Congratulations to the UAB Dietetic Internship program. At 10 a.m. on Friday, June 20, 2014, the program in the School of Health Professions graduated their 50th class.

John McWhorter is graduating from the first Executive Doctoral class on Dec. 15. John McWhorter has a lot on his plate. He’s the president of Baylor University Medical Center and Senior Vice President Hospital Division at Baylor Health Care System in Dallas, Texas. He’s responsible for $2.7 billion in revenues for 18 hospitals and more than 12,000 employees. He’s a family man whose mission works have led him to Africa, Belize, Honduras and Mexico.

It would seem that McWhorter has little time for anything else. In just over three years, he has managed to squeeze in a doctoral degree. On December 15, 2012, McWhorter will be one of eight people graduating from the first class of the Executive Doctor of Science Degree in Administration-Health Services from the School of Health Professions at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and Birmingham-based Lakeshore Foundation have partnered on an initiative made possible by a $6-million, five-year grant from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research to find ways to improve health outcomes among disabled persons.

Two University of Alabama at Birmingham departments have joined forces to create a new doctoral program. The Department of Occupational Therapy and Department of Physical Therapy in the School of Health Professions is offering a Ph.D. in Rehabilitation Science this fall.

Snekha Rajasekaran, a junior in the UAB B.S. in Biomedical Sciences program, completed summer research programs with the Stanford University School of Medicine Cardiovascular Institute, in California and the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, in Illinois. She sat down with us to discuss her experience and share tips on how students can make the most of their opportunities.

William Reed, DC, Ph.D., professor and director of the UAB PhD in Rehabilitation Science program, received the George B. McClelland Researcher of the Year Award from the American Chiropractic Association.

W. Timothy Garvey, M.D., FACE, MABOM, was given the Gerald Reaven Distinguished Leader in Insulin Resistance Award by the World Congress on Insulin Resistance, Diabetes & Cardiovascular Disease (WCIRDC).

Nancy Borkowski, DBA, CPA, FACHE, FHFMA, distinguished professor in the UAB Department of Health Services Administration, has been named recipient of the Gary L. Filerman Prize for Educational Leadership by the Association of University Programs in Health Administration (AUPHA).

UAB students Cacia Billings and Eleanor Williams are heading into the new year with something to celebrate. Both first-year students in UAB’s Physicians Assistant Studies program were selected as Alabama Area Health Education Center Scholars.

“It was one of those moments where I just knew what I wanted to do.”