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ALABAMA MEDICAL
V O L U M E 3 0 • N U M B E R T W O • S U M M E R 2 0 0 4
UASOM DOCTORS
Serving Our Nation in
Times of Need

Dean’s Corner
Dear Colleagues:
This past December we wrapped up the Campaign for UAB. Launched in November 1999, the
Campaign met with unprecedented success in meeting its $250 million goal, which prompted an extension
and a revised goal of $350 million.
By the end of 2003, the Campaign for UAB raised more than $388 million. The School of Medicine
raised more than $260 million—money that will help fund its departments, research programs, endowed
chairs, professorships, lectureships, scholarships, and more. Indeed, many of you have gone above and
beyond expectations in giving, and for this I thank you. Your generosity is a direct reflection of your belief
in the UASOM: our education, our research, our outreach programs, and our patient care. Many others
share your belief in our institution. For example, some recent recognitions include:
• The naming of 49 UAB physicians in the respected reference book America’s Top Doctors; University
Hospital was named as one of the top medical centers in the same publication.
• The designation of UAB as a National Autoimmunity Center of Excellence by the National Institutes of
Health.
Our reputation as a leader in medicine continues to grow, and the UASOM continues to see its faculty,
researchers, and programs recognized in a variety of ways. This recognition would not be possible without
hard work and support on everyone’s part, most notably yours.
While the Campaign for UAB has ended, the need for your support is ongoing. Opportunities to fund
important research, faculty positions, scholarships, and more remain. To learn more about these, please contact
the development office at (205) 934-4469 or visit them online at [www.uab.edu/uasom/development].
In addition, the University of Alabama Medical Alumni Association needs your continued support in order
to assist UASOM students, residents, and alumni. Please call Elaine Chambless at (205) 934-4463 to learn
more about what you can do to help the Association.
My best to you.
Sincerely,
William B. Deal, M.D.
Vice President for Medicine and Dean
On the Cover: Alumnus Lonnie Funderburg (’50) aboard LST 124 in the South Pacific. Funderburg served as
chief engineer and executive officer of the landing ship during the Second World War.

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
President
Betty W. Vaughan, M.D., ’63 - Decatur
President-Elect
Albert J. Tully Jr., M.D., ’64 - Birmingham
Secretary/Treasurer
Alan R. Dimick, M.D., ’58 - Birmingham
Past President
T. Riley Lumpkin, M.D., ’58 - Tuscaloosa
The Caduceus Club President
Ronald W. Orso, M.D., ’72 - Birmingham
Vice Presidents
William R. Staggers, M.D., ’89 - Fairhope
J. Noble Anderson Jr., M.D., ’89 - Montgomery
Katherine R. Cooper, M.D., ’90 - Alexander City
Bill Beasley, M.D., ’74 - Athens
Ricky L. Irons, M.D., ’82 - Florence
Helen R. Thrasher, M.D., ’63 - Birmingham
James S. Woodard, M.D., ’85 - Columbus, MS
Betty Ruth Speir, M.D., ’63 - Point Clear
Martha E. Pugh, M.D., ’65 - Houston, TX
Robert M. Dimick, M.D., ’84 - Hermitage, TN
Neil E. Christopher, M.D., ’58 - Guntersville
Jarvis D. Ryals, M.D., ’65 - Pueblo, CO
House Staff Representative
Edward R. Anderson III., M.D. - Birmingham
Senior Class President
Darren Malone - Birmingham
Vice President and Dean
William B. Deal, M.D. - Birmingham
Executive Secretary
Elaine O. Chambless - Birmingham
Administrative Secretaries
Donna F. Thompson - Birmingham
Diane A. Woods - Birmingham
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Editorial Advisory Board
J. Noble Anderson Jr., M.D.
Wayne H. Finley, M.D.
Ronald E. Henderson, M.D.
Paul S. Howard, M.D.
Ronald W. Orso, M.D.
Stephen P. Suggs, M.D.
C. Bruce Alexander, M.D.
Dennis W. Boulware, M.D.
Pam Bounelis, Ph.D.
Amie B. Jackson, M.D.
Sharon A. Spencer, M.D.
