Professor Emeritus

Biography

Bobby R. Lewis, DMD, MD, is Professor Emeritus of Emergency Medicine. He completed dental school at the University of Alabama School of Dentistry, and completed an Oral and Maxillo-facial Surgery residency at the University of Alabama Hospital and Clinics in 1975. He then returned to medical school at the UAB School of Medicine, and completed a year of General Surgery at Carraway Methodist Medical Center in Birmingham. After a 6 month appointment as Assistant Professor at the Pahlavi University School of Dentistry in Shiraz, Iran where he taught dental anesthesia and Oral Surgery, he returned to Birmingham and started a practice in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, and also began practicing Emergency Medicine in a number of hospitals in the Birmingham and surrounding areas. He got involved with a number of the pioneers in the new field of dental implantology, and was the lead dentist to develop a course to teach dental implantology to dentists in the United States and several foreign countries.

Dr. Lewis was part of the team of physicians at Carraway that developed the first medical helicopter service in the state, and shortly afterwards, the first hyperbaric medicine facility in the state. He served as a staff physician and later, Medical Director, of both facilities. Dr. Lewis completed over 4300 patient transports on the helicopter service, and was the lead physician who worked to have a large multiplace hyperbaric chamber built to treat patients at Carraway. He also helped develop a hyperbaric training course and taught over 1100 medical professionals the basics of hyperbaric medicine and operation of hyperbaric chambers.

Dr. Lewis has been involved with sports medicine since early in his career, working as a medical provider at sporting activities at Legion Field in Birmingham while a resident. As a junior medical student, he and a fellow student set up the initial medical care at the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center, and helped provide medical care for numerous sporting events, concerts and other activities at the Civic Center. When Carraway Hospital got the contract to provide medical care at the Talladega SuperSpeedway, Dr. Lewis was the lead physician and appointed Medical Director there, and later chosen to become on the physicians to oversee the development of a medical care plan all of the NASCAR racetracks and NASCAR racing personnel. He retired as the department's first Professor Emeritus in 2023.

Certifications

American Board of Emergency Medicine
American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
American Board of Emergency Medicine, Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine

Education

Medical School
University of Alabama at Birmingham

Dental School
University of Alabama at Birmingham