UAMS’ Omar Atiq, M.D., Named President-Elect of American College of Physicians
| LITTLE ROCK — Omar Atiq, M.D., a medical oncologist specializing in head and neck cancers and cutaneous malignancies at the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), is now president-elect of the American College of Physicians (ACP), the largest medical specialty organization in the United States.
“Dr. Atiq will provide exceptional leadership for the ACP and internal medicine physicians across the country, just as he has done in previous ACP roles on initiatives to address health disparities and other vital issues,” said Susan S. Smyth, M.D., Ph.D., executive vice chancellor of UAMS and dean of the College of Medicine. “Omar embodies the ideals of our profession, and all of us at UAMS are honored to have him as a colleague.”
A professor in the UAMS College of Medicine’s Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, Atiq is the first Arkansan elected to the position. His election was announced Jan. 14, after he was nominated in the fall by the ACP Governance Committee and endorsed by the ACP Board of Regents. His new title will take effect at the conclusion of the organization’s annual business meeting in Chicago on April 30. He will then assume leadership of the organization of internists, which has 161,000 members worldwide, in 2023.
“He is a trail blazer who will inspire the next generation of physicians to excel in our missions,” said Edward Yeh, M.D., chair of the UAMS Department of Internal Medicine and holder of the Nolan Family Distinguished Chair in Internal Medicine.
“Dr. Atiq is an outstanding physician and friend,” said John Dornhoffer, M.D., chairman of the UAMS College of Medicine Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, where Atiq also teaches. “He has been an exemplary leader both at UAMS and for the state of Arkansas. He will be an outstanding president of American College of Physicians, and I am very proud of him.”
The national recognition is the culmination of more than 30 years of service to the American College of Physicians. Among Atiq’s past leadership roles in the organization are chairing its Board of Governors in 2019-2020 and serving on the executive committee of the Board of Regents. He also chaired the ACP’s health and public policy committee in 2020, during which time he co-authored a key policy statement on racism and health. He previously served as governor of the Arkansas chapter.
Atiq received his medical degree from the Khyber Medical College, University of Peshawar, Pakistan, and completed his residency and chief residency in internal medicine at the Edward Hines Jr. Veterans Administration Hospital and Foster G. McGaw Hospital of Loyola University in Chicago. He completed his fellowship training in medical oncology and hematology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.
He is a past president, speaker of the house and chairman of the board of the Arkansas Medical Society.
He made news in 2021 when he erased the outstanding debts of nearly 200 former patients of the cancer treatment center he founded in Pine Bluff.
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.###