Carlton J. Young, M.D.
Executive Art Director
Ron Gamble
Art Director
Jason Bickell
Medical Editor
Julius Linn, M.D.
Production Manager
Lynn Lowrie
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ALABAMA MEDICAL
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University of Alabama School of Medicine, Birmingham-Huntsville-Tuscaloosa; Telephone: (205) 934-4463;
Fax: (205) 975-7299; Address: MAB, 811 20th Street South, 1530 3RD AVE S, BIRMINGHAM AL 35294-2140;
Executive editor’s e-mail address: ppowell@uab.edu
Table of Contents • Summer 2004 Issue
News Briefs ....................................................................................................................... 2
School and university news, faculty news, research and clinical news
Cover Story: A Tradition of Service................................................................... 6
UASOM doctors recall their war years
Big Changes .................................................................................................................... 10
A fast-paced day in the life of a UASOM resident
Making Connections .................................................................................................. 12
Robert Koehler takes the helm in the Department of Radiology
Four SPORE .................................................................................................................... 12
UAB’s latest SPORE grant boosts pancreatic-cancer research
The Big Move ................................................................................................................. 13
Sprinting toward completion at University Hospital’s North Pavilion
Ready for the Future ................................................................................................ 14
Researchers lay the groundwork for a new biodefense laboratory in Birmingham
Searching for a Diabetes Cure............................................................................ 14
Islet cell transplantation offers hope of life without insulin
In Praise of Wine ........................................................................................................ 15
Is the fruit of the vine the great protector?
Physicians’ Forum ....................................................................................................... 16
Indigent care, part II
Student Rounds ........................................................................................................... 18
How new duty-hours rules have changed resident life
From the Development Office .............................................................................20
Kennamer Gift • Programs Worth Supporting • Lanier Gift • Film Premiere
ALUMNI ASSOCIATION NEWS ....................................................................... 24
2004 Annual Alumni Weekend • Class Notes • Alumni News • Prescription Pad
• Alumni Form
Alumni Profile: The Schmitt Family, M.D.s ............................................. 30
For these doctors, the UASOM runs in the blood
Alumni Profile: Tracey Miles, M.D. ................................................................. 31
Making the commitment to family medicine
From the Archives ...................................................................................................... 32
A look at the Alabama Healthcare Hall of Fame
CME Calendar .................................................................................................. Back Cover
Published three times a year by the University of Alabama School of Medicine, Birmingham, Alabama. Produced by UAB’s Publications
and Periodicals Group, Office of Public Relations and Marketing, with the cooperation of Medical Publications, Office of the CEO of
UAB Health Systems.

SCHOOL AND
UNIVERSITY NEWS
REMEMBERING DR. KIRKLIN
John W. Kirklin, M.D., the quiet, supremely efficient
surgeon who shaped both UAB and the field
of cardiology, passed away the night of April 21.
Born in Muncie, Indiana, Kirklin revolutionized
cardiovascular surgery through his development
and refinement of the heart-bypass
machine. In the 1950s, he modified the Gibbon
heart-lung machine and performed the first openheart
operations carried out at the Mayo Clinic.
“The world of medicine lost one of its giants
today,” said UAB president Carol Garrison,
Ph.D. “Dr. Kirklin’s dedication to continually
find better methods for treating patients resulted
in surgical techniques and health-care treatments
that saved literally millions of lives.”
Kirklin’s efforts led to the development of a
computerized intensive-care unit with continuous
monitoring of vital functions that became a
model for modern ICUs around the world.
“The contributions that John Kirklin made to
care provided to patients cannot be measured in
any other terms other than those who are alive as
a result of his efforts,” says Albert Pacifico, M.D.,
director of cardiovascular surgery at UAB. “Those
of us who were fortunate enough to have trained
under Dr. Kirklin learned the value of continually
striving to improve patient care.”
In 1966, Kirklin brought star power to UAB
when he arrived as the new chair of the
Department of Surgery and surgeon in chief for
University Hospital, positions he would hold
until 1982. His presence acted as a magnet for
other talented physicians, who followed him to
the young university. Over two decades, he built
one of the most prestigious cardiovascular surgical
training programs in the world before retiring
from surgery in 1989.
