April 3, 2020

UAMS’s Barnes Becomes President of American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons

By Spencer Watson

The meeting was to be held during the annual American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons conference but was moved online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We have tough issues to face this year, and we’ll do our best to carry on,” Barnes said at the meeting.

Barnes holds the Carl L. Nelson, M.D., Chair in Orthopaedic Surgery. He graduated with honors from the UAMS College of Medicine in 1986 and completed his internship and residency in orthopaedic surgery at UAMS. He completed a fellowship in adult reconstruction surgery and arthritis surgery at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

Barnes lectures nationally and internationally on total joint replacement surgery and has been active in research focusing on the hip and knee. He established HipKnee Arkansas Foundation, a nonprofit research foundation and motion detection laboratory to further study patients with arthritis.

He holds four patents for orthopaedic surgery devices he developed and has designed numerous hip and knee implants. Barnes is also known nationally for his expertise in health care quality, efficiency and new payment structures that were ushered in with health system reform.


UAMS is the state’s only health sciences university, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; 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 including its hospital, regional clinics and clinics it operates or staffs in cooperation with other providers. UAMS is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. U.S. News & World Report named UAMS Medical Center the state’s Best Hospital; ranked its ear, nose and throat program among the top 50 nationwide; and named six areas as high performing — cancer, colon cancer surgery, heart failure, hip replacement, knee replacement and lung cancer surgery. UAMS has 2,727 students, 870 medical residents and five dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 10,000 employees, including 1,200 physicians who provide care to patients at UAMS, its regional campuses, Arkansas Childrens Hospital, the VA Medical Center and Baptist Health. Visit www.uams.edu or www.uamshealth.com. Find us on FacebookTwitterYouTube or Instagram.

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