The mission of Arkansas Children’s is to champion children by making them better today and healthier tomorrow. Diversity, health equity, and inclusion are core goals of the Pediatric Residency Program at UAMS and Arkansas Children’s. In order to accomplish this, it requires us to look beyond the bedside and find ways to improve children’s health through the world in which they live. Therefore, we commit to helping build a workforce that is both culturally competent and diverse to truly improve outcomes and achieve health equity.
The Department of Pediatrics at UAMS and Arkansas Children’s invites fourth-year medical students from an accredited U.S. or Puerto Rican medical school who identify with a group that is underrepresented in medicine to apply for the Pediatric Visiting Student Elective Scholarship Program. Students who receive this scholarship will be awarded a $2000 stipend to assist with travel costs and housing accommodations during the rotation. Applicants must be in good standing at their institution.
Visiting students are fully integrated into the clinical and educational opportunities during their time with us. This includes, but is not limited to, opportunities to meet with program leadership, faculty and residents for mentoring and discussion of career interests, resident didactic experiences, assignment of a faculty mentor, networking and more. Students chosen for this program are guaranteed a residency interview with our residency program.
Application Process
- Students must be in good standing at their academic institution and must comply with the requirements listed on the UAMS visiting student page.
- Students must complete the visiting student program application at least eight weeks prior to the start of the rotation via the Visiting Student Learning Opportunity website.
- Following completion of the VSLO application, students should email the following information to Dr. Carla Brown, Director of Residency Diversity, Equity and Inclusion:
- Letter of intent describing your interest in UAMS, including specialty and career aspirations, along with your personal history of activity and future plans to address health disparities. Maximum length: 2 pages.
- One letter of recommendation from clinical faculty that comments on your academic performance and potential to excel in residency.
- We define underrepresented in medicine as any racial, ethnic, religious, socioeconomic, or ability status group whose numbers in medicine are not reflective of that group’s population in the United States.
- The application deadline is April 15 for rotations in the following academic year. Rotations can be scheduled from August through January of the academic year.