But Kirklin’s innovative ideas went beyond
direct patient care. His organizational capabilities
led to the formation and development of the
University of Alabama Health Services Foundation,
the practice plan for faculty physicians at UAB.
“John Kirklin recognized that a public institution
could not be saddled with the burdens associated
with yearly appropriations from the state if
it wanted to reach the level of excellence he envisioned,”
says Arnold G. Diethelm, M.D., who
joined UAB in 1967 to establish the transplantation
program and succeeded Kirklin as chairman
from 1982 to 1999. “Bringing together the disparate
parts of this fledgling medical center created
the atmosphere necessary to bring world-class
medical care to the city of Birmingham.”
A hallmark of Kirklin’s career was his determination
to share information. He authored more than
700 publications, and his textbook Cardiac Surgery
remains the premier reference work on its subject.
Future issues of the Medical Alumni Bulletin
will take a closer look at the life, work, and legacy
of this groundbreaking physician.
HOIDAL NAMED INTERIM
CEO OF UAB HEALTH SYSTEM
David Hoidal, chief operating officer of the
UAB Health System, has been named interim
chief executive officer, assuming the role following
David Fine’s appointment as CEO of St.
Luke’s Episcopal Health System in Houston.
“As a result of his four years at UAB, and his
many years of experience in health-care management,
David Hoidal is very well suited to lead our
management team,” says Carol Garrison, Ph.D.,
UAB president and chair of the health system
board.
Hoidal joined UAB in 2000 as executive director
of The Kirklin Clinic and president of the
Callahan Eye Foundation Hospital at UAB. In
2002, he was named chief operating officer for
clinical programs for the health system. Prior to
joining UAB, he served as senior vice president and
COO of Tulane University Hospital and Clinic.
AMWA HONORS ALABAMA LEGENDS
The American Medical Women’s Association
(AMWA) and the National Library of Medicine
recently honored seven “local legends” from the
state of Alabama, four of whom have ties to the
UASOM.
A joint effort between the AMWA and the
Library of Medicine, the Changing the Face of
Medicine: Local Legends program was designed to
celebrate the contribution of women physicians
around the country. Members of Congress were
asked to nominate physicians who have made a
“significant impact in the field of medicine.”
Alabama’s seven nominees were honored at a
banquet in San Diego on Feb. 6, 2004. Those with
ties to the UASOM are Sara Finley, M.D., a 1955
graduate, now retired as professor emeritus in the
Department of Genetics after a distinguished
career at the school; Sandral Hullett, M.D., a resident
in 1979, now CEO of Cooper Green
Hospital; Pamela Hudson, M.D., a resident in
1986, now chief operating officer and ethics and
compliance officer for Crestwood Medical Center
in Huntsville; and Lindy Harrell, M.D., a professor
in the Department of Neurology.
In another UASOM connection, alumna
Regina Benjamin, M.D. (class of 1984) was a
member of the selection committee. She is now
the associate dean for rural health at the
University of South Alabama College of Medicine
in Mobile.
COLLECTING AMERICA’S TOP DOCTORS
In a sign of the depth and breadth of experience
at the UASOM, 49 physicians from UAB
have been listed in the 2003 reference book
America’s Top Doctors. The doctors were nominated
by other physicians and screened by a physician-directed
research team.
Top Doctors is a major medical-referral service; it
surveys leading medical specialists and asks them
which doctors they would visit if they needed treatment
in their specialty. Only about 20,000 doctors—or
3 percent of all physicians in the United
States—are eventually included in the list. The service
offers data on each doctor’s credentials, licensing,
and disciplinary review, as well as other information
such as listening and communication skills.
The service also lists 620 leading hospitals in
the nation, including UAB Hospital and
Children’s Hospital.
