The combined sections of Developmental/Behavioral Pediatrics and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation within the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Medicine share a mission of advocacy and service for children and families with special health care needs. Our clinicians specialize in diagnosis and consultative guidance to help children and families affected by developmental impairments reach their full potential.

Faculty and staff from the Section of Developmental/Behavioral Pediatrics work at the James L. Dennis Developmental Center (DDC), a regional referral source for diagnostic assessments of developmental and behavioral concerns in children from infancy to adolescence. These specialists include developmental/behavioral pediatricians, pediatric nurse practitioners, clinical social workers, and speech/language pathologists. They often work with clinicians from the Section of Pediatric Psychology to provide multidisciplinary consultations to families, primary care providers, schools, and therapists. 

In addition to the DDC clinics, faculty from the Section of Developmental/Behavioral Pediatrics staff two clinics at Arkansas Children’s Hospital (ACH) in the Sturgis Outpatient Clinic area. The Growth and Development Clinic is a multidisciplinary clinic focused on problems such as failure to thrive, feeding disorders, multisystem-involved preschoolers, and other developmental delays within the first three years of life. The High-Risk Newborn Follow-up Clinic provides developmental consultations to “graduates” of ACH, UAMS, and other neonatal intensive care facilities.

Developmental/Behavioral Pediatrics section members attend developmental outreach clinics at various developmental day treatment center (DDTCS) locations around the state each year. They also provide medical coverage for the Project for Adolescent and Child Evaluation (PACE) Foster Care Program. This is a collaborative program between the Division of Children and Family Services of the Arkansas Department of Human Services and UAMS Department of Pediatrics. Another collaboration between UAMS Developmental/Behavioral Pediatrics' faculty and the community is the KIDS FIRST Program, a pediatric day health care program targeting children ages 6 weeks to 4 years of age who have special health care needs, with centers in several areas of the state.

Faculty from Developmental/Behavioral Pediatrics and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation also provide medical services to the Division of Developmental Disabilities Services Human Development Centers, which are state-operated intermediate care facilities providing medical, residential, habilitation, and education services for individuals with developmental disabilities.

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Pediatric Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation faculty at UAMS/ACH make the ACH-based Habilitation clinics an important diagnosis and treatment resource for Arkansas children with cerebral palsy, offering advanced spasticity interventions such as Botox injection and intrathecal baclofen, working closely with orthopedic colleagues and other faculty in the Center for Excellence in Neurosciences. Physicians are trained to provide electrodiagnostic services, and participate in assessments and prescription of adaptive equipment for communication, daily living skills, and mobility, plus orthotics and prosthetics. They also provide evaluations and treatment for children with neuromuscular diseases, rheumatologic disorders, spina bifida and hydrocephalus, spinal cord injury, traumatic and non-traumatic brain injuries, and other childhood conditions related to physical disability for both inpatients and outpatients. They provide medical direction and coverage for the Progressive Rehabilitation Unit, a twenty-one bed CARF- and JCAHO-accredited program with eight ventilator beds and an interdisciplinary team process that regularly returns children to their homes, families, and productive community activities after trauma or major disabling illness. (The Commission for Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) is an independent, not-for-profit accrediting body providing accreditation in the human services field, focusing on the areas of rehabilitation, employment, child and family, and aging services.  The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations (JCAHO) is a voluntary, non-governmental not-for-profit organization that establishes standards for the operation of hospitals and nursing homes).

The pediatric physiatrists also staff several outreach clinics, reaching additional children throughout the state. Physicians, nurses, nutritionists and durable medical equipment (DME) providers travel to various sites as often as quarterly throughout Arkansas to assist the many, talented local professionals in serving both urban and rural populations.

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The section members of Developmental/Behavioral Pediatrics and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation are actively involved in education activities. Section members are regularly invited speakers at conferences, seminars, and symposia around the state and country. The sections train medical students, residents, graduate students, and fellows, providing ACGME-accredited support for the UAMS College of Medicine residency programs in Pediatrics, Medicine-Pediatrics, and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. (The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) is responsible for the accreditation of post-MD medical training programs within the United States. Accreditation is accomplished through a peer review process and is based upon established standards and guidelines.)

There is an ACGME-accredited fellowship position available in Developmental/Behavioral Pediatrics. Residents and fellows from the UAMS Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry may also spend elective time working with Developmental/Behavioral Pediatrics' faculty.

Developmental/Behavioral Pediatrics and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation faculty also participate in Institutional Review Board (IRB)-approved research projects individually and collaboratively.

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Contact Information

Requests for consultations can come from the child’s family, the primary care provider, another specialty care provider, the school, or the therapist.

Please be aware that most reimbursement providers (AR Kids, Medicaid, many commercial insurance companies, etc.) will require a primary care physician referral to a developmental/behavioral pediatrician or pediatric physiatrist.

Due to the numbers of appointment requests, you may be directed to voice mail to leave a message about how to best get in touch with you during office hours. An intake specialist will return your call as soon as possible.

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Frequently Asked Questions . . .

Faculty Members:

    Eldon G. Schulz, MD, Section Chief

    Edmond W. Ashcraft, MD

    Amy E. Bailey, MD

    Jane Beazley, MSW

    Patrick H. Casey, MD

    Jill J. Fussell, MD

    Regina A. Gargus, MD

    S. Jill James, PhD 

    Maya Lopez, MD

    Stepan Melnyk, PhD

    Patricia E. Parmley, MD

    Tyra M. Reid, MD

    Sam Shultz, MD

    Vikki A. Stefans, MD

    Esther Tompkins, DO

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Additional web links:

UAMS Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

    http://www.uams.edu/pmr

Arkansas Children’s Hospital Progressive Rehabilitation Unit

    http://www.archildrens.org/medical_services/inpatient.asp

Arkansas Children’s Hospital Habilitation Clinic, Neuroscience Center of Excellence, Spasticity and Movement Disability Clinic, Spina Bifida Clinic

    http://www.archildrens.org/medical_services/outpatient.asp

James L. Dennis Development Center – referring physician form

    http://www.uams.edu/pediatrics/clinical_services/DDC_form_intro.asp

Medical Home, Arkansas

    http://www.medicalhomear.org/

Partners for Inclusive Communities

    http://www.uams.edu/UAP/

Center for Applied Research and Evaluation (CARE)

    http://www.uams.edu/pediatrics/research/res_centers.asp#Center for Applied Research & Evaluation

KIDS FIRST

    http://www.kids-first.cc/

Center for Effective Parenting

    http://www.parenting-ed.org/

Arkansas Autism Society

    www.arautism.org

The Pediatric Development and Behavior Homepage

    http://www.dbpeds.org/

American Academy of Pediatrics

    http://www.aap.org/

    http://www.medicalhomeinfo.org 

Association of Academic Physiatrists

    http://www.physiatry.org

American Academy of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation

    http://www.aapmr.org

American Academy of Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine

    http://www.aacpdm.org

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