This issue of the Arkansas Times’ “Best Doctors” list marks a decade of publishing the names of the state’s top physicians. This year, they are doctors’ choices – a peer review – for the superlative tag “best.” Over the years, the Times has given doctors the ink to criticize the notion that it is possible to name a “best doctor.” The list has been described as a personality contest, or a way for doctors to express thanks to the doctors who taught them. Who’s to say who’s best, they ask. But how else to bring before the public names of doctors who, if not of surpassing genius, are good men and women deserving of praise? This year’s list is the work of Best Doctors Inc., a national company that surveys thousands of doctors both by questionnaire and follow-up phone interviews. It may need some fine-tuning – one emergency physician on the list actually devotes most of her time to drug research – but it’s a safe bet that the names you read here are among the state’s finest physicians. We dug in our own medical records, just for fun, to see which doctors named in the Times’ first Best Doctors issue in 1994 are still on the list after a decade. (We alternate our own polling with the work of Best Doctors Inc.) They are: Dermatologist Rene Bressinck; endocrinologists Phillip Peters and Lawson Glover Jr.; family practitioner Dr. Dan Watson; gastroenterologist Dean Kumpuris; surgeons Hugh Burnett, John Eidt, John C. Jones and Kent Westbrook; geriatrician David Lipschitz; infectious disease specialists Robert Bradsher and Mark Stillwell (Fort Smith), oncologists Joseph Beck, Bill Tranum, Laura Hutchins and Jack Sternberg. And nephrologist Dana Rabideau; neurologist Lee Archer; ob/gyns Stephen Marks, Juan Roman and Jim Tanner; eye doctor Michael McFarland (Pine Bluff); orthopedists Lowry Barnes and Carl Nelson; otolaryngologists Joe Colclasure, Michael Key and James Suen; pediatricians Susan Keathley and Frazier Kennedy; plastic surgeons Robert Lehmberg and Kris Shewmake; and rheumatologists Stephen Holt, Thomas Kovaleski and Eleanor Lipsmeyer. Why only 34 names remain on this year’s list of 221 doctors can most likely be traced to Best Doctors’ methodology, which produced a list dominated by the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and its pediatric division, Arkansas Children’s Hospital. (The 1994 list was created and mailed by the Times to a random sample.) Some doctors, of course, have retired, and this 2004 list points up some younger doctors who are now making their mark. But the staying power of those nominated in both 1994 and 2004 is sure indication of the regard in which their peers hold them. Along with publishing the list, the Times has profiled five doctors. One of them – Kerry Pennington of Warren – won’t be found on the Best Doctors Inc. list. It was the Times’ own search for a busy country doctor that brings him here. Another is Laura James, the Children’s emergency room doctor whose major interest is research on drugs that might be used on children. Frank E. Block, professor of anesthesiology at the UAMS, and surgeon John C. Jones talk about advances that have made it safer to go under the knife. Jay Kincannon, professor of dermatology at UAMS and chair of the dermatology department at Children’s, gets two stories – on his work at Children’s and in the area of medicine he says is sure to explode, laser tattoo removal. Here’s the list for 2004. If no town name appears, the doctor practices in Little Rock. ALLERGY AND IMMUNOLOGY Stacie Jones, Children’s Kevin