UAB HOSTS NEUROFIBROMATOSIS
PATIENT SYMPOSIUM
UAB and the National Neurofibromatosis
Foundation (NNFF) hosted a symposium for
patients and families with neurofibromatosis
(NF) on January 17. Neurofibromatosis is the
most common neurological disorder caused by a
single gene mutation, affecting more than
100,000 Americans. The disease can lead to disfigurement,
blindness, deafness, skeletal abnormalities,
brain and spinal tumors, loss of limbs,
and learning disabilities. It is more prevalent than
cystic fibrosis, hereditary muscular dystrophy,
Huntington’s disease, and Tay-Sachs combined.
The symposium was held in the Finley
Conference Center, part of the Kaul Human
Genetics Building. Featured speakers included
Bruce Korf, M.D., Ph.D., chair of the UASOM’s
Department of Genetics and chair of the medical
advisory board for the NNFF; Ludwine Messiaen,
Ph.D., director of the first laboratory to offer
mutational analysis for NF1, the most common
form of NF; and Judy Small, Ph.D., director of
the clinical trials and technology transfer office
for the NNFF. The panel conducted a questionand-answer
session with attendees, and tours of
the clinical and research laboratories of the Kaul
Human Genetics Building were offered.
In addition, the NNFF’s board of directors
held its semi-annual meeting at UAB on the same
day. This group normally meets in New York, but
met in Birmingham because of Korf.
2

News Briefs
“SOWING THE SEEDS OF HEALTH”
TRAINS HEALTH-CARE PROMOTERS
Nine members of the Birmingham Latino community
have been trained to serve as resources for
information on health topics and health-care services
to Latino members of three area Catholic churches,
thanks to a collaborative endeavor known as Sowing
the Seeds of Health. This program is funded by
Mission and Ministry, Inc.; UAB’s Educational
Foundation; and St. Vincent’s Foundation.
Sowing the Seeds of Health aims to eliminate or
reduce barriers by allowing lay persons in church
communities to help one another by bringing
together resources from UAB and St. Vincent’s.
The program teaches health information and
develops important skills in the volunteer promoters
while providing a solution to many problems
that immigrant communities face, such as
isolation and dependency.
“The program gives us [trained promoters] an
opportunity to live out our faith by helping others,
and the community has been very receptive,”
says Brenda Bullock, director of Hispanic ministry
for the Catholic Diocese of Birmingham.
“They feel like the church is taking an active role
in caring for their needs.”
Promoters have the knowledge and skills needed
to assist community members with health
issues. With training complete, these volunteers
are available after Sunday church services and on a
regular basis to answer questions and promote
health in their communities. Each promoter is
equipped with a resource manual of health services
and topics, and is prepared to share this information
through lectures, brochures, announcements,
health fairs, and other appropriate avenues.
Monthly meetings allow the volunteers to share
ideas and address concerns and issues.
“The goal of training the Sowing the Seeds of
Health promoters is to assist the Latino community
in the greater Birmingham area in accessing
health-care services, and to increase awareness
among Latinos of health and wellness services in
their communities,” says Lisa Reddington,
Hispanic outreach coordinator at St. Vincent’s
Hospital, and Sowing’s program director along
with Isabel Scarinci, M.D., assistant professor in
the UASOM’s Division of Preventive Medicine.
A key component of this program is empowering
community members and giving them the
ability to lead and guide others, according to
Scarinci. “The program belongs to the promoters,
we just provide the guidance,” she says.
WEB SITES WIN MEDALS
FOR PUBLIC INFORMATION
Patient-friendly Web sites run by UAB have
won gold and bronze medals from the National
Health Information Awards program, organized
by the Health Information Resource Center. Now
in their 10th year, the World Wide Web Health
Awards are designed to establish a seal of quality
for consumer health information.
UAB’s “Tone Your Bones” osteoporosis site
[www.toneyourbones.org] won a gold medal in
the Hospital/Healthcare System category. The
question-and-answer column “Dear Doctors”
[www.health.uab.edu/deardoc] received a bronze
medal in that category.
The “Tone Your Bones” site, which went
online less than a year ago, is a component of
UAB’s Osteoporosis Prevention and Treatment
Clinic. The site walks patients through a virtual
clinic visit and provides up-to-date information
on ways to prevent, treat, and minimize the
effects of osteoporosis.
