By: Kate McCarty

Originally from rural eastern Kentucky, Dr. Reaford “RJ” Blackburn attended the University of Louisville for medical school. He and his wife, Brandi, completed their internal medicine residency at UAB, where Dr. Blackburn also completed a chief year before returning to Kentucky to practice as a hospitalist. In August 2023, he returned to UAB to take on the role of Director of the Medical Oncology Wards Service. I had the distinct pleasure of sitting down with him to discuss his UAB experience.

Tell me about yourself. How did you end up at UAB?

As you can likely tell from my accent, I grew up in rural Eastern Kentucky, far from the bustle of city life. I spent most of my early years in a rural setting, attending Alice Lloyd College, a small institution with about 500 students, near Pippa Passes, KY, for my undergraduate studies. After that, I made my first move to a larger city when I attended the University of Louisville for medical school, where I met my wife, Brandi, during our gross anatomy course.

If it were up to me, we would have stayed in Kentucky, as that’s where I felt most comfortable. Brandi, however, is more open to new experiences and tends to go with the flow. So, we decided to apply to a few places outside of Kentucky to see where life might take us. We had a connection to UAB through a friend, so we decided to apply. To be honest, we didn’t quite know what to expect when we came down for our interview. At the time, we made a point of exploring each city we visited, so we arrived in Birmingham two days before our interview and stayed two days after.

From the moment we arrived, we both felt an immediate connection to Birmingham and UAB. We were inspired by Dr. Gustavo Heudebert’s teaching, and we clicked with our interviewers—Dr. Tolwani (Nephrology) and Dr. Smallfield (GI)—as well as the residents we met.

Our interview dinner was held at Jim 'N Nick’s BBQ, which set a relaxed and enjoyable tone for the evening. Afterward, we ended up at a dive bar in Five Points watching football with the residents. While we’re from Kentucky, and not particularly passionate about football, it was fascinating to see how deeply people here care about the sport. After the interview and exploring the city, Brandi and I looked at each other and knew that UAB was the right fit for us. We decided to rank it number one on the spot.

You completed internship, residency, and chief year at UAB before returning to Kentucky to work as a hospitalist. How did you find your way back to UAB?

Sam Weigel, a close friend from medical school, also matched at UAB for residency. After completing his training, he returned to his hometown of Somerset, KY, where his father—also a UAB graduate—was practicing medicine. Following my chief year, Sam’s father recruited me to help establish a community-based internal medicine residency program in Somerset. In June 2016, Brandi and I moved back to Kentucky, where we both worked as hospitalists. I also assisted with the development of the internal medicine residency program there, and we found the experience very rewarding.

The COVID-19 pandemic was tough. In July 2020, we welcomed our first child, and it became clear that we were ready for a change. Over the years, I stayed in touch with Dr. Lisa Willett and Dr. Jason Morris, keeping in contact regularly through phone calls and texts. Occasionally, job opportunities at UAB would surface, but nothing seemed to align perfectly with our goals at the time.

In December 2022, I sent Dr. Willett a "Merry Christmas" text, and she quickly replied with, “Can you call me?” Knowing that I had a passion for caring for high-acuity patients, she proposed the idea of taking over the resident Oncology wards service, which would involve teaching residents, supervising procedures, and caring for critically ill patients. It became immediately clear that this role would be an ideal fit for both Brandi and me.

The Oncology ward service is a historically rewarding, but challenging rotation for residents. What changes have you made during your tenure as Oncology wards director, and what changes do you foresee in the future?

That’s a great question. First off, having wonderful residents makes my job easier no matter what. One key objective I’ve been working on is finding faculty who are truly invested and passionate about teaching on this service. I think we’ve done a good job of recruiting and expanding the number of faculty interested in teaching on this busy and unique service—so much so that there were a few attendings I unfortunately could not work into the schedule this year.

I’ve been trying to model the service after the Tinsley service, which has historically and consistently been rated very highly from an educational perspective. Additionally, the reduction of the service cap to sixteen is a change that predated me, but one that I am committed to keeping.

One area of opportunity that I’m currently working on is increasing the hematology exposure for residents, so stay tuned for future changes in that area. I would also like to incorporate a pharmacist to accompany us on rounds, so that residents can learn more in-depth about chemotherapy regimens and side effects specific to their patients. Finally, I’m working to expand the lecture series for formal didactics on the Oncology wards, so more updates on that are coming.

What is your most memorable experience or story from your time at UAB

Oh gosh, I don’t know if I could pick just one single story. I picked up fishing with my friends during residency, and it has since become a huge passion of mine. When I went back to Kentucky, I bought a boat and fished on the FLW as a co-angler. I used to go fishing at Oak Mountain with my residency friends, so that’s definitely a memorable experience.

But to be honest, I don’t think I could choose a single “best” experience. I’ve had the opportunity to build relationships that have truly lasted a lifetime through my time here at UAB. I made amazing friends during my residency, and to this day, we still have a text chain that has been active since 2013. Even though we are physically spread out between Alabama, Minnesota, Kentucky, and Florida, there hasn’t been a single day in eleven years that we haven’t messaged each other. When we tell future residents that our people and our culture are what truly make UAB special, we really mean it. I think the fact that Brandi and I have found our way back to UAB after being away for 7-8 years is a testament to that.