Seth Landefeld, M.D., MACP, Professor and Chair, UAB Department of Medicine

It has been an incredibly busy spring at UAB, and a time of tremendous transition for our residency. After 22 wonderful years, Dr. Lisa Willett will officially conclude her service to our Residency Training Program—10 years as Program Director, 10 years as Associate Program Director, and two years as Assistant Program Director. It is the end of a brilliant era.

I invite you to celebrate her journey in medical education with me via our Medical Grand Rounds recording. She shared "Perspectives from a Program Director: Lessons in Leadership" on May 3, and it was truly an inspirational session.

By all measures, Dr. Willett and her colleagues have been wildly successful in training physicians, with 100% ABIM pass rates for three years running, excellent ACGME surveys, and tremendous success in the fellowship match. I celebrate her, this program, and her legacy of excellence.

At the same time, I am delighted to welcome Dr. Ryan Kraemer as our new Program Director. I am confident in his vision and passion for medical education, and I look forward to watching the program continue to thrive under his leadership.

There is much more to say about our Department of Medicine. We just shared our annual State of the Department in March, which is excellent by all accounts. Some of the highlights of our core values in action include:

• We are working in a collaborative partnership with the UAB Department of Surgery and the Jefferson County Board of Health to provide 200 colonoscopies to at-risk patients at Cooper Green.

• Our new ACGME addiction medicine fellowship program is ready to train physicians in the care of patients with substance use disorders. We look forward to welcoming trainees for the 2023-2024 academic year.

• We expanded our inpatient glycemic control services with three teams of fellows, faculty, and APPs who have stabilized blood sugar across the house: 54% reduction in severe hyperglycyemia and 64% reduction in severe hypoglycemia.

Of course, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Great things are always happening here in Birmingham, and we hope you will be able to come visit us on BDB 3 soon. We are so proud of you and the way you continue to share “excellence without ego” nationwide.

Best regards,
Seth