R. Keller, Fayetteville Diagnostic Clinic ANESTHESIOLOGY Frank E. Block Jr., UAMS John Coffman, St. Edward Mercy Medical Center, Fort Smith James Grady Crosland, Children’s W. Brooks Gentry, UAMS E.F. Klein Jr., Children’s Timothy W. Martin, Children’s Michael L. Schmitz, Children’s Phillip Sloan, St. Edward Mercy Medical Center, Fort Smith. J. Michael Vollers, Children’s CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE Joseph K. Bissett, UAMS Jon P. Lindemann, Heart Clinic of Arkansas COLON AND RECTAL SURGERY J. Ralph Broadwater Jr., UAMS DERMATOLOGY Renie Edward Bressinck, Dermatology Clinic Scott M. Dinehart Jay Kincannon, Children’s EMERGENCY MEDICINE Laura P. James, Children’s Kendall Lane Stanford, Children’s ENDOCRINOLOGY AND METABOLISM Lawson Glover, Little Rock Diagnostic Clinic Stavros C. Manolagas, UAMS Phillip J. Peters, Little Rock Diagnostic Clinic FAMILY MEDICINE William Gary Darwin Harold Hedges Sr. Ralph Farris Joseph Forrest Miller Gordon Parham, Fort Smith William Riley Charles H. Rodgers Steve L. Simpson Steven W. Strode Daniel W. Watson Edwin L. Watson GASTROENTEROLOGY Dean Kumpuris GERIATRIC MEDICINE David A. Lipschitz, Donald W. Reynolds Center on Aging, UAMS HAND SURGERY G. Thomas Frazier Jr., Arkansas Specialty Hand and Upper Extremity Center Peter R. Heinzelmann, Ozarks Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine, Fayetteville Michael Moore, Arkansas Hand Center INFECTIOUS DISEASE Robert W. Bradsher, UAMS John E. Dietrich, Infectious Disease Resource Group Rebecca E. Martin, UAMS Thomas P. Monson, John L. McClellan Memorial Veterans Hospital Mark Lee Stillwell, Sparks Center for Infectious Diseases, Fort Smith INTERNAL MEDICINE (GENERAL) Robert W. Bradsher, UAMS Robert T. Cheek, UAMS Steven A. Edmondson, Fort Smith Internal Medicine Amy J. Fitzgerald, UAMS Robert Howard Hopkins Jr., UAMS Robert Charles Lavender, UAMS Roberta Monson, UAMS James Carey Morse, Physician’s Group Susan Minter Santa Cruz Jack Wagoner Jr., Little Rock Internal Medicine Clinic Paul William Zelnick, Physician’s Group MEDICAL ONCOLOGY AND HEMATOLOGY Bart Barlogie, Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy, UAMS Joseph M. Beck II, Little Rock Cancer Center Tony A. Flippin, Cooper Clinic, Fort Smith Laura Fulper Hutchins, UAMS Jack Sternberg Billy Lynn Tranum, Arkansas Oncology Associates Guido Tricot, Myeloma Transplantation and Research Center, UAMS Sue Tsuda, Conway Hematology and Oncology John D. Wells, Hembree Cancer Center, Fort Smith NEPHROLOGY Thomas Eugene Andreoli, Department of Internal Medicine, UAMS James T. Henry, Renal Care Associates, Fort Smith Robert F. McCrary Jr., Hot Springs Diagnostic Associates Dana Rabideau, Renal Care Associates Robert L. Safirstein, Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System NEUROLOGICAL SURGERY Ossama Al-Mefty, UAMS T. Glenn Pait, UAMS NEUROLOGY Robert Leroy Archer, UAMS Michael Z. Chesser, Neuroscience Associates Mary Louise Powell Corbitt, Arkansas Headache Clinic Sami I. Harik, UAMS Coburn S. Howell, Neurology Associates Dennis D. Lucy, UAMS Sarkis M. Nazarian, John L. McClellan Memorial Veterans Hospital, Department of Neurology Stacy A. Rudnicki, UAMS James W. Schmidley, UAMS NEUROLOGY, CHILD May Louyse Griebel, Children’s Bernadette Lange, Children’s Gregory B. Sharp, Children’s NUCLEAR MEDICINE Charles Marion Boyd, Radiology Consultants Gary L. Purnell, UAMS David W. Weiss, Radiology Consultants of Little Rock OBSTETRICS AND GYNECOLOGY Janet Cathey, Little Rock Gynecology Associates Andrew