FAYETTEVILLE -- A Marshallese physician will be joining the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in a new faculty position examining health disparities.
Sheldon Riklon, one of only two Marshallese physicians to be trained in the United States, according to UAMS, will also see patients at the UAMS North Street Clinic in Fayetteville, which treats Marshallese patients with diabetes. He will be based at the UAMS Northwest Campus.
Approximately 11,000 Marshallese live in Northwest Arkansas, according to UAMS.
Marshallese in Northwest Arkansas "remain chronically underserved when it comes to health care," said Peter Kohler, vice chancellor of UAMS Northwest Campus, in a statement.
Riklon will start Aug. 1 as an associate professor and the first holder of the Distinguished Professorship for Health Disparities at UAMS. He will also be a presenter at a three-day conference beginning today in Fayetteville on Pacific Islander health. The UAMS Center for Pacific Islander Health, created last year, is hosting the event.
Riklon is currently an assistant professor at the John A. Burns School of Medicine at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He received a bachelor's degree and a medical degree from the University of Hawaii. At UAMS, Riklon will earn a salary of $190,000.
Metro on 05/24/2016