“Dear Doctors,” published by the UAB Health
System’s Office of Medical Publications since
1985, has received numerous state and national
awards for excellence in providing consumers reliable,
up-to-date health and fitness information.
Questions are submitted by readers and answers
are provided by Health System physicians and
other health-care professionals.
The Health Information Resource Center is a
national clearinghouse for consumer-health programs
and materials.
ALUMNUS TAPPED TO LEAD UNC
HEALTH CARE SYSTEM
William L. Roper, M.D., dean of the School of
Public Health at the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill (UNCCH), has been named CEO
of the University of North Carolina Health Care
System. The appointment, effective March 15,
2004, was announced January 23 by UNC president
Molly Corbett Broad and ratified by the
UNC Board of Governors during a special meeting
in Chapel Hill. Roper, who will serve concurrently
as dean of the School of Medicine and vice
chancellor for medical affairs at UNCCH, succeeds
Jeffrey L. Houpt, who announced last spring
his plans to step down from those posts.
A pediatrician, Roper has been dean of
UNCCH’s School of Public Health since 1997.
He holds dual appointments as professor of pediatrics
in the School of Medicine and professor of
health policy and administration in the School of
Public Health.
Roper, 55, began his career in public health in
his home state of Alabama, where he was health
officer for the Jefferson County Department of
Health from 1977-83 and assistant state health
officer for the Alabama Department of Public
Health from 1981-83. A graduate of the
University of Alabama, Roper earned his medical
3
degree at the University of Alabama School of
Medicine and his master’s degree in public health
from the UAB School of Public Health.
FACULTY NEWS
LINDSEY HONORED AS DISTINGUISHED
FACULTY LECTURER
J. Russell Lindsey, D.V.M., professor emeritus
of genetics, has been chosen as the recipient of the
2003 Distinguished Lecturer Award, the highest
honor bestowed on a faculty member by the academic
health center.
Lindsey, who is internationally known for his
research in the field of comparative medicine,
received the award on Oct. 28, 2003 at the
Harbert Center. At the ceremony, he presented a
lecture titled “A Celebration of the Family” and
received a check for $5,000.
This award marks the latest memorable moment
in a long history between Lindsey and UAB. He
joined the faculty 36 years ago as professor and chair
of the Department of Comparative Medicine. Under
his leadership, the department became one of the top
programs in the nation in the discovery and investigation
of animal models of human diseases. He also
established graduate biomedical research and laboratory-animal
model training programs for veterinarians
and programs in managing animal resources for
the university’s biomedical research community.
A renowned researcher, Lindsey pioneered the
study of diseases caused by microscopic organisms
called mycoplasma. His early studies of one
species, mycoplasma pulmonis, which causes pneumonia
in mice, led him to engineer an animal
model of “walking pneumonia” in humans.
Subsequently he and his research team have engineered
animal models for the study of human diseases
including diabetes, Alzheimer’s, prostate cancer,
interstitial cystitis, and various viral infections.
Lindsey has published more than 130 articles
about his work and has received numerous
national honors. Among his many professional
affiliations, he has served on scientific review
boards of the National Institutes of Health, the
Food and Drug Administration, Veterans Affairs,
and the Department of Energy. He also represented
the National Association of State Universities
and Land Grant Colleges on the board of trustees
of the Association for Assessment and Accreditation
of Laboratory Animal Care.
Lindsey received his Master’s of Science degree
from Auburn University and his degree in veterinary
medicine from the University of Georgia.
Since his retirement from UAB in 2001, he continues
to teach and consult for universities and

News Briefs
research institutions worldwide, including the
UASOM’s Department of Anesthesiology.
WHITLEY NATIONAL FINALIST FOR
HUMANISM IN MEDICINE AWARD
Richard Whitley, M.D., professor of pediatric
and infectious diseases at the UASOM, has been
selected as a distinguished finalist for the 2003
AAMC Humanism in Medicine Award. The annual
award is sponsored by the Association of
American Medical Colleges (AAMC) through the
support of the Pfizer Medical Humanities Initiative.
Whitley is one of 50 honorees from across the
nation nominated by the AAMC Organization of
Student Representatives, based on five defining
characteristics of humanism in medical education:
positive mentoring skills, involvement in community
service, compassion/sensitivity, collaboration,
and observance of professional ethics.
