UAMS Names New Northwest Arkansas Family Medicine Resident Physicians and Sports Medicine Fellow

By David Wise

| FAYETTEVILLE – The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) announced the names of the nine new family medicine resident physicians and one new sports medicine fellow who will begin practicing medicine in Northwest Arkansas in June.

The new residents are:

  • Christopher Aponte, M.D. – Hometown: Phoenix, Ariz.
  • Fabian Latorre, Jr., M.D. – Hometown: Dallas, Texas
  • Ashley Lentine, M.D. – Hometown, Phoenix, Ariz.
  • Falen Miles, M.D. – Hometown: Wellington, Fla.
  • Takwi Muma, M.D. – Hometown: Dearborn Heights, Mich.
  • Alan Padilla Ramos, M.D. – Hometown: Heber, Calif.
  • Christina Richardson, M.D. – Hometown: Baton Rouge, La.
  • Natalie Rodriguez, M.D. – Hometown: Hull, Texas
  • Max Snow, M.D. – Hometown: Santa Maria, Calif.

The new sports medicine fellow is:

  • Christopher Trinh, D.O. – Hometown: Fort Worth, Texas

The new residents are part of the UAMS family medicine residency program in Northwest Arkansas, which UAMS founded in 1975. In addition to the UAMS family medicine clinics in Fayetteville and Springdale, family medicine residents work and train at Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville and Northwest Health System in Springdale.

“Providing quality health care for the people of Northwest Arkansas is our No. 1 goal,” said Linda McGhee, M.D., director of the family medicine residency program and associate professor in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine at the UAMS Northwest Regional Campus. “We warmly welcome these outstanding physicians to our family residency and sports medicine fellowship programs in Northwest Arkansas.”

The sports medicine fellowship was created in 2015 on the Northwest Regional Campus as an addition to its family medicine residency. The one-year fellowship includes training at Advanced Orthopaedic Specialists (AOS), Physicians Specialty Hospital and with the University of Arkansas Razorbacks sports program. The program is directed by Ramon Ylanan, M.D., of AOS, who is also a team physician for the University of Arkansas Razorbacks.

Trinh will graduate from the University of Oklahoma Family Medicine Residency program in June 2019, at which time he begins his sports medicine residency training at UAMS. He is the fifth sports medicine fellow to go through the program. Three of the previous fellows are team physicians at the University of South Carolina, Southeastern Louisiana University and the University of Arkansas. The fourth, who graduates in June, will be working with Abrazo Community Health Network in Phoenix, Ariz., which provides team physician coverage for the Arizona Cardinals and the Arizona Diamondbacks, as well as spring training coverage of the Seattle Mariners, Cleveland Indians and Chicago Cubs.

“I feel fortunate to be part of the first fellowship program of its kind in Arkansas,” said Ylanan. “This program would not be the successful program it is if it wasn’t for the support and partnership of UAMS, Advanced Orthopaedic Specialists, Physicians Specialty Hospital and Razorback Athletics.”

Seventy-five percent of the health care providers in Northwest Arkansas were trained at UAMS, and almost 270 family medicine physicians have completed their residency through this program.

“Since 1975, the UAMS family medicine residency program in Northwest Arkansas has been training family medicine physicians for the people of Arkansas,” said Sterling Moore, vice chancellor for UAMS Regional Campuses. “We know that those who complete their training here are more likely to stay and work here. In fact, UAMS ranks third in the nation for retaining the health care providers we train.”

“Training the next generation of health care providers in Northwest Arkansas is a vital part of our strategy to provide a better state of health to our region, our state and the world,” said Pearl McElfish, Ph.D., vice chancellor for the UAMS Northwest Campus. “We care excited to welcome these talented physicians to the UAMS family.”

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 3,275 students, 890 medical residents and fellows, and five dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 12,000 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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