An award-winning educational leader and clinician, John Spollen, M.D., provides leadership for our growing, robust medical education programs in Northwest Arkansas. Dr. Spollen has held numerous leadership roles since joining the faculty in 1999, and his leadership was a tremendous asset to the College of Medicine during his service as Interim Chair of the Department of Psychiatry from June 2021 to February 2022. Additionally, he led the development of the initial curriculum for medical students at the Northwest Campus in 2008.
Dr. Spollen directed the Psychiatry Junior Clerkship from 2000 to 2005, and then served as Co-Director until 2012, when he became Course Director for the M2 Behavioral Science Module. When the curriculum changed to interdisciplinary modules for the pre-clinical years, he continued as the Clinical Co-Director of the Brain and Behavior Module until his appointment as Interim Chair of Psychiatry. Dr. Spollen has served as Vice Chair for Education in the Department of Psychiatry since 2004. He has been a member of the COM Curriculum Committee since 2002 and has held a number of leadership roles, including Co-Chair of the Evaluation and Quality Improvement Subcommittee.
Dr. Spollen has earned extensive recognition for his teaching, mentoring and other work with students. These include the COM Educational Innovation Award, two Educational Research Awards, the Master Teacher Award, student-selected Red Sash awards annually since 2008, and the Gold Sash Award.
Dr. Spollen received his medical degree from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He completed his residency in psychiatry at the Medical University of South Carolina.
Outstanding Match Rates
We take great pride in training the next generation of exceptional physicians and are particularly proud of how consistently our medical students match into very competitive specialty programs. Click here to see the cumulative match of all the medical students who trained in at our UAMS Northwest Regional Campus since 2011.
Community
The community and lifestyle in Northwest Arkansas are compelling and are attracting significant growth in this region. For the past four years, Fayetteville has been in the top five listing of US News and World Report’s most livable cities in the United States. You will find that people are kind and considerate here. Traffic is nothing like other cities, and the cost of living is reasonable. Arkansas is known as the Natural State for good reason.
When the academic houses were first being named, medical students training in Northwest Arkansas selected a highly esteemed physician who had practiced here, Dr. Neil Compton, made famous for his role as a conservationist instrumental in preserving the Buffalo River as a national park for all to enjoy. Dr. Compton’s legacy lives on in the Compton Gardens.
UAMS Northwest Regional Campus College of Medicine Compton Academic House students and UAMS Northwest Regional Campus College of Medicine residents complete their training and participate in collaborative projects in diverse systems with a rich variety of specialists.
- Community Clinic Northwest Arkansas
- Arkansas Children’s Northwest Hospital
- Schmieding Developmental Center
- Mercy Hospital of Northwest Arkansas
- Washington Regional Medical Center
- The Veterans System of the Ozarks
- UAMS Northwest Regional Campus Outpatient Clinics
- Northwest Health
- A multitude of other private practice settings where UAMS Adjunct Faculty invest their time and energy in training students and resident
- University of Arkansas Biomedical Engineering Department
We are promoting high morale and the overall health of our entire UAMS Northwest Regional Campus College of Medicine family to best energize our dedication to our mission-driven work. Here are several innovations we have implemented recently:
- Culinary medicine training at Brightwater Culinary Institute – learning what and how to cook dishes with ingredients that both taste exquisite yet are an empowering solution for our patients suffering from chronic illnesses
- Equine facilitated resident wellness retreats; inter-professional education teambuilding workshops
- Smooth Sailing Life Workshops to promote resilience in trying times
- UAMS Northwest Regional Campus wellness programs for trainees
- Giving back to the community through volunteerism
Residency Programs
Currently we have the following residency programs:
- Family Medicine Residency – 9 positions/year led by Dr. Michael Macechko, M.D.
- Primary Care Sports Medicine Fellowship – 2 positions/year led by Dr. Ramon Ylanan, M.D.
- Internal Medicine Residency (Mercy) – 11 positions/year led by Dr. Sarah Assem, M.D., Associate Program Director.
- Internal Medicine Residency (Washington Regional) – 8 positions/year led by Dr. Sheena CarlLee, M.D., Program Director.
We have exciting plans on the horizon. We hope that if our mission resonates with you that our paths will cross at some point in the future.