UAMS receives $2.5 million for family medicine residency programs in South Arkansas

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.

Another regional program in Crossett recently earned 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.