His love for learning led Dr. Rodgers to take
on the position of chief medical officer for the
Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care. After first
serving on the AFMC Board, he began as CMO in
2015 and has enjoyed being part of the team.
“This diverse team of professionals has taught me
a lot. They are committed to quality, and there is
a real science to the process,” said Dr. Rodgers. “I
enjoy seeing patients in the exam room, but to
contribute to larger health care improvements,
I needed to get out of the exam room. I love the
work that we’re doing at AFMC. It’s about constantly
improving, it’s intellectually stimulating,
and it also involves creative thinking.”
At AFMC, Dr. Rodgers has enjoyed being involved
in various quality improvement projects
related to Arkansas Medicaid. “When I first came
on, we were finishing up an Alcohol Use Disorder
(AUD) project,” he recalled. “Doing pediatrics,
I had stored my adult medicine away, but due
to aging parents and my work at AFMC, I had to
freshen up on my adult medicine knowledge. I often
have to call my colleagues in various specialties
to ask, ‘This is the standard of medicine now?
Really cool. Okay, we’ll work on it.’”
Most rewarding to him thus far has been
AFMC’s work on Long Acting Reversible Contraception
(LARC). “Women who complete college
before child bearing are more successful financially
and able to provide better care for themselves
and their children,” he said. “It can break
a cycle of poverty for many people. Giving young
women and men starting college the information
they needed to postpone child bearing until they
were ready was very rewarding to me.
“I obviously love kids, and moms are incredibly
important to their well-being. We most
recently worked on the Maternal Morbidity and
Mortality project to help educate health care providers
and first responders about signs to watch
for and ask about after pregnancy. This included
some educational materials for new moms about
what to watch for, when to call their doctor, and
when to go to the hospital.”
A Product of Many Mentors
From the physicians he met as a young man
to the colleagues that surround him today as he
advocates for medicine, Dr. Rodgers has learned
from many mentors throughout his life. “My dad
was obviously influential, and family doctors
like Mike Moody, Joe Stallings, Bill Dedman, and
many others encouraged me and were very supportive.
In the pediatric world, Gordon Schutze,
Stacie Jones, Richard Jacobs, Mary Aitken, Tony
Johnson, Gary Wheeler, Betty Lowe, too many to
name ... all were great influences and always full
of encouragement.”
These and other influences helped steer Dr.
Rodgers to the Arkansas Medical Society and to
organized medicine in general. “My father taught
me early on, ‘if you’re not at the table, you are on
the menu.’ I was also hyperaware of the time my
dad spent at the Capitol with AMS advocating for
health care and patients. He obviously loved it,
but it was also a great sacrifice that meant time
away from his practice – and the monetary loss
that comes with that – and time away from his
family. It was what he showed me growing up
that made me want to be a member of a greater
good.
“I joined AMS as a medical student in 1995
and have served in some capacity ever since. I
also worked with Carla Coleman at the Arkansas
chapter of the American Academy of Family
Physicians during the summers from age 12 to
age 22. I did some ‘nuts and bolts’ work helping
her get ready for an annual meeting, but it also
gave me a lot of exposure to organized medicine.
I learned so much and developed a great
appreciation for doctors who stepped up and
took leadership roles as thought leaders, problem
solvers, compassionate doctors, and just
great humans. All of them made sacrifices just
to show up and be present. Who wouldn’t want
to be a part of that?”
He’s been a successful part of organized
medicine in his own right, according to his
colleagues. “Chad is one of the most selfless
persons I’ve known,” said Dr. Wheeler, who
has worked alongside Rodgers in organized
medicine outlets such as AMS, AAP, and AFMC.
“I enjoy seeing patients in the
exam room, but to contribute to
larger health care improvements,
I needed to get out of the exam
room. I love the work that
we’re doing at AFMC. It’s about
constantly improving, it’s
intellectually stimulating, and it
also involves creative thinking.”
– Dr. Chad Rodgers
“Whether it is for his patients, for an advocacy
issue, for a political candidate, or for a friend, he
gives until there is nothing left.”
James Hunt, MD, first witnessed Dr. Rodgers
at work while Rodgers was serving as chief resident
of pediatrics at Arkansas Children’s Hospital.
Hunt was a medical student at the time and
recalls, “Even in the crush and attendant fatigue
of hectic clinical schedules and patient care,
managing resident assignments, and shepherding
wide-eyed and worried medical students,
Chad seemed to be having fun. That simple sign
in Chad’s presence was powerful and calming
for everyone around him.”
Years later, Dr. Hunt has been pleased to
keep up with Dr. Rodgers’ career thus far. “I’m
not known as an excitable type, but I’m near
giddy that he’s our AMS president,” he said. “A
subtle brilliance of Chad is that he early on recognized
the value of using his growing community
involvement and his medical expertise to
improve health education and health wellness
among Arkansas’s kids—and then invested himself
in growing that value at multiple levels of
need including social and legislative.”
Committed to Organize Medicine
Dr. Rodgers gets nostalgic and a bit sad at
times thinking about organized medicine of the
past and how it compares with today. “In the old
days, there was more camaraderie,” he said. “I
saw those doctors work hard, but they also had
a lot of fun and enjoyed the social events, dinners,
and dancing. We have lost that a little bit.”
Nostalgia aside, Dr. Rodgers feels nothing
but praise for the Society, which has been a professional
home for him. “When there are things
I want to work on, talk about, and think about,
I look to the Society. We have an incredible staff
who do not get recognized enough for the work
Volume 117 • Number 1 JULY 2020 • 7