Each year, our department personnel gather to celebrate the progress we make together. This year, we reported exciting patient stories, dynamic discoveries, and ongoging excellence in education. We are delighted to share this annual presentation.
State of the Department of Medicine - Presenting the DOM's Achievements from 2024
On Wednesday, March 12, 2025, Mark Dransfield, M.D., Interim Chair of the Department of Medicine, presented the annual State of the Department address in Margaret Cameron Spain Auditorium.
Dransfield opened the presentation with a round of thanks to all that had come and all who had been supportive of his interim department chair role.
“I was told ‘Your title may have interim in it, but you have to work like it’s not,” Dransfield said.
Dransfield reflected on the five-year anniversary of COVID being declared a pandemic, remembering the tremendous uncertainty of that time and how the department had rallied around our shared mission and purpose to adapt to change as the situation unfolded.
Dransfield summarized the department’s current clinical metrics. Despite a steady increase in outpatient and telehealth services, UAB has not significantly increased its inpatient services largely due to limited inpatient bed capacity. He highlighted the recent acquisition of St. Vincent’s Hospital and the development of UAB Medical West which may offer the opportunity for more inpatient beds and expanded ambulatory access.
After covering other impactful recent developments, like the newly created Division of General Internal Medicine and Population Science, Dransfield discussed research. The DOM’s total research awards totaled $262 million in 2024, resulting in numerous published discoveries reported in top-tier journals.
As examples, Dransfield shared recent research from Thomas Buford, Ph.D.’s cover story in Nature on the body’s molecular response to exercise and a clinical trial on injectable antiretroviral therapy led by Aadia Rana, M.D., being halted for overall efficacy compared with oral medications.
Dransfield also praised the DOM’s educational scope and excellence, noting the DOM’s 117 total residents, its 17 ACGME fellowships, seven non-ACGME fellowships, 96% fellow match, and 100% residency board pass rate.
Recent educational developments included the Internal Medicine clerkship developing a bank of formative questions delivered using gamification principles to promote engagement, the expansion of the Primary Care Scholars program from four to eight residents, a new curriculum for PGY-3 residents covering professional skills like contract negotiation, financial wellness, and leadership, and the pilot of a National Academy of Medicine program in treating substance use disorders in the Medicine-Pediatrics residency program.
FY24 ended with a total revenue of $320 million, with $119 million coming from federal research support and $108 million from clinical activity. The remaining $193 million came from gifts and endowments, HSOM allocations, the HSOM Academic Enrichment Fund, and other non-federal research support.
Before passing the presentation to division directors to share new developments in their specialties, Dransfield focused on the department’s culture. He reviewed the DOM’s focus on faculty development, the comprehensive early career “Teach DOM” curriculum, the ever-expanding DOM Wellness Council, new DOM leaders, and the staff STAR awards.
A recording is available for a limited time for those unable to attend the presentation.