Benedict Tan Joins UAMS as Director of Neurocritical Care

May 17, 2017 | May 17, 2017 | Benedict Tan, M.D., has joined the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) as director of neurocritical care, treating the most serious brain and spine cases in emergency and intensive care.

Tan is the only neurointensivist in the state. His expertise comes to bear in cases such as stroke; brain hemorrhages; traumatic brain and spine injuries; myasthenia gravis; Guillain-Barre syndrome; meningitis; encephalitis; ventriculitis; neurological assessments in the ICU; and complicated post-operation neurosurgical patients.

“For neurological and neurosurgical patients who are sick enough to be in the ICU, studies have shown that when they are taken care of by a neurocritical care-trained physician, their length of stay and outcomes are always better than traditional treatments,” said Robert L. “Lee” Archer, M.D., professor and interim chairman of the Department of Neurology. “It’s in the best interest for all very sick neuro patients – those with severe strokes or seizures, for example – to have someone like Dr. Tan on their medical team.”

Tan is also an assistant professor of neurology and neurosurgery in the UAMS College of Medicine. In addition to treating patients, he conducts research, trains residents and is working to expand neurocritical care at UAMS with technology upgrades and the addition of neurocritical care staff.

“I am pleased to be joining the faculty at UAMS and look forward to improving the care for what amounts to some of the sickest patients to come into the emergency room or intensive care units,” Tan said. “We can have a big impact on individuals and push the state of critical care in Arkansas that much further ahead.”

Tan earned a medical degree from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. He completed a surgery internship at the University of Vermont in Burlington, Vermont; a neurology residency at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York; and a neurocritical care fellowship at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. He is certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and is a member of the Neurocritical Care Society, serving on the Educational Product Committee.

UAMS is nationally certified by The Joint Commission as an Advanced Primary Stroke Center. UAMS has the only comprehensive stroke treatment team in Arkansas, with one of only three stroke neurologists in the state. The stroke team includes Tan and interventional neuroradiologists, who provide catheter-based treatments of the brain, and vascular neurosurgeons.

The Arkansas SAVES telestroke program links 51 hospitals throughout the state. Arkansas SAVES (Stroke Assistance through Virtual Emergency Support) enables a stroke neurologist to view brain images from a distant location. Neurologists can act quickly to interact with and examine a patient to determine whether the stroke is the type that can be treated by a special clot-busting drug that must be administered within 3 hours from stroke onset.

UAMS is the state’s only health sciences university, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a hospital; a main campus in Little Rock; a Northwest Arkansas regional campus in Fayetteville; a statewide network of regional campuses; and eight institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Psychiatric Research Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, Translational Research Institute, Institute for Digital Health & Innovation and the Institute for Community Health Innovation. UAMS includes UAMS Health, a statewide health system that encompasses all of UAMS’ clinical enterprise. UAMS is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 3,485 students, 915 medical residents and fellows, and seven dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 11,000 employees, including 1,200 physicians who provide care to patients at UAMS, its regional campuses, Arkansas Children’s, the VA Medical Center and Baptist Health. Visit www.uams.edu or uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube or Instagram.

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