Whitley’s nomination is a tribute to his commitment
to training and mentoring young physicians
and having them, in turn, pass on their
knowledge to a new generation of physicians.
“Like healing, learning happens best when
expertise is joined with caring and partnership,”
says Mike Magee, M.D., vice president of medical
relations and science policy for Pfizer Inc. and
director of the Pfizer Medical Humanities
Initiative. “The medical students who nominated
Dr. Whitley recognized the human qualities that
make him both an outstanding teacher and an
outstanding physician. It’s through the stellar
example of mentors like Dr. Whitley that the next
generation of physicians will learn how to practice
compassion, partnership, and understanding in
the practice of medicine.”
KOEHLER NAMED RADIOLOGY CHAIR
Robert E. Koehler, M.D., has been appointed
chair of the Department of Radiology effective
Nov. 1, 2003. Koehler was vice-chair of the department
before being named interim chair last year.
In announcing the appointment, William B.
Deal, M.D., dean of the School of Medicine, said,
“We are pleased that we were able to find such a highly
qualified person within our own faculty to lead this
large department that is so integral to the quality of
patient care and research at UAB. Bob Koehler’s credentials
and long service to UAB will serve him well.”
Koehler, who joined UAB in 1982, says, “It is
definitely an honor and a challenge to have the
opportunity to lead this distinguished faculty.
The talent and dedication of our radiology faculty
have brought national recognition to UAB,
especially for resident education and skilled, subspecialized
service to patients. We will now work
to further strengthen those areas and to grow the
department’s research and extramural funding.”
For more on Koehler and his new position, see
the article Making Connections on page 12.
DACHEUX WINS EYE RESEARCH AWARD
Ramon F. Dacheux II, Ph.D., professor in the
Department of Ophthalmology, has been granted
a $65,000 Senior Scientific Investigator Award by
Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB). RPB Senior
Scientific Awards support nationally recognized
scientists conducting eye research at medical institutions
in the United States. Dacheux is one of
122 scientists at 50 institutions to be honored
since the award was established in 1987.
Dacheux’s primary research interest is in the role of
the ganglion cell in the onset of glaucoma, the most
common cause of blindness worldwide. Dacheux is
examining how different ganglion cell types respond
to changes in intraocular pressure. This information
could lead to a test for early diagnosis of glaucoma,
before cell death and vision loss occur.
RPB is the world’s leading voluntary organization
supporting eye research. Since it was founded
in 1960, RPB has channeled hundreds of millions
of dollars to medical institutions throughout
the United States for research into all blinding eye
diseases. To date, the organization has awarded
grants totaling more than $2 million to UAB.
PIONEERING ENT JACK ODESS DIES
John S. “Jack” Odess, M.D., of Chelsea, a pioneer
in developing new services and new medical procedures
for ENT patients, died Nov. 4, 2003. He is
credited with helping organize the first cleft-palate
clinic in the United States and with pioneering the
operating microscope. He was 80 years old.
“Dr. Odess was a brilliant and generous man, who
was dedicated to the health and well-being of this community,”
says UAB president Carol Garrison, Ph.D.
Odess was a graduate of Vanderbilt University
School of Medicine. In the 1950s, he returned to
Birmingham, where he entered private practice
and joined the faculty of the UASOM. In 1956,
he helped reestablish the otolaryngology residence
training at University Hospital. He pioneered the
operating microscope and became the first surgeon
in the state to use it to perform a stapedectomy,
a procedure that restores mobility to the small
bones of the inner ear, thereby improving hearing.
He also worked with the Talladega School for
the Deaf and the Junior League Speech and
Hearing Clinic, and was on staff at St. Vincent’s
Hospital, Baptist Medical Center–Montclair and
–Princeton, and Children’s Hospital. In addition,
he worked with the Council of Accreditation on
Hearing Conservation and assisted in the development
of the Occupational Safety and Health
Administration standards to prevent hearing loss
from industrial noise.
