Dr. Rutvi Patel and Dr. Heather Bartels, ophthalmologists and cataract surgeons, have been hired by McFarland Eye Care in Little Rock.
Patel will provide eye care for patients in Pine Bluff, Hot Springs, Little Rock and Bryant. She received her medical degree from the University of Tennessee Health & Science Center.
Bartels received her medical degree from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock and will be responsible for providing patient care in Pine Bluff, Hot Springs and Little Rock.
Dr. David Pruitt has joined the team of cancer specialists at CHI St. Vincent of Hot Springs, a team that includes nurse practitioners and nurses who are all board-certified. Pruitt is a radiation oncologist who recently served as medical director of radiation oncology and co-research director at St. Joseph’s Mercy Cancer Center in Hot Springs. Pruitt attended the University of Kansas School of Medicine.
Brian Benham was named director of internal operations training and staff development for Arkansas Blue Cross & Blue Shield in Little Rock. He will oversee virtual training and help with the expansion in northwest Arkansas.
Benham has been with the company since 2009. He started as a claims specialist and most recently has worked as a supervisor for internal operations training and staff development.
Dr. Sara Copeland Shalin has been appointed chair of the Department of Dermatology in the UAMS College of Medicine.
Shalin has been with UAMS since 2012 as a faculty member in the Departments of Dermatology and Pathology. Since 2017, she has been the director of UAMS’ M.D./Ph.D. combined degree program. She is a graduate of the M.D./Ph.D. program at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, earning her doctorate in neuroscience in 2006 and her medical degree in 2007.
Dr. Gaurav Dhar has been hired by the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences to serve as director of interventional cardiology. Dhar’s role will be helping to grow the Structural Heart Program, which is part of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine.
Dhar previously was a professor of medicine at Michigan State University, where he was awarded Teacher of the Year three times. Dhar graduated from the Government Medical College of the University of Jammu in India.
See more of this week’s Movers & Shakers, and submit your own announcement at ArkansasBusiness.com/Movers.
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