Joining the UAMS faculty in July 2009, Paula M. Podrazik, MD, FACP, is a Professor of Medicine in the UAMS Department of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine. Dr. Podrazik is the founding and current Program Director of the Baptist Health-UAMS Internal Medicine (IM) Residency Program with an inaugural residency class matriculated in July, 2019. The BH-UAMS IM Residency Program is the first residency program in the 11 hospital, Baptist Health System. The program, now the first of many, was born with the collaboration of an educational consortium between Baptist Health and UAMS leadership to increase the number of physician’s trained in Arkansas and expand patient care to the Baptist Health system through Graduate Medical Education (GME). An expanded outpatient clinical experience on the Baptist Health Medical Center (BHMC), North Little Rock campus, now boasts a new 28 bed outpatient clinic. Dr. Podrazik serves as the Medical Director. Although the BH-UAMS IM residency program is in its infancy, it has 24 distinct adult medicine rotations to provide a rich, dense educational training experience to the 36 residents in this 3- year, categorical training program. With an emphasis on patient safety, scholarship and improving quality outcomes, Dr. Podrazik has a Lean Six Sigma curriculum integrated into the BH-UAMS IM residency program training. The resident QI projects completed are part of the administrative hospital, and outpatient quality agendas, integrating the IM residents into the fabric of the quality work in improving patient care at the BHMC in North Little Rock.

A native of Chicago, Dr. Podrazik is a graduate of the Honors Program in Medical Education at Northwestern University Medical School and completed her combined residency in Internal Medicine and Emergency Medicine at the McGraw Medical Center of Northwestern University. After a ten year career in academic emergency medicine, as a clinician- teacher and Associate EM Residency Director on the East Coast, Dr. Podrazik returned to Chicago to complete a fellowship in geriatrics at the McGraw Medical Center of Northwestern University. For a decade prior to coming to UAMS, Dr. Podrazik was faculty at the University of Chicago, in the Section of Geriatrics in a number of key roles including: outpatient clinic, Medical Director, Director of Education, and the Program Director and subsequent Principal Investigator of the University of Chicago's nationally recognized Reynolds Foundation granted project, 'The Curriculum for the Hospitalized Aging Medical Patient (CHAMP).' A gifted teacher, Dr. Podrazik has received a number of teaching awards including the 'Clinical Excellence and Teaching Award' from the Department of Medicine at the University of Chicago in 2008 and the 2012 UAMS GME Resident Educator Award. Dr. Podrazik served as the UAMS Program Director for the Geriatrics Fellowship from 2009-2017 and was the primary mentor for the UAMS Reynolds Department of Geriatrics' first Geriatric Academic Career Award (GACA) junior faculty recipient. Her national teaching expertise included taking her CHAMP workshop to medical schools in Texas and the Carolinas. She is published on aspects of improving the quality of clinical care given the hospitalized aging medical patient through educational interventions. Her interest remains in curriculum and faculty development and addressing the process and improvement of teaching clinical skills, especially in medically complex and often aging patients, in the complex systems of the fast-paced hospital environment. Dr. Podrazik remains actively involved in teaching medical students and residents. Dr. Podrazik has served on several national committees including the American Geriatrics Society's Health Care Systems Committee and the American Board of Internal Medicine's focused-recognition in Hospital Medicine Design Task Force as the expert in Geriatrics education and clinical skills.

Dr. Podrazik is Board Certified in Internal Medicine, Geriatrics and Hospice & Palliative Medicine. She sees patients in the Baptist Health Internal Medicine clinic on the North Little Rock Campus.

American Geriatrics Society
American College of Physicians
Academic Alliance of Internal Medicine

IM Outpatient Resident Continuity Clinic

Program Director, Baptist Health –UAMS Internal Medicine Residency, Baptist Health-UAMS consortium, Little Rock, AR
1/2018-present

Medical Director, Internal Medicine Clinic, Baptist Health Medical Center,North Little Rock, AR
11/2018-present

Arkansas Medicaid Drug Utilization Review Appointed Voting Board Member
7/2019-present

As the Program Director for the new BH-UAMS IM Residency Program, my duties have included the creation of 24 distinct IM in a new Hospital System—Baptist Health Medical Center in North Little Rock. These rotations with Goals & Objectives, Evaluations and Faculty Development (Faculty as Teachers & ACGME Next Accreditation Rules and Policies including Duty Hours, Supervision, competencies –based Evaluation) to 50+ new faculty in a wide variety of specialties. The specific rotations created in this system include: inpatient rotations— MICU, CCU, ID , general medicine wards, GI, Pulmonary and Night Float. The outpatient continuity clinic and office –based clinic experiences created include all the specialties of adult medicine: Cardiology, Nephrology, Rheumatology, GI, Hematology/Oncology, Pulmonary, Endocrine, Geriatrics w/ Rehab Medicine & Post-Acute Care Medicine, Hospice & Palliative Medicine. Other rotations built include office –based Orthopedics, Dermatology, Ophthalmology, and Gynecology. Special programs include a variety of SIMS on history taking, physical exam, US guided procedure course, code scenarios.

