a 74-game winning streak, for a prize of $2 million.

Whitlock advanced as far as the third round of the tournament only to lose during “Final Jeopardy,” the show’s concluding question, or answer, as the case may be. Host Alex Trebek charged the three participants to solve the puzzle of “now meaning nearly identical, these two names were applied to rivals Handel and Bononcini in 1720 British verse.” The answer was “Tweedledum and Tweedledee,” to the surprise of Whitlock, who was unable to come up with a response, bringing to an end a very successful string of wins.

Quiet and unassuming despite his moderate notoriety, Whitlock doesn’t consider himself a trivia expert. “The knowledge that’s required (to win) is so broad,” he said shortly after his most recent appearance aired. “I’ve always had a wide range of interests. I think that’s a prerequisite for success.”

A fan of the show for a long time, Whitlock first appeared on “Jeopardy” while a junior microbiology major at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville in 1996. “I watched it growing up and in college and thought it would be fun and helpful as far as paying for medical school,” said Whitlock, who tried out for the show in Memphis the year before. “At the tryout, I didn’t expect to get on the show. Once I got on, I didn’t expect to win.”

He won $32,800 and a Volvo 850 during the two-week college competition, earning him the right to compete in this year’s tournament. A 2001 graduate of UAMS’ College of Medicine, Whitlock used his winnings to pay for his medical school tuition and is scheduled to complete his residency next year.

Whitlock, who used vacation hours to compete in the most recent tournament, said he didn’t waste any time beforehand scouring encyclopedias or reference books. “I found some archived games and reviewed them online. I focused on the aspects of the game instead of studying,” he admitted.

One important angle for anyone considering trying to get on the show is mastering the all-important buzzer. “You have to develop a rhythm for the buzzer. If you buzz in before they activate the buzzer, it locks you out for a quarter of a second and you can’t answer until (Trebek) finishes reading the answer.” And how easy is it constantly replying in the form of a question? “Actually, it comes pretty naturally after you play a few games.”

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