The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Medicine appointed Shashank Kraleti, M.D., as chair of the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, effective July 1.
Kraleti will also hold the Dr. Algernon Sidney Garnett Chair in Family Medicine.
“Dr. Kraleti has served in numerous leadership roles since completing his residency training at UAMS and joining the faculty in 2012,” said G. Richard Smith, M.D., interim College of Medicine dean and executive vice chancellor of UAMS. “He has gained national recognition for his outstanding work to enhance the Little Rock Family Medicine Residency Program. He is highly respected by residents and faculty colleagues for his clinical skills and for the passion he brings to training outstanding family physicians.”
Kraleti has served as director of the department’s family residency program since 2016 and previously held other leadership roles in the program. He assumed the role of clinical informaticist in 2019. Since May 2022, he also has served as director of primary care services, a position he will continue to hold.
“I am excited for the opportunity to continue to serve and lead my family medicine and UAMS family that I have been a part of for more than a decade,” Kraleti said. “I look forward to working towards our vision of improving the health of Arkansans by providing relationship-centered and equitable care, while training the best and brightest family physicians, and conducting pioneering research in primary care.”
He has received many honors at UAMS and the national level. Kraleti was invested as the Jack W. Kennedy Chair in Family and Preventive Medicine at UAMS in 2013. He received the College of Medicine Residency Educator-Program Director Award in 2019. Recent national honors include the 2023 Parker J. Palmer Courage to Teach Award from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and the Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors Program Director Silver Recognition, also this year.
Kraleti succeeds Richard Turnage, M.D., vice chancellor of Regional Campuses, who has served as interim chair since July 2020.
Kraleti earned his medical degree at Andhra Medical College in Visakhapatnam, India, in 2005. He came to UAMS for his family medicine residency in 2009 and served as chief resident in his final year of training. He completed the National Institute for Program Director Development Fellowship in 2013-2014 and more recently completed a practice pathway Clinical Informatics Fellowship at UAMS in 2022. He also completed the Association of Departments of Family Medicine (ADFM) Leadership Education for Academic Development and Success (LEADS) fellowship in 2023.
He has been a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians (FAAFP) since 2017. He is active in several other national professional organizations, including the Society of Teachers in Family Medicine, for which he serves on the Family and Behavioral Health Collaborative and the Global Health Educators Collaborative. He is a board member of the Arkansas Academy of Family Physicians.
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 seven 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 and Institute for Digital 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 3,240 students, 913 medical residents and fellows, and five 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.
About The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS):
The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) was founded in 1879 by Dr. P. O. Hooper and seven of his fellow doctors as the Medical Department of Arkansas Industrial University. The medical school continued to grow into the 20th Century and moved across Little Rock to keep up with enrollment.
In 1951 Governor Sid McMath funded the construction of a new medical school campus and hospital on a 26-acre site on the western edge of Little Rock. UAMS moved into the new buildings in 1956. As Little Rock grew over the next 65 years, UAMS expanded from a small medical school with a charity hospital into an award-winning academic institution and research center.
In addition to its next-generation hospital and outpatient center on the now 84-acre campus, UAMS is home to the Colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions, Public Health, and a graduate school. But UAMS is much more than its central campus, the university runs clinics in all 75 counties in the state, eight regional family medical centers, eight Centers on Aging, and one of the most successful Head Start Programs in the nation.
UAMS is more than a hospital, it is more than a university and it is more than cutting-edge research. We are a health system — one that serves all of the state — and demonstrates our commitment to providing quality health care to all Arkansans.
Chancellor Cam Patterson, M.D., MBA
UAMS Health includes the UAMS Medical Center, Neighborhood Clinics, orthopaedic clinics, women’s clinics, the Family Medical Centers at UAMS regional sites, digital health clinics, and the affiliated clinics that UAMS operates in conjunction with other health care providers.
About Shashank S. Kraleti, M.D.:
Dr. Kraleti became the Residency Program Director in May 2016. He holds the Jack W. Kennedy Chair in Family and Preventive Medicine, is a graduate of the AFMRD National Institute for Program Director Development, and is also a CME Medical Director. In 2016, he received a New Faculty Scholar Award from the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine. In addition to his published research articles, Dr. Kraleti has had papers accepted for presentations in national arenas such as the North American Primary Care Research Group, STFM, and the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development in Canada. He has appeared on Little Rock television several times to discuss topics such as heat-related illnesses and adult immunizations and is the author of a newspaper column on health issues. Dr. Kraleti leads a procedural half-day clinic and frequently teaches procedures to residents and medical students. His clinical interests include hypertension, diabetes, preventive care, behavioral medicine, research, and procedures. Prior to joining the faculty in 2012 at the rank of assistant professor, Dr. Kraleti was chief resident in our program and was fundamental in implementing the night float system in the department. He was also the recipient of the STAR Professionalism Award and the AAFP Scholarship Award. When he is away from work, he serves as the President of the Global Illumine Corporation, a non-profit charitable organization that transforms lives and communities by supporting the education of the young and needful. Dr. Kraleti enjoys listening to music, watching movies, traveling, and swimming.