University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Regional Centers Program

Program Identity & Fit

This is a new (initial ACGME accreditation 2025), small categorical 4-year neurology program based at Washington Regional Medical Center, a 425-bed community hospital that functions as the region's only Level II trauma center and the state's only Joint Commission Comprehensive Stroke Center, giving residents concentrated exposure to acute stroke, neurocritical care, and neurointervention within a community rather than university hospital structure. The curriculum layers dedicated neuro-rehabilitation (via Encompass Health with continuity of the same patients from Neuro ICU), child neurology at Arkansas Children's Northwest, and subspecialty rotations (epilepsy, movement disorders, neuroimmunology, sleep, neuropalliative care) onto a heavy PGY1 internal medicine foundation, all without geographically distant rotations. Research is structurally built into intern year training with required IRB, statistician, and mentorship support toward a scholarly project intended for conference presentation and publication, signaling that scholarly output is expected but the program's core identity remains community-based clinical training rather than a research pipeline. The stated mission emphasizes producing well-rounded, resilient clinicians for practice "no matter where they ultimately choose to practice," consistent with a program built to serve regional/community neurology needs while offering academic-caliber rigor.