Two new building projects are helping the School of Medicine keep pace with the latest approaches to medical training—and both are fueled by philanthropy. Medical students will benefit from planned renovations to Volker Hall, the campus hub of undergraduate medical training, while the health and well-being residents and fellows are the focus of a planned GME Wellness Resource Center, scheduled to begin construction inside UAB Hospital this summer.

Engaged Learning

Marnix Heersink, M.D., and his wife, Mary, of Dothan, have observed a shift in medical education from the time the first of their six children enrolled at UAB to their youngest son who is in his final year at UAB School of Medicine. The focus on didactic lectures has lessened in favor of active, student-driven learning, and various disciplines “commingle in the context of a patient walking in the door,” says Mary Heersink.

“Active learning prepares students to work with a wide range of health and research professionals once they graduate,” says Marnix Heersink, a cataract- and laser-refractive surgeon. “The doctors of tomorrow will be used to collaboration. Teams will decide what’s best for a patient.”


To support the shift to a more active style of learning, the Heersink Family Foundation made the lead gift for a planned renovation to Volker Hall—the campus hub of undergraduate medical education—to build a gleaming atrium at the building’s front entrance and transform part of the second floor into an active learning center. The active learning center will include a “flipped classroom,” where students collaborate in small groups, using digital teaching tools, while the instructor moves between them. The focus on discussion and interaction helps students delve deeply into topics and develop communication and problem-solving skills quickly.

Inspired by the Heersinks’ example, the School of Medicine has identified additional naming opportunities among planned renovations to Volker Hall’s sixth floor, which will house spaces that complement the second floor active learning center by further facilitating engaged, group learning. The sixth floor additions include two breakout rooms to foster collaboration and study; three small group rooms, which will serve as home bases for the school’s Learning Communities; and a conference room for use by faculty, staff, and students. All of these spaces will enhance students’ learning and well-being by encouraging conversation, collaboration, and camaraderie.

The timing of the renovation, which is scheduled to begin this summer, is important. The Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) now expects medical schools to use lectures for less than half of their preclinical coursework during the first two years. As UAB prepares for LCME reaccreditation in 2022, these new spaces will accelerate the move toward interdisciplinary, engaged learning.

“Medicine is a team sport,” says Craig Hoesley, M.D., senior associate dean for Medical Education and chair of the Department of Medical Education. “Students must actively learn to solve and discuss complex scenarios together. The Heersink family’s generous gift, as well as the planned sixth floor renovations, will enable us to transform and modernize our learning space and develop welcoming space for students to interact with and engage each other.”

The School of Medicine has identified additional naming opportunities to help complete the transformation of Volker Hall’s sixth floor to house space for active, dynamic medical education. These include two breakout rooms to foster collaboration and study, three small group rooms, which will serve as home bases for the school’s Learning Communities, and a conference room for use by faculty, staff, and students. For more information on these and other naming opportunities, contact Erica Hollins at 205-996-6839 or elhollins@uabmc.edu. Gifts received by September 30, 2021, will be matched 1:1 by the Dean’s Office. All facilities’ naming must be approved by the UA System Board of Trustees. — Charles Buchanan

Residency Reimagined

A wellness center focused on the needs of physicians in training is slated to open inside UAB Hospital early next spring. The first of its kind in the Southeast, the Graduate Medical Education Wellness Resource Center will give residents and fellows access to a multifunctional location in the hospital where they can visit with their families, exercise, enjoy a healthy meal, study for boards, research their cases, and more. The space is geared toward promoting camaraderie, team-building, and work-life balance, while helping the young physicians feel more fulfilled in their careers.

“The GME Wellness Resource Center will help residents feel that they are part of a vibrant team and will also build social support within and across training programs, a critical piece of well-being,” says Alice Goepfert, M.D., associate dean for Graduate Medical Education in the School of Medicine and designated institutional officer at UAB Hospital. “As medical professionals, residents and fellows are at high risk of burnout, and we want to give them tools they need to care for themselves and their well-being.”

With a generous $500,000 lead gift from the UAB School of Medicine, UA Health Services Foundation, and UAB Hospital, and a gift of 3,348 square feet of centrally located space in the hospital’s West Pavilion, the new center will feature five zones catering to trainees’ wellness needs: a hospitality zone, where they can visit with their families and enjoy healthy meals; an activity zone with a treadmill and space for yoga, Pilates, or other exercise; a mother’s room with lactation stations outfitted with equipment for pumping and refrigeration; a quiet study zone, where they can prepare for board exams or research clinical cases; and a multipurpose meeting zone, which encourages collaboration and team-based learning. Residents and fellows will have secure 24/7 key card access to the space.

“Feeling overwhelmed and stressed has traditionally been an unavoidable consequence of becoming a physician, but we have learned that the extremes of these feelings in burnout are affecting those in the medical community at alarming rates,” says Selwyn Vickers, M.D., senior vice president for Medicine and dean of the School of Medicine. “Our new, unique center will help our trainees achieve a healthy work-life balance, have more time with their families, and help them build the mental and emotional skills they need to care for themselves as they care for patients.”

UAB Medicine employs more than 1,000 residents and fellows through programs in Birmingham, Huntsville, Montgomery, and Selma. The new wellness space will also help residency and fellowship programs across the School of Medicine continue to recruit top talented young physicians from across the country to continue their medical training at UAB.

The School of Medicine has set a $200,000 project completion goal for philanthropic gifts to support the GME Wellness Resource Center. All gifts up to $50,000 received by September 30, 2021, will be matched 1:1 by the Dean’s Office. To learn more, visit go.uab.edu/gme-wellness-center. – Kendra Carter