Special workshops I also created are in Communications Skills & Wellness/Positive Psychology for our annual Intern Retreat & a Handoffs workshop. In addition, I have been the lead in the BH-UAMS IM Resident QI Project Program using Lean Six Sigma Methodology, linked to Baptist Health Administration and data for analysis for the PGY-1 team QI projects. The Baptist Health system-wide Research and QI Symposium Day this May, 2021 had 8 of the 10 presentations done by the BH-UAMS IM Residents. This was the inaugural year for the symposium.

My duties have also included the creation of a comprehensive noon didactic schedule with a 12 month board review program, Grand Rounds, Hospitalist Noon Report format (in addition to Resident Morning Report on the wards), 18 month organ-based clinical curriculum, and Journal Club and M&M format. Other special curriculum include residents as teachers and managers and a communications curriculum.

I teach board review, the clinical organ-based curriculum, workshops, and orientation materials with my core faculty.
I have created a resident advisor system for the residents with a detailed handout –filled out biannually for the biannual resident reviews.

I have spearheaded the BH-UAMS IM Resident QI curriculum and am currently a lead in the BH-UAMS IM Resident QI Project Program using Lean Six Sigma Methodology, linked to Baptist Health administration annual inpatient & outpatient outcomes goals with data for analysis on resident-supported QI projects that commence in the PGY-1 year of the IM resident program on the BHMC, NLR campus. The Baptist Health system-wide Research and QI Symposium Day this May, 2021 had 8 of the 10 presentations done by the BH-UAMS IM Residents. This was the inaugural year for the symposium.


Currently, I am working with a team of PGY-1s to complete a QI project using Lean Six Sigma methodology and BH hospital data reviewing readmission rates in dialysis patients with a plan for improvement. I am also finishing with a team of PGY-2s a Lean Six Sigma project on Deep Pressure Injury in ICU patients at Baptist Health Medical Center in NLR. The completion of the project in June, 2021 will give Lean Six Sigma Green Belt status to myself and my IM residents. These two projects are planned for poster presentation and publication when completed.

Past Funding:
1. Principal Investigator— Grant from the UAMS Office of Interprofessional Education Small Grant Project. Geriatrics-Focused Interprofessional (G-FIT) in the Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH)
Budget Year—1/2017-12/31/2017--$10,900.00

2. Co-PI-- Grant from the Medical Education Foundation for the Arkansas for support of senior medical student geriatric clerkship educational innovations.
Budget Year -5/1/2016- 12/31/2016--$1,000.00

3. Principal Investigator--Grant from the Medical Education Foundation for the Arkansas for support of senior medical student geriatric clerkship educational innovations.
Budget Year 5/12/12-12/31/12---$1,900.00.

4. Principal Investigator on 4 collaborative agreements with 2009 awardees of the D.W. Reynolds Aging and Quality of Life 2009 Next Steps Grants for technical assistance/consultation/program development using the University of Chicago’s Curriculum for the Hospitalized Aging Medical Patient (CHAMP) program models experience for faculty development and educational materials development. (Grant transfer to University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in 2009). Grant supported effort between 20-25% total time from 2009-20012 for the 4 school collaborations. Projects listed by school.

a. ARIA Project 36779
Curriculum for the Hospitalized Aging Medical Patient (CHAMP) - University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Budget Year 1: 7/01/09 -12/31/09 Total Costs: $8,807
Budget Year 2: 1/01/10 -12/31/10 Total Costs: $8,809
Budget Year 3: 1/01/11 -12/31/11 Total Costs: $9,000
Budget Year 4: 1/01/12 -12/31/12 Total Costs: $9,000

b. ARIA Project 36780
Curriculum for the Hospitalized Aging Medical Patient (CHAMP) - University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey
Budget Year 1: 7/01/09 -12/31/09 Total Costs: $7,751.30
Budget Year 2: 1/01/10 -12/31/10 Total Costs: $14,033
Budget Year 3: 1/01/11 -12/31/11 Total Costs: $14,454
Budget Year 4: 1/01/12 -12/31/12 Total Costs: $14,888

c. ARIA Project 36781
Curriculum for the Hospitalized Aging Medical Patient (CHAMP) - Wake Forest University School of Medicine
Budget Year 1: 7/01/09 -12/31/09 Total Costs: $14,849
Budget Year 2: 1/01/10 -12/31/10 Total Costs: $5,000
Budget Year 3: 1/01/11 -12/31/11 Total Costs: $5,000
Budget Year 4: 1/01/12 -12/31/12 Total Costs: $5,000