The Section of Pediatric Cardiology at Arkansas Children’s Hospital is deeply committed to training the next generation of physicians, offering medical students and pediatric residents hands-on clinical experience, dedicated didactic teaching, and mentored research opportunities across every stage of training.
Medical Students
As part of their pediatric clerkship, medical students rotate directly with our faculty in the cardiology outpatient clinic and on the inpatient consult team, gaining exposure to the evaluation and management of children with congenital and acquired heart disease. Students also rotate through our step-down intermediate cardiac ICU, where they experience the care of higher-acuity cardiac patients in a monitored setting.
In addition to clinical rotations, each cohort of third-year medical students participates in Teaching Based Lectures (TBL) dedicated to congenital heart disease. Students examine and hold 3D-printed heart models representing a range of congenital lesions (VSD, truncus arteriosus, D-transposition of the great arteries, tricuspid atresia, tetralogy of Fallot, and TAPVR), allowing them to visualize and physically explore cardiac anatomy in a way that textbooks and diagrams alone cannot provide. This experiential approach helps demystify congenital heart disease and gives students a deeper, more intuitive understanding of the anatomic and physiologic concepts underlying these conditions.
Interested students also have the opportunity to collaborate with cardiology faculty on scholarly research, introducing them to the academic and investigative side of pediatric cardiology.
Residents
Cardiology faculty are actively involved in resident education, covering a wide range of topics during residents’ academic half days, including the recognition and management of congenital and acquired heart disease, interpretation of pediatric EKGs, and the approach to common cardiac complaints seen in general pediatric practice. Residents may also choose Pediatric Cardiology as an elective, rotating through the cardiology consult service, outpatient clinic, step-down cardiac unit, and CVICU, where they work alongside faculty and fellows in the evaluation and management of patients across the full spectrum of pediatric cardiac care.
Residents with a particular interest in cardiology have the opportunity to pursue a longitudinal clinic experience throughout the year, following a cardiologist and gaining in-depth, continuous exposure to the field, including the chance to observe the long-term management of patients with congenital and acquired heart disease over time. Many of our faculty also serve as mentors for resident-led research projects, guiding residents through the process of scholarly inquiry and helping them develop skills in clinical research within pediatric cardiology.