Although Odess retired from private medical
practice in 1981, he remained active in business and
civic endeavors and the ongoing evolution of the
UASOM’s Division of Otolaryngology. In 1989, he
provided funding to establish the John S. Odess
Professor and Division Director-Otolaryngology/
Head and Neck Surgery Chair in the School
of Medicine.
RESEARCH AND CLINICAL NEWS
UAB JOINS CONSORTIUM TO STUDY
RARE DISEASES
Researchers at the UAB Civitan International
Research Center will be part of a new multicenter
Rare Diseases Clinical Research Center
(RDCRC) to study three rare syndromes: Rett,
Angelman, and Prader-Willi. The center is funded
by a $6.25 million, five-year grant from the
National Institutes of Health (NIH).
“The center will help develop an understanding
of how these diseases affect individuals
throughout their lives and set the stage for studying
treatments that may help reduce the effects of
such diseases,” says Alan K. Percy, M.D., associate
director of the Civitan Center and a leading international
authority on Rett syndrome. The grant is
intended to interface with the UAB General
Clinical Research Center and the Mental
Retardation and Developmental Disabilities
Research Center.
The principal investigator in the study, Arthur
Beaudet, M.D., chair of the Baylor College of
Medicine’s Department of Molecular and Human
Genetics, says the grant will promote clinical
research into disorders that are “often neglected
because they affect a small percentage of the population.”
Beaudet expects that the focus of the center
will expand to other disorders in the coming years.
UAB NAMED AUTOIMMUNITY
CENTER OF EXCELLENCE
UAB has received a five-year, $3.6 million NIH
grant to establish an Autoimmunity Center of
Excellence—one of four newly named centers and
one of only nine such centers nationwide. The centers
bring together investigators representing diverse
disciplines from across the country to conduct basic
research and clinical studies aimed at developing
new therapies for autoimmune diseases.
“Autoimmune disorders and diseases comprise
a significant portion of the health-care burden in
this country,” says Robert H. Carter, M.D., associate
professor of medicine with the Division of
Clinical Immunology/Rheumatology and director
of the UAB center. “NIH created the network
4

News Cover Briefs Story
of autoimmunity centers to speed translation of
basic research into new therapies and to further
our understanding of human immunology.”
UAB’s long and notable history of basic and
clinical study in the field of autoimmune research
was a key factor in the NIH’s decision to name it
a center of excellence. “UAB received the highest
score among all institutions applying for this
award,” Carter says. “We have great expertise and
many proven strengths in this area of research.”
In addition to its basic research activities, the
center, as part of its grant application, has proposed
two clinical studies: one on psoriatic arthritis
and one on lupus. “A steering committee of
leaders representing all the centers will decide
which clinical studies to conduct and which centers
will participate based on each center’s expertise,”
Carter says. “If one or both of UAB’s proposed
clinical studies are selected, the center will
receive additional funding to support these trials.”
“Collaborative center projects will unite the
expertise of investigators working in diverse areas
of human autoimmune disease,” says Larry W.
Moreland, M.D., director of clinical activities for
the UAB center. “Taking part in the development
and implementation of these groundbreaking
investigations will expand our collective knowledge
and place UAB at the forefront of human
immunological research.”
NIH AWARDS UAB
NEW CENTER ON MINORITY
HEALTH DISPARITIES
Diabetes kills African Americans at a rate double
that of whites. Colon-cancer mortality is a
third higher, and overall mortality is 50 percent
higher. Now UAB will use a $4.25 million federal
grant to try to help change those statistics through
research, screening and education programs, and
training of health-related professionals.
The four-year grant comes from the NIH’s
National Center on Minority Health and Health
Disparities. It establishes a Regional Deep South
Project Export Center of Excellence for Minority
Health (Project Export) to begin developing a
health-disparities center. Selwyn M. Vickers,
M.D., professor of surgery, is principal investigator
for the program. The grant was developed in
conjunction with co-principal investigators Mona
Fouad, M.D., Edward Partridge, M.D., and
Catarina Kiefe, M.D.
“The health gap between minorities and whites
is a problem that statistics make obvious, and it is
particularly severe in the Black Belt counties of
Alabama with highest concentrations of African
Americans,” Vickers says. “This new center of
excellence, incorporating Project Export, will help
coordinate and build on existing efforts at UAB
to combat this problem of health disparities in
our state and region.”
