Provider Degrees and Credentials

Last modified: November 7, 2026

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The UAMS Health website must represent our health care providers’ qualifications accurately, and it must do so in a way patients can understand. A long list of degrees and credentials overwhelms patients, particularly those with limited health literacy.

Because a long list of credentials can overpower a name, individuals may choose not to list all earned credentials or honors. For those individuals, they should make sure that they display the credentials that pertain to the job they perform.
National Certification Corporation, Credentials can get complicated, are you displaying your achievements the correct way?

Clear communication improves our patients’ experience of care and their outcomes. For that reason, a provider’s display name includes only the degrees and credentials relevant to the services the provider delivers:

Simplicity: A long list of degrees and credentials can be confusing for patients, especially those unfamiliar with medical terminology. Simplifying this information makes it easier for patients to understand the expertise of their health care provider.
Relevance: Including only the degrees and credentials relevant to the services provided ensures that patients receive the most pertinent information. This approach helps patients make informed decisions about their care.
Accessibility: Health literacy is a significant concern in health care. Streamlining this information makes our content more accessible to all patients, regardless of their health literacy levels.
Focus on Care: Less emphasis on degrees and credentials shifts the focus toward the quality of care and services we provide.

This approach improves patients’ understanding and supports a patient-centered environment.

The UAMS Office of Communications and Marketing sets the following requirements for displaying provider credentials consistently and accurately.

Include only the provider’s regulatory designation in the provider’s display name: the degree, license, or credential that itself authorizes the provider to perform their specific clinical role in the setting where they practice. That authorization comes from Arkansas law, an Arkansas state agency rule, or the body that governs the setting, such as the NCAA for collegiate athletics.

A credential that only qualifies someone to apply for that authorization is not included. When a national certification leads to an Arkansas license, show the license, not the certification. A licensed athletic trainer is AT, not ATC, because someone can hold ATC without being licensed as an athletic trainer in Arkansas.

Do not include any degree or credential that does not pertain to the job the provider performs at UAMS Health.

The options available in the Clinical Degrees and Credentials field are limited to degrees and credentials that authorize a provider to practice their clinical role in Arkansas.

UAMS Web Services adds a degree or credential to the list when it is shown to authorize a provider to perform their specific clinical role at UAMS Health. To request an addition, send UAMS Web Services the degree or credential and the basis for it.

List of Degrees and Credentials

Regulatory Credentials

UAMS Web Services keeps the justification for including each regulatory credential in Provider Degrees and Credentials: Justifications for Inclusion and Exclusion. To ask why a credential is listed or not, contact UAMS Web Services.

Additional Ad Hoc Credentials (Temporarily Included)

ATC — Certified Athletic Trainer (Board of Certification)
OCS — Board-Certified Clinical Specialist in Orthopaedic Physical Therapy (American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties)
M.S. — Master of Science, a postgraduate academic degree

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