Explore UAB

UAB is taking part in a national program that teaches the public how to help saves lives in a mass casualty event. A person lies before you bleeding on the ground. Panicked emotions flow as swiftly as the blood. Help is on the way, but will it arrive in time? It is possible, perhaps even likely, that your actions in the next few moments will determine whether this badly injured person lives or dies.

UAB is celebrating 50 years of giving people like Rhonda Lusco a second chance at life through transplant medicine.Moving to a new city and changing schools is a difficult transition for any teenager, never mind a senior in high school. But in 2010, that’s exactly what happened to 18-year-old Megan Gagliardi when she and her family moved from Memphis, Tennessee, to Birmingham. She says starting at a school where she knew no one was hard. Therefore, when she began experiencing health issues, she ignored them because she was focused on making it through the school year.

Led by Kenneth Kim, UAB is developing a new model of precision and rigor in robotic surgery training. Robotic surgery may be on the leading edge of surgical techniques, but it is the time-tested approach of spending time with and listening to residents that is helping make UAB’s robotic surgery training program one of the most advanced and rigorous in the country.

Meet scholarship recipients and the donors who are fueling their dreams, like John Ahn and Jamie French.The School of Medicine is fortunate to have many scholarship supporters whose impact on the lives of our students and their future patients, as well as the school’s mission to train skilled and compassionate physicians, is immeasurable. Thanks to their generosity, the school distributed more than $2.9 million in scholarship dollars to 171 students for the 2017/2018 academic year—meaning almost a quarter of the medical student body received a scholarship. In the following pages, you’ll meet a few of our outstanding scholarship recipients and the philanthropic supporters whose generosity is helping make their dreams of a career in medicine a reality.

Four graduates of the School of Medicine's Rural Medicine Programs have joined a new primary care clinic, Total Healthcare, in Alexander City.Tate Hinkle, M.D., a 2014 School of Medicine alumnus, has wanted to practice rural medicine for as long as he can remember. He grew up in Lanett, about 30 miles northeast of Auburn in Chambers County, and has fond memories of staying on his grandparents’ farm. “It was a big part of my upbringing, being from a small town in a rural area,” Hinkle says. “That’s why I was drawn to rural medicine.”

A fundraising effort to advance UAB's Depression and Suicide Program has gotten a significant boost with a $3 million gift.About four years ago, Beth Seibels opened her mouth to speak, but words wouldn’t come out. She couldn’t take part in her favorite pastime, talking and laughing with family and friends, and was robbed of her ability to enjoy life. She knew exactly why: her depression.

“People could see despair in my eyes,” Seibels recalls of that traumatic time, which spanned nearly two years in her over 30-year bout with depression. “I don’t think a lot of people understand what depression does to the nervous system. My vocal cords and the muscles in my face were shutting down, making it extremely difficult to speak and smile. I lost so much weight I felt like I was dying. I became suicidal because the anxiety was unbearable and the future looked hopeless.”

Faculty giving fosters excellence across the School of Medicine.There is a longstanding tradition in academic medicine of faculty members giving back to their institutions, and some of the School of Medicine’s most steadfast philanthropic supporters are current and former faculty. “The School of Medicine is doubly fortunate to benefit not only from our faculty members’ expertise and commitment to service, but also from their spirit of philanthropy,” says Selwyn Vickers, M.D., FACS, senior vice president for medicine and dean of the School of Medicine. “Faculty gifts are especially meaningful because they are a lasting testament to the faith these men and women have in our school and the good it can do in our community and across the globe.” Highlighted here are a few of the many men and women from across the school who have made a commitment to securing the future of the School of Medicine.

Thoracic surgery pioneer Richard McElvein establishes medical student scholarship.A self-proclaimed “Yankee,” Richard McElvein, M.D., was recruited to start the first General Thoracic Surgery program at UAB by John Kirklin, M.D., and stayed because of the kindness of Alabama’s people.

“The people in Alabama are nice to one another because that’s the way they live,” he says. “They’re not nice because they want to get something from you; they’re nice because that’s in their makeup. They’re wonderful to be around.”

Pictures highlight the UAB Department of Surgery's history. Images capture past leaders of the UAB Department of Surgery.