A. Cole, Conway OB/Gyn Clinic Cynthia Neal Frazier, A Clinic For Women Randall Dee Hightower, Northside Specialty Clinic, Fayetteville Helen H. Kay Sharon C. Keith, A Clinic for Women Karen Jean Kozlowski, Little Rock Gynecology Stephen Ray Marks, North Little Rock Charles E. Phillips, Central Clinic for Women E. Albert Reece, UAMS Juan Roman, UAMS James A. Tanner, Arkansas Women’s Center Paul J. Wendel, UAMS OPHTHALMOLOGY Michael S. McFarland, McFarland Eye Centers, Pine Bluff ORTHOPAEDIC SURGERY Nils Axelsen, River Valley Musculoskeletal Center, Fort Smith C. Lowry Barnes, Arkansas Specialty Orthopaedics James Buie, River Valley Musculoskeletal Center, Fort Smith Greg T. Jones, River Valley Musculoskeletal Center James Walter Long, River Valley Musculoskeletal, Fort Smith Richard E. McCarthy, Arkansas Spine Center Carl L. Nelson Jr., UAMS Richard W. Nicholas Jr., UAMS David W. Sudbrink, The Surgery Center, Fort Smith Ruth Thomas, UAMS, John L. Vander Schilden, UAMS OTOLARYNGOLOGY Jeffrey Barber, Arkansas Otolaryngology Center Charles Michael Bower, Children’s Joe Colclasure, Arkansas Otolaryngology Center John Roddey Edwards Dickins, Arkansas Otolaryngology Center John L. Dornhoffer, UAMS Ehab Y. N. Hanna, UAMS J. Michael Key, UAMS Barbara Morris, Arkansas Otolaryngology Center Michael Reese, Northwest Arkansas Ear, Nose and Throat Clinic, Rogers Scott J. Stern, Arkansas Otolaryngology Center James Y. Suen, UAMS Milton Waner, Children’s PATHOLOGY Laura W. Lamps, UAMS Don I. Scott, Arkansas Pathology Associates PEDIATRIC SPECIALIST Kanwaljeet S. Anand, Children’s, critical care medicine Robert W. Arrington, Children’s, neonatology John Lee Carroll, Children’s, pulmonology Toni Darville, Children’s, infectious disease Richard Thomas Fiser, Children’s, cardiology Elizabeth Frazier, Children’s, cardiology Richard F. Jacobs, Children’s, infectious disease Laura P. James, Children’s, clinical pharmacology and toxicology Stephen Frank Kemp, Children’s, endocrinology W. Robert Morrow, Children’s, cardiology M. Michele Moss, Children’s, cardiology Maria G. Portilla, Children’s Stephen M. Schexnayder, Children’s, pediatrics and internal medicine Eldon Gerald Schulz, Children’s, developmental pediatrics Gordon E. Schutze, Children’s, infectious disease Maryelle G. Vonlanthen, Children’s Robert Warren, Children’s, pulmonology J. Gary Wheeler, Children’s PEDIATRICS (GENERAL) Richard R. Aclin, UAMS, Fort Smith Ronald L. Baldwin, Children’s Charles S. Ball, Northwest Arkansas Pediatric Clinic, Fayetteville Debra D. Becton, Children’s Hannah Beene-Lowder, Cooper Clinic, Fort Smith Vincent Calderon Jr., The Family Clinic Ronald Craig Davis, The Children’s Clinic, Hope Federico C. DeMiranda, Waldron Place Pediatric Clinic, Fort Smith Joseph Elser, Children’s Charles Robert Field, Community Pediatrics Jon R. Hendrickson, Kid’s Health, Fort Smith Ralph Wayne Herbert, Little Rock Children’s Clinic Charles David Jackson, Northwest Arkansas Pediatric Clinic, Fayetteville Susan A. Keathley, Little Rock Children’s Clinic Huber Frazier Kennedy, Arkansas Pediatric Clinic Carl Wesley Kluck Jr., Arkadelphia Clinic for Children and Young Adults R. Alan Lucas, Arkansas Pediatrics of Conway James S. Magee, Arkansas Pediatrics of Conway Paula Morris, Children’s, Department of Pediatric Rheumatology Eduardo Ochoa, Children’s Terry S. Payton, Northwest Arkansas Pediatric Clinic, Fayetteville Joe T. Robinson, Northwest Arkansas Pediatric Clinic, Fayetteville Larry Simmons, Children’s, Department of General Pediatrics Warren