UAB’s center is one of seven around the nation
to receive status as a comprehensive center of
excellence and full funding in this fiscal year. The
center aims to build partnerships at institutions
enrolling a significant number of students from
health-disparity populations and will promote
participation and training in biomedical and
behavioral research at these historically black colleges
and universities.
Vickers noted that Project Export initially will
reach out to the community through screening
and education programs for diabetes and colon
cancer. The diabetes program will be conducted
in Jefferson County in association with the faithbased
Center for Urban Missions, and colon cancer
will be the target of programs in Macon
County in partnership with the BND Cancer
Center, a private organization.
Project Export will be an integral part of the center
and make use of UAB’s research and training
expertise in partnership with historically black colleges
and universities in the state. “There is a need
to recruit and train minorities as health workers,
particularly in the Black Belt,” Vickers says. “A
summer training program is planned in conjunction
with the black colleges in order to prepare students
for careers in allied-health professions.”
USING WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY TO
IMPROVE EMERGENCY MEDICAL CARE
Rapid advances in wireless communication
technology could provide big benefits in improving
emergency medical response, say UAB
researchers. The latest technology could produce
major improvements in the 911 system and in
how Emergency Medical Services (EMS) teams
handle medical emergencies ranging from heart
attacks to large-scale disasters.
UAB researchers have received a $3.2 million
contract from the National Library of Medicine, a
branch of the NIH, to study the integration of
wireless technology with EMS services. The study,
called Advanced Network Infrastructure for Health
and Disaster Management, is directed by Helmuth
Orthner, Ph.D., professor of health informatics in
UAB’s School of Health Related Professions.
“Our ability to handle medical emergencies is
at a revolutionary threshold with the emergence
of technologies such as secure, high-speed wireless
communications and powerful hand-held computing
and communication devices,” says
Orthner. “This study will allow us to test how to
integrate these technologies within the EMS community
in an important new way.”
Orthner says the lessons learned will have value
for EMS teams responding to any kind of medical
emergency. He says any changes to the current
system must be capable of rapid, failsafe escalation
so that the system can seamlessly respond to
situations ranging from an individual 911 call to
major disasters such as catastrophic weather
events or terrorist attacks.
Co-principal investigators with Orthner are
Gary Grimes, Ph.D., UAB professor of engineering,
and Thomas Terndrup, M.D., chair of the
Department of Emergency Medicine.
SCREEN-SAVER PROVES EFFECTIVE IN
EDUCATING HOSPITAL PHYSICIANS
A training program that uses interactive screensaver
images linked to a Web site to prepare hospital-based
clinicians to respond to bioterrorist
attacks is an effective alternative to more costly
and more time-consuming educational methods,
according to a recent study published in the
American Journal of Infection Control. Thomas
Terndrup, M.D., chair of the Department of
Emergency Medicine and director of the Center
for Emergency Care and Disaster Preparedness,
led the pilot study to develop and test the new
training program, available on the center’s Web
site at [www.uab.edu/cecdp].
“Before the terrorist attacks in September 2001
and subsequent anthrax attacks, few hospitals
considered it a priority to integrate bioterrorist
preparedness into their disaster plans,” Terndrup
says. “Afterward, however, the challenge to educate
hospital-based clinicians and infection-control
practitioners to recognize and respond to a
bioterrorist event took precedence.”
The pilot study, funded in part by the Agency
for Healthcare Research and Quality, aimed to
streamline hospital preparedness efforts through
the implementation of a screen-saver program as
an educational tool for clinicians. “Initiatives to
prepare hospital-based practitioners must fit
among the demands of patient care, administrative
duties, and continuing education within specialties,”
Terndrup says. “The interactive screensaver
program was designed with these considerations
in mind.”
The screen-saver program also may direct the
user to access a Web site for additional bioterrorist
information and Web-based learning modules
relevant to the user’s particular specialty. The site,
[www.bioterrorism.uab.edu], currently offers
nine continuing-education courses developed
specifