By: Kate McCarty

Originally from rural eastern Kentucky, Dr. Reaford “RJ” Blackburn attended University of Louisville for medical school. He and his wife, Brandi, completed internal medicine residency at UAB. He also completed a chief year before returning to Kentucky to practice as a hospitalist. He subsequently returned to UAB in August 2023 to step into 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.

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

As you can probably tell from my accent, I grew up in rural Eastern Kentucky- way, way away from the big city. I grew up in rural settings for most of my life. I attended Alice Lloyd, a small school with ~500 people for undergrad near Pippa Passes, KY. I then moved to a bigger city for the first time for medical school. I attended University of Louisville for medical school, where I met my wife, Brandi, in gross anatomy. If it were up to me, we would have stayed in Kentucky, because that’s where I felt comfortable. Brandi is not like that at all- she goes with the wind. We decided to apply to a few places outside of Kentucky to see where life took us. We had a connection to UAB through a friend and decided to apply. We honestly didn’t know what to expect when we came down here for our interview. At the time, we made trips out of the places that we interviewed at, so we came down to Birmingham two days before and stayed two days after our interview. We instantly loved Birmingham and UAB. We both really enjoyed learning from Dr. Gustavo Heudebert, and we instantly clicked with our interviewers- Dr. Tolwani (Nephrology) and Dr. Smallfield (GI), and the residents that we met. Our interview dinner was at Jim and Nick’s BBQ, and it was laidback and fun. Afterwards, we found ourselves in a little dive bar in Five Points watching football with the residents. We’re from Kentucky and we were not football people, but it was so fun to see how crazy people are about football down here. After our interview experience and exploring Birmingham, we looked at each other and knew it was the perfect fit. We decided to rank it number one on the spot.

Question: 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, one of my good friends from medical school, also matched at UAB for residency. He returned to his hometown of Somerset, KY after residency, where his dad (also a UAB graduate) was also practicing medicine. After completing chief year, Sam’s father recruited me to help start a community-based internal medicine residency program in Somerset, KY. Brandi and I returned to Kentucky in June 2016 and both worked as hospitalists. I assisted with the creation of the IM residency program there and we really enjoyed it. The COVID-19 pandemic was tough though. We had our first baby in July 2020 and it became apparent that we were looking to make a change. Over the years, I stayed in touch with Dr. Lisa Willett and Dr. Jason Morris. We kept up frequently and spoke via phone or text every few months. Occasionally, job opportunities at UAB would pop up, but nothing ever fit quite right. In December 2022, I texted “Merry Christmas” to Dr. Willett. She immediately responded with “Can you call me?” She knew that I enjoyed taking care of high acuity patients in the hospital. She pitched the idea of taking over the resident Oncology wards service, which would consist of teaching the residents, supervising procedures, and caring for very sick patients. It became very apparent that it was going to be a great fit for both Brandi and me.

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

That’s a good question. First off, having wonderful residents makes my job easier no matter what. One key objective that I’ve been working on is finding faculty who are invested and really want to teach on this service. I think we have done a good job of recruiting and expanding the number of faculty who are interested in teaching on this very busy and unique service- so much, that there were a few attendings who I unfortunately could not work into the schedule this year. I have been trying to model the service after the Tinsley service, as it has been historically and consistently rated very highly from an educational perspective. Additionally, the service cap reduction to sixteen is a change that predated me, but a change that I am committed to keeping. One area of opportunity that I am currently trying to work on is increasing the hematology exposure for residents, so stay tuned for future changes on that front. I would also like to incorporate a pharmacist to accompany us on rounds, so that residents have an opportunity to learn more in-depth about the chemotherapy regimens and side effects for their specific patients. I am also working to round out the lecture series for formal didactics on Oncology wards, so stay tuned.

Question: What is your most memorable experience/story from your time at UAB?

Oh gosh, I don’t know if I could pick one single story. I picked up fishing with my friends in residency and it has ended up becoming a huge passion for me. 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 a very memorable experience. To be honest, I do not think I could tell you a single best experience though. I have had the opportunity to build relationships that have truly lasted a lifetime through my time here at UAB. I made amazing friends during my time here in 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 has not been a single day that we have not messaged each other in eleven years. When we tell future residents that our people and our culture are truly what makes UAB special, we really mean it. I think the fact that Brandi and I have found our way back to UAB after being away from 7-8 years is truly a testament to that.