A. Skaug, Children’s Clinic, Jonesboro Christopher E. Smith, Children’s David Lawrence Smith, Northwest Arkansas Pediatric Clinic, Fayetteville Kendall Lane Stanford, Children’s, Emergency Department PHYSICAL MEDICINE AND REHABILITATION Kevin M. Means, UAMS PLASTIC SURGERY R. Cole Goodman, Plastic, Reconstructive and Cosmetic Surgery, Fort Smith Robert W. Lehmberg Kristopher B. Shewmake, Arkansas Plastic Surgery James C. Yuen, UAMS PSYCHIATRY C. Winston Brown, UAMS James A. Clardy, UAMS Thomas Stuart Harris G. Richard Smith, UAMS PULMONARY AND CRITICAL CARE MEDICINE David R. Nichols, Sparks Medical Foundation, Fort Smith RADIATION ONCOLOGY Cynthia S. Ross, Carti Baptist Michael Talbert, Carti Baptist Radiology Edgardo J. Chua Angtuaco, UAMS Teresita L. Angtuaco, UAMS Ernest J. Ferris, UAMS Steven E. Harms, Breast Center of Northwest Arkansas, Fayetteville Charles Albert James, Children’s W. Jean Matchett, UAMS Timothy C. McCowan, UAMS Laura Moore-Farrell, Sparks Regional Medical Center, Fort Smith Terrence A. Oddson, Radiology Associates Joanna M.J. Seibert, Children’s Hemendra Shah, UAMS RHEUMATOLOGY P. Ross Bandy, Hot Springs Robert M. Brewer, Little Rock Diagnostic Clinic Thomas R. Dykman, Fayetteville Diagnostic Clinic Stephen Dacosta Holt, Little Rock Diagnostic Clinic Richard W. Houk, Little Rock Diagnostic Clinic Hugo E. Jasin, UAMS Thomas M. Kovaleski, Physician’s Group Eleanor Lipsmeyer, UAMS James W. Logan, Heritage Physician Group, Hot Springs Cummins Lue, Little Rock Diagnostic Clinic Anne Miller, Arthritis Associates of Northwest Arkansas, Springdale Michael R. Saitta, Arthritis Center of the Ozarks, Fayetteville Laura B. Trigg, Little Rock Diagnostic Clinic SLEEP MEDICINE May Louyse Griebel, Children’s, Department of Pediatric Neurology SURGERY Gary W. Barone, UAMS Hugh F. Burnett, Surgical Clinic of Central Arkansas John B. Cone, UAMS John F. Eidt, UAMS James E. Hagans III, Surgical Clinic of Central Arkansas Richard J. Jackson, Children’s John C. Jones, Surgical Clinic of Central Arkansas Nicholas P. Lang, Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System Samuel D. Smith, Children’s Charles W. Wagner, UAMS SURGICAL ONCOLOGY J. Ralph Broadwater Jr., UAMS Michael J. Edwards, UAMS James E. Hagans III, Surgical Clinic of Central Arkansas V. Suzanne Klimberg, UAMS, Women’s Oncology Nicholas P. Lang, Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System Richard W. Nicholas Jr., UAMS Kent C. Westbrook, UAMS THORACIC SURGERY Hugh F. Burnett, Surgical Clinic of Central Arkansas Jonathan James Drummond-Webb, Children’s Robert C. Jaggers, Fort Smith Paul Michael Seib, Children’s H. Gareth Tobler, UAMS UROLOGY Alex E. Finkbeiner, UAMS John F. Redman, Children’s This list is excerpted from The Best Doctors in America@ database, which includes approximately 30,000 doctors in more than 40 medical specialties. For more information, visit www.bestdoctors.com or call Best Doctors Inc. at 800-675-1199, ext. 302) or by email (info@bestdoctors.com). Best Doctors Inc. has used its best efforts in assembling material for the list, but does not warrant that the information is complete or accurate and does not assume any liability for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions. The information is copyrighted by Best Doctors Inc. The list may not be reproduced in any form without permission “Best Doctors,” “The Best Doctors in America,” and the Best Doctors logo are registered trademarks of Best Doctors Inc.

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