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The Arkansas Times has just published the list of Arkansas' Best Doctors and we are proud of the following top vote getters:

Joe Elser, M.D. ‘83 – Pediatrics
Laura Hutchins, M.D. ‘77 – Medical Oncology
Jay Kincannon, M.D. ‘85 – Dermatology
Kris Shewmake, M.D. ‘84 – Plastic Surgery
Greg Sharp, M.D. ‘84 – Pediatric Neurology
Stacie Jones, M.D. ‘89 – Pediatric Allergy
David Becton, M.D. ‘79 – Pediatric Hematology
Richard Jacobs, M.D. ‘77 – Pediatric Infectious Disease
Charles Bower, M.D. ‘85 – Pediatric Otolaryngology
Robert Warren, M.D. ‘67 – Pediatric Pulmonology
Paula Morris, M.D. ’83 – Pediatric Rheumatology
Sam Smith, M.D. ‘80 – Pediatric Surgeon
Whit Hall, M.D. ‘73 – Neonatal & Perinatal
Brian Hyatt, M.D. ‘04 – Psychiatry
Richard Livingston, M.D. ‘78 – Child Psychiatry
Lewis P. Krain, M.D. ‘01 – Geriatric Psychiatry
Martin Fiser, M.D. ‘71 – Allergy & Immunology
Deborah Bursey, M.D. ‘92 – Endocrinology
Brad Baltz, M.D. ‘88 – Hematology
Robert Bradsher, M.D. ‘76 – Infectious Disease
Lee Archer, M.D. ‘82 – Neurology
Gordon Newbern, M.D. ‘86 – Orthopedic Surgery
James Suen, M.D. ‘66 – Otolaryngology
Paula Anderson, M.D. ‘79 – Pulmonary Disease
James Abraham, III, M.D. ‘87 – Rheumatology
Eleanor Lipsmeyer, M.D. ‘62 – Rheumatology
Chris Cate, M.D. ‘92 – Surgery
Charles Watkins, M.D. ‘76 – Thoracic Surgery


Jack W. Bonner III, M.D., who completed an internship in Internal Medicine at UAMS in 1966, has been awarded the 2009 Distinguished Mentor Award from the Academy of Distinguished Educators. Dr. Bonner is a GHS Professor of Clinical Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Science, Medical Director of Behavioral Health Services at the Greenville Hospital System University Medical Center and the Marshall I. Pickens Hospital, and Chair of the GHSUMC Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine in Greenville, South Carolina. 

William T. Branch, M.D., F.A.C.S. '71, who is in Urology private practice in Tampa, Florida, has been reappointed as Chairman of the University of South Florida Medical Scho9ol's Surgical Voluntary Faculty. He is currently an Affiliate Professor of Surgery at the University. He is the Past President of the Florida Chapter of the American college of Surgeons and Past Chairman of the Board of the National American College of Surgeons Board of Regents Nominating Committee while serving as a Governor from Florida. His is also a founding member and Past President of the Tamp Bay Surgical Society. Dr. Branch is the immediate Past Chairman of the Board of the Tampa Shriner's Hospitals for Children and is the recipient of the Arkansas State University Distinguished Alumni Award. He was recently honored by being names to the Dunklin County Hall of Honor. He remains active in the community as a civic leader.

Douglas Curran, M.D. '76, has been awarded the Presidential Award of Merit from the Texas Academy of Family Physicians. Dr. Curran who has practiced in Athens, Texas, for more than 25 years, was honored as an advocate of the specialty of family medicine and for his dedication to his patients. Read More.

Larry Embree, M.D., '57 A commissioned and completed portrait of me was presented at the recognition dinner for senior neurology residents in June, 2009. The portrait of the first head of neurology and neuropathology at Louisiana State University Health Science Center in Shreveport hangs in the Department of Neurology. Understandably, to be honored in this way leaves me speechless, but not aphasic, as I obviously can use written language to this extent. Pardon the commentary from the neurologist in me! Come see the portrait and ponder over the pathway that began in a five-story brick building on the east side of MacArthur Park in September 1953.

Jim Grissom, M.D. ’75, Sidney Hayes, M.D. ’76, Susan Santa Cruz, M.D. ’79, and Sue Ulmer, M.D. ’90, are “docs that rock” as members of the B-Flats, a rock and roll band that gets folks boogying at fundraisers and other events in central Arkansas. The band was featured in the September 2009 issue of Arkansas New Sixty, a recently launched magazine aimed at readers in their late 50s and 60s. read more and rock on

Ryan Fitzgerald, M.D. ’06, now a radiology resident at UAMS, is one of 35 residents in North America to be selected for the Siemens AUR Radiology Resident Academic Development Program. The program provides focused mentorship, leadership and academic development activities for a group of high-potential second-year residents to help prepare them for successful careers as leaders in academic radiology.

Scott Gatlin, M.D. '05, has been selected for the Pediatric Cardiology Fellowship Program at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Sibley Heart Center and Emory University School of Me4icine. the three-year fellowship will include 12 months devoted to clinical, translational or basic science research. Dr. Gatlin completed his residency in pediatrics at UAMS and recently moved to Atlanta with his wife Kathy and sons Jack and Michael.

Maj. Gen. Elder Granger, M.D. ’80, has retired after 37 years of military service. Most recently he oversaw the Department of Defense’s managed health care program as Deputy Director and Program Executive Officer of TRICARE Management. In addition to numerous military honors, he was named the College of Medicine’s 2008 Distinguished Alumnus. Dr. Granger is settling into retirement in Centennial, Colorado. Check out his farewell video blog

Jim Grissom, M.D. ’75, Sidney Hayes, M.D. ’76, Susan Santa Cruz, M.D. ’79, and Sue Ulmer, M.D. ’90, are “docs that rock” as members of the B-Flats, a rock and roll band that gets folks boogying at fundraisers and other events in central Arkansas. The band was featured in the September 2009 issue of Arkansas New Sixty, a recently launched magazine aimed at readers in their late 50s and 60s. Read more and rock on.

Paula W. Morris, M.D. '83, Associate Professor and Chief of the Rheumatology Section at UAMS was recently elected as a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha by the UAMS AOA Chapter.

Richard Nix, M.D. '77, is an orthopedic surgeon who is always on the go. In addition to his practice and serving as medical director for Camp Aldersgate, he is an avid runner. Dr. Nix was featured in the August 2009 issue of Little Rock's Soiree magazine. Read more.

College of Medicine’s 2009 Distinguished Alumnus, D. Brent Polk, M.D., '84, has been named chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC) and Chair of Pediatrics and Vice President of Academic Affairs at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, effective April 1, 2010. Read more.

B. Lawrence Riggs, M.D. ’59, received the prestigious Legends in Osteoporosis Award, the highest honor from the National Osteoporosis Foundation, in May. Dr. Riggs became a national leader in osteoporosis research and treatment while working at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., for 44 years.  Read more.  

Kris Shewmake, M.D. '84, was named the best plastic surgeon in Arkansas by his colleagues in 1999. Ten years later, he's been named again as the top doctor in his field, an honor he shares with James Yuen of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Shewmake, 54, a Pine Bluff native, is a cosmetic surgeon most of the year. But for around 20 days a year, he's both surgeon and teacher, correcting sever craniofacial malformations and doing other reconstructive surgeries in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, with the medical mission Operation New Life. Read more.

Joel Tumlison, M.D. ’05, always focuses on the positive aspects of life as a physician at a small missionary hospital in Balfate, Honduras. We enjoy reading about Dr. Tumlison and his family in his monthly newsletter, the Tumlisonian. The April issue reported on an offshore earthquake that rattled his bed early one morning. He later learned that the 7.1 quake caused serious damage and killed six people elsewhere in Honduras. Though it was a terrible situation, similar sized earthquakes have killed and injured many more elsewhere, Dr. Tumlison noted. In the same issue he also gave thanks that one of the two X-ray machines at the Hospital Loma de La Luz was working again. The Tumlisons, Joel, his wife Cinthya, and their two girls, have been in Honduras since late last fall. Joel is participating in a two-year post-residency program with the World Medical Mission, a branch of Samaritan’s Purse. You can contact Dr. Tumlison via e-mail at: thetumlisons@gmail.com.

William Mark White, M.D., FACR '87, of Searcy, AR has been inducted as a Fellow in the Ameican College of Radiology (ACR). The induction took place at a formal convocation ceremony during the recent 86th ACR Annual Meeting and Chapter Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C.
Read more.

F. M. Wilson, M.D. '53, will be honored by the Arkansas State University Alumni Association as a Distinguished Alumni Award recipient for his work as a noted physician. Read more.