Graduate students trained in our department enter through the UAB Graduate Biomedical Science Program (GBS Program) or the Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP). These students can participate in multiple interdisciplinary thematic programs that integrate more than 25 departments and 20 research centers across the Heersink School of Medicine at UAB. Department of Microbiology faculty members direct two of the theme-based graduate programs, Immunology and Microbiology. Although many of the students in the department enter through one of these two themes, both faculty and students participate in many of the other GBS thematic programs. In 2017, the AMC21 Scholar Program was implemented to attract the top graduate student applicants to UAB and provides up to 8 awards per year to recruit the top candidates to the GBS.

Students who chose a primary or secondary Microbiology faculty member as a mentor become part of the Department of Microbiology family. One notable perk of being in the department is participation in the annual Gail Cassell Microbiology Research Retreat.