Virtual Tour of the Program
Message from the Program Director
Welcome, and thank you for your interest in our Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics Fellowship Program! We are excited to share some information with you about our fellowship, so you can understand the comprehensive, quality training we can provide you in developmental-behavioral pediatrics, here in Arkansas!
The goals of our developmental-behavioral pediatrics fellowship training program here at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and Arkansas Children’s Hospital include the following:
- To provide fellows with exemplary training in the knowledge base needed in order to be competent developmental-behavioral pediatricians, and to train them to share that knowledge with others through teaching
- To train fellows to be active and professional participants in interdisciplinary clinical care, providing quality care to patients that is culturally sensitive and family-centered
- To train fellows in the foundations of research, so that they can be effective researchers themselves and also critically analyze the literature in order to improve their own life-long practice of developmental-behavioral pediatric medicine
- To train fellows in the awareness of the larger community in which they practice, training them to be future leaders in the field of developmental-behavioral pediatrics and champion advocates for children, particularly vulnerable populations
The majority of clinical experience for fellows occurs at the UAMS James L. Dennis Developmental Center, a regional referral center for diagnostic assessments of developmental and behavioral concerns in children from infancy to adolescence. Diagnoses encountered in that clinical setting include (but are not limited to) autism spectrum disorders, attention-deficit / hyperactivity disorder, learning impairments, developmental delays, intellectual disability, and disruptive behaviors. Fellows also spend time in clinics staffed by Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics Fellowship Program faculty at ACH, which include Growth and Development Clinic, Complex Care Clinic, and High-Risk Newborn Follow Up Clinic, along with other subspecialty clinics staffed by associated disciplines such as genetics, pediatric habilitation, neurology, and child / adolescent psychiatry on the campus of ACH.
The Section of Developmental/Behavioral Pediatrics is involved in several community-based programs that allow fellows additional experience. This includes the provision of medical coverage for the Project for Adolescent and Child Evaluation Foster Care Program, the Leadership Education for Children with Neurodevelopmental Disabilities training program, and the outreach clinics across the state at various early intervention day treatment programs for children.
Gradually more time per year is devoted to research throughout the three-year program. Each fellow develops a Scholarship Oversight Committee, consisting of faculty that assist the fellow in developing and implementing a research project, with the goal of presenting this project regionally or nationally and having a manuscript or other ABP-approved scholarly work product for submission by the end of the training.
I really hope that you are interested in applying to the Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics Fellowship Program. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me!
Sincerely,
Jill J. Fussell, M.D.
Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics Fellowship Program Director
Email: FussellJillJ@uams.edu
Cell: 501-231-5695