I cannot comment intelligently on Wayne State to make a comparison. The only comment I will make is that they have a strong reputation in TBI, and the one TBI faculty member I know there is outstanding.
As for Arkansas- I am the current assistant residency program director, and the current head of sports and spine, so I obviously know the program, but I also obviously have biases
My goal with Arkansas is to make sure that everyone who graduates is a complete physiatrist overall, and specifically a complete musculoskeletal physiatrist, including procedural skills
A few specific strengths of the program:
- Spine case conference series- The physiatry department leads a twice monthly series reviewing challenging spine cases, with participation from the physiatrists, spine surgeons, pain anasthesiologists, physical therapists, and occupational therapists. This is one of my favorite parts of the job, and I believe it gives the residents a broad exposure to comprehensive spine management.
- The multidisciplinary spine center has a physiatrist as medical director, and again it is a true multidisciplinary center, with participation from all the parties listed above. The building itself is a very impressive facility (google Jackson T Stephens Spine Center), and the clinic space is under construction and will be complete by the time any applicant starts residency
- I am the first physiatrist hired who performs spine injections, and my residents thus far have been active in peripheral joint and spine injections. My approach, again, is to train complete MSK physicians, so I build the residents up step-wise, and supervise their progression so that do everything independently as they progress, from the history --> exam --> reading x-rays and MRIs --> formulating their independent treatment plans (including writing specific PT and injection scripts) --> performing a detailed and procedure- specific consent --> radiation and needle safety --> needle control --> injection. The residents are getting needle time, but more importantly (IMO) is that by the time they are honing their needle skills, they are trained in appropriate patient selection and safety first
- We have already established team physican coverage for multiple Division I sports, and should be covering endurance sports and adolescent sports medicine clinic within the year
- We are adjacent to perhaps the leading muscle biology center in the world. My partner in the spine clinic is split as a clinician and researcher and works with the muscle research team, which provides unusually strong opportunities for MSK research
- I run the anatomy course. I'm biased, of course, but I think it is an especially good course for residents, since I have a PhD in anatomy, and the class is entirely based on clinical applications. We've had strong positive from the residents
- as part of the anatomy course, we have a distinct module for radiology training, with the goal that residents are able to independently read x-rays and MRIs as part of their clinical assessment. We include procedure-specific imaging and interpretation of flow patterns as part of this curriculum
My goal has been to create the type of msk training that I would want
if I were in residency training. I have been happy with the progress thus far, the residents appear to be pleased as well.
Regarding probation, UAMS is no longer on probation- we are on a 3 year cycle. The previous posters are correct- our only citation from the last visit was low board scores, and reflects on the performance of some of our previous residents, and their performance will take some time to cycle out of the cumultive average. I anticipate that the current crop of residents and all of our future residents will score very well on future board examinations, based on the following:
- the current residents scored above the national average on the SAE
- we completely revamped the board review curriculum, and the current group of residents (who were already scoring above average) have dramatically improved their clinical knowledge base since the new curriculum was instituted
I hope that helps address some of your questions, and I look forward to answering more of your questions when you come to interview
