It was pointed out to me that some may feel my prior post may not have had full disclosure....
I have never hid my affilitiation with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, and it is not my intention to mislead anyone. I have tried to be fairminded and mention a multitude of programs that provide quality teaching
As is the case of everyone on these forums, I feel it is appropriate to speak highly of a program you are affiliated with. I mentioned the quality of mentorship and teaching associated with UAMS in the context of many other programs that also are known for their teaching and mentorship, and if anything, I made an effort not to overstate the virtues of UAMS.
Objectively speaking, though, the quality of teaching at UAMS is truly excellent. For example, they are one of the only institutions in the country to have a program designed specifically for improving the teaching qualities of their attendings. This program, the Teaching Scholars program (
http://www.uams.edu/teachingscholars/) is an example of Arkansas putting its money where its mouth is, and actually rewarding the faculty for being excellent teachers.
UAMS has been a leader in actively developing new teaching methodologies. They currently have one of only 2 residents in the country representing the field of PM+R at the Association of American Medical Colleges, with the goal of improving the quality of medical education, and the have faculty who are alumni of that program.
So from an objective basis, I think it is completely appropriate to consider Arkansas one of the leaders in terms of quality teaching.
From a subjective level, for me its a no brainer that Arkansas is one of the best teaching programs in the country. I had a choice of many places where I could join faculty, and the biggest determinant for me was where I would be able to help the residents the most through teaching and mentorship. I spent an exhaustive amount of time and effort seeking out the best place, and I came to conclusion that Arkansas was the best place in the country to do this. So, for this sample size of one person, I thought Arkansas was the #1 place in the country to be.
I realize that this may not seem obvious to many people, so here are some of the assetts that make Arkansas a great place to be, especially for a medical student whose goal is a great teaching experience, and particularly for sports medicine, musculoskeletal medicine, and spine medicine.
#1: the Jackson T. Stephens spine Center. I have been to the infrastructure of many, if not most, of the top institutions in the country, and I think it is fair to say that the Stephens Spine center is one of the nicest centers in the country. Many bigger name programs have nothing that compares to it. For more details, please check:
http://www.uams.edu/stephensinstitute/default.asp
#2: the teaching scholars program. As mentioned before, Arkansas is one of the few programs in the country that has mechanisms in the place to ensure that the faculty are excellent teachers.
#3: Contracts that reward teaching. You can tell what the priorities of an institution are by what they pay for. While I won't divulge the specifics of my contract, I will note that faculty are financially renumerated for their teaching. Again, an example of UAMS putting their money where their mouth is in terms of the quality of teaching
#4: Understanding the importance of outpatient MSK. The chair and program director made his name in falls research. The associate program director is an outpatient MSK/sports/spine physician. This is different than many other institutions, where the people in leadership of the residents have their primary clinical appointments in inpatient medicine. I think that is an important pro factor for people who are interested in outpatient MSK sports
#5: Lack of competition. UAMS is the only teaching institution in the state of Arkansas. That is a fairly unusual situation, and presents a world of opportunity for residents. They are affiliated with the University of Arkansas-Little Rock, which is a Division I sports program. Again, that is an unusual opportunity for residents in PM+R
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So, bottom line- I have tried to be fair-minded in response to the question that was asked- what are quality programs that emphasize teaching and may be a good choice for residents interested in sports medicine. I certainly think that is reasonable to include Arkansas in the discussion of those programs, along with some of the other's that I listed, some of the programs that axm listed, and some of the others that have been listed in other threads.