Hospital Medicine Fellowship Research | UAMS Department of Pediatrics

At the start of your first year, you will narrow down your research interest(s) and find a mentor or two. Your Scholarship Oversight Committee will help you identify barriers, find resources, and gain the research experience you came here for! In addition to PHM-specific research didactics, you will also gain basic research knowledge in twice-monthly Pediatric Subspecialty Fellows Conferences. If you are interested in Quality Improvement, our longitudinal, project-drive curriculum Improvement U is available to you at no cost and will match you to a QI leader to guide you through a project as you learn QI methods. UAMS, ACH, and the Arkansas Children’s Research Institute work together to provide biostatistical support to fellows for their scholarly projects.

The PHM section is home to 3 hospitalists who are also fellowship-trained clinical informaticists! This inside track on data access, study design, and data analysis will give you a boost in your scholarly pursuits.

Current & Recent Section Projects

Better Antibiotic Selection in Children (BASiC), VIP Network

High-flow Interventions to Facilitate Less Overuse (HiFLO), VIP Network

Reducing Unnecessary Electrolyte Testing (multicenter)

Multidisciplinary Approach to Patient Throughput (local)

Increasing Influenza Vaccination in Hospitalized Patients (local)

Safe Sleep (local)

Improving Resident Feedback (local)

Recent Publications

PHM faculty/fellow UAMS/ACH trainee at time of publication

Pruitt SE, Filipek J, Williford D, Sanders S, Slagle B, Young H, Snowden J. Fever of Unknown Origin: A Case Report of Hepatic Phlegmon in an Immunocompetent Patient. Cureus. 2024 Apr 28;16(4):e59229. doi: 10.7759/cureus.59229. PMID: 38807821; PMCID: PMC11132835.

Slagle BM, Meece T, Foster C, Campbell A, Tong L, Drake P. Altered Mental Status and Cardiac Failure Due to Thiamine Deficiency in an Overweight Teen. Pediatrics. 2024 Apr 1;153(4):e2022060958. doi: 10.1542/peds.2022-060958. PMID: 38449424.

Jeffries KN, Mundy A, Williford DE, Slagle B, Filipek J, Cantu RM. Impact of Preferred Written Language in Patients Discharged With Bronchiolitis From a Children’s Hospital. Hosp Pediatr. 2024 Mar 1;14(3):e139-e143. doi: 10.1542/hpeds.2023-007241. PMID: 38327219.

Sanders SC, Balamohan A, Smith ES, Taylor MD, Cantu RM. Fournier’s Gangrene: A Rare Infectious Entity in an Adolescent with Type II Diabetes. Glob Pediatr Health. 2022 Oct 27;9:2333794X221128416.

Sanders SC, Taylor MD, Filipek J, Williford D, Nguyen C, Fisher CR, Scheffler SM, Smith ES, Martin P, Latch RL, Snowden J, Wu CL, Cantu RM. Demographic and clinical characteristics of pediatric COVID-19 in Arkansas: March-December 2020. Medicine (Baltimore). 2022 Oct 21;101(42):e31058.

Cox C, Patel K, Cantu R, Akmyradov C, Irby K. Hypokalemia Measurement and Management in Patients With Status Asthmaticus on Continuous Albuterol. Hosp Pediatr. 2022 Feb 1;12(2):198-204. doi: 10.1542/hpeds.2021-006265. PMID: 35018439.

Pugh CP, Latch R. Does resident teaching improve medical students’ national board of medical examiners knowledge and satisfaction with residents as teachers. Educ Health (Abingdon). 2021 May-Aug;34(2):88-89. doi: 10.4103/efh.EfH_63_20. PMID: 34937306.

Kleppe DM, Patel AD, Goodin J, Cardillo AB, Canon S, Latch RL, Ilyas M, Rosenbaum ER. Amoxicillin-Induced Crystalline Nephropathy Presenting as Ureteral Obstruction. Clin Pediatr (Phila). 2020 Jun;59(6):614-617. doi: 10.1177/0009922820912214. Epub 2020 Mar 31. PMID: 32233648.

McCarson KL, Walters CA, Cantu RM. Unusual Cause of Sepsis in a 10-Year-Old Female. Clin Pediatr (Phila). 2020 Oct;59(11):1036-1039. doi: 10.1177/0009922820927020. Epub 2020 May 30. PMID: 32475152.

Coe M, Gruhler H, Schefft M, Williford D, Burger B, Crain E, Mihalek AJ, Santos M, Cotter JM, Trowbridge G, Kessenich J, Nolan M, Tchou MJ. Learning from Each Other: A Multisite Collaborative to Reduce Electrolyte Testing. Pediatr Qual Saf. 2020 Oct 26;5(6):e351. doi: 10.1097/pq9.0000000000000351. PMID: 33134756; PMCID: PMC7591129.

Cantu RM, Gowen MS, Tang X, Mitchell K. Barriers to Breastfeeding in Female Physicians. Breastfeed Med. 2018 Jun;13(5):341-345. doi: 10.1089/bfm.2018.0022. Epub 2018 May 9. PMID: 29741914.

Cantu RM, Pruitt CM, Samuy N, Wu CL. Predictors of emergency department discharge following pediatric drowning. Am J Emerg Med. 2018 Mar;36(3):446-449. doi: 10.1016/j.ajem.2017.08.057. Epub 2017 Sep 4. PMID: 28899637.

Recent Presentations

PHM faculty/fellow UAMS/ACH trainee

Predicting Hospital Length of Stay in Patients with Bronchiolitis Using Machine Learning. Obeid Shafi, Daniel Liu, Rebecca Cantu, McManis M, Baghal A, Yu F, Greer M. AMIA 2024 Clinical Informatics Conference. May 2024; Minneapolis, MN.

Improvement of Discharge Communication for General Pediatrics Hospitalizations. Cindy Nguyen, Dustin Williford, Chara Fisher, Rebecca Cantu. Pediatric Academic Societies Conference; May 2024; Toronto, Canada.

Multidisciplinary Approach to Improving Patient Throughput. Satvika Mikkilineni, Sara Sanders, David Spiro, Justin Criddle, Rebecca Cantu. Oral presentation at Southern Societies for Pediatric Research Southern Regional Meeting; February 2024; New Orleans, LA.

Don’t Just Pump and Dump: Managing Breastfeeding Mothers on Medications and More. Dickinson B, Rebecca Cantu, Debord J. Mini-plenary presentation at Pediatric Hospital Medicine Annual Meeting. July 2022; Orlando, FL.

Procalcitonin: What Is It Good For? Brittany Slagle, Sara Sanders, Rebecca Cantu. Oral presentation at Pediatric Hospital Medicine Annual Meeting. July 2022; Orlando, FL.

OMG the OSH: The Hospitalist’s Role in a Pediatric Transfer Center. Sara Sanders, Kirsten Johnston, Rebecca Cantu. Mini plenary presentation at Pediatric Hospital Medicine Annual Meeting. August 2023; Philadelphia, PA.

Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome: A High Yield Review. Sara Sanders, Brittany Slagle, Rebecca Cantu. at Pediatric Hospital Medicine Annual Meeting. August 2023; Philadelphia, PA.

If I’ve Read One Personal Statement, I’ve Read Them All… Until Now! Varghese S, Sanders R, Fuchs J, Zwemer E, McCarthy P, Rebecca Cantu, Patel S, Lee C. Workshop at Pediatric Hospital Medicine Annual Meeting, August 2023.

Facial Cellulitis leading to Bilateral Cavernous Sinus Thrombosis: A Case Report. Abu-Rmaileh M, Emily (Smith) Barnes, Courtney L. Edgar-Zarate. Poster presentation at Society of Hospital Medicine 2021.

Oh Snap!: A Rare Differential Diagnosis to Non-Accidental Trauma. Stephanie Scheffler, DO; Sara Sanders, MD. Poster Presentation, Pediatric Hospital Medicine Conference. August 2021.

Diagnostic Workup and Admission for Complex Febrile Seizure: Should We Be Doing Less? Katherine Donowitz MD, Rebecca Cantu MD, MPH, Sara Sanders MD, James Gambrell MD, Hollie Edwards MD, Chang L. Wu MD, MSCR, Alexandra Healy MD, Jaya Tripathi MD, Cindy Nguyen MD, Rachel Burch MD, Beverly Spray, PhD, Clifton Lee MD. Research Poster Presentation at Pediatric Hospital Medicine Conference August 2021.

What Did They Take?: Toxidromes and Ingestions in Pediatric Hospital Medicine. Rebecca Cantu Becky Latch. Workshop presentation at Pediatric Hospital Medicine Annual Meeting in Orlando, FL. July 2020.

Don’t Stop Believin’!: Faculty and Fellow Development in the Virtual Age. Webb N, Rebecca Cantu, Cheng L, Clemente M, Shaw R, Varghese S, Lee C. Workshop presentation at Pediatric Hospital Medicine Program Directors’ Conference, Pediatric Hospital Medicine Annual Meeting, July 2020.

Anorexia and anorexia nervosa are not the same thing: A common presentation with an uncommon diagnosis. Linda (Murphy) Yarbrough), Sara Sanders. Conundrum Mini-Platform, Pediatric Hospital Medicine Conference. July 2020.

Bone and Skin Lesions Following Soccer Injury. Cindy Nguyen, Sara Sanders. Conundrum Mini-Platform, Pediatric Hospital Medicine Conference. July 2020.