UAMS Geriatrics Program Moves Up to #9 in U.S. News and World Report, Nursing Program Also Moves Up
| LITTLE ROCK – The geriatrics program at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences has moved from #10 to #9 in the annual ranking by the news magazine U.S. News and World Report, while the master’s degree program in the UAMS College of Nursing also moved up significantly for the second year in a row.
“The annual rankings by U.S. News and World Report are a good indicator of how our peers regard us. We’re pleased that our geriatrics and nursing programs are so highly-regarded, since they are essential to our mission of promoting excellent hometown health care in Arkansas while fostering basic and applied research,” UAMS Chancellor I. Dodd Wilson, M.D., said.
Ranked in the top 10 along with Johns Hopkins, Duke, and Harvard Universities, the Donald W. Reynolds Department of Geriatrics in the UAMS College of Medicine is one of the only academic medical departments in the nation dedicated to the care of senior citizens. David A. Lipschitz, M.D., Ph.D., is director of the department and the affiliated Donald W. Reynolds Center on Aging at UAMS.
“Our colleagues and medical schools around the country recognize that we are continuing to strengthen our program. Our appointment of Jeanne Yichen Wei, M.D., Ph.D., formerly of Harvard Medical School, as executive vice chair of the department and the ongoing major support of the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation have helped us continue to grow,” Lipschitz said. Wei, a geriatrician, holds several licenses and certifications, including that of Diplomate, Certificate of Added Qualification in Geriatric Medicine from the American Board of Internal Medicine. She is a sought-after speaker and visiting professor, and has won many honors during her career. The Donald W. Reynolds Foundation last year increased its gifts to the geriatrics department and center from $28.8 million with another $3.25 million plus a challenge grant of $15 million.
The nursing degree program moved from 46th to 39th in the most recent ranking, and shot up from 65th to 46th last year. Dean Linda C. Hodges, Ed.D., of the UAMS College of Nursing commented, “Coming at the same time as the college’s 50th anniversary, this ranking is a wonderful reminder that while we are dedicated to filling the nursing workforce in communities across Arkansas, our research and innovative educational programs also have earned the respect of our peers across the nation.”
The College of Nursing fosters research and advanced nursing education in geriatric care through the Hartford Center of Geriatric Nursing Excellence. The college has been a leader in helping working nurses complete bachelor’s degrees in nursing through Internet-based courses.
The rankings by U.S. News are based on surveys of peers at accredited medical and nursing schools in the U.S. The results appear in the new 2004 edition of the magazine’s special report, “America’s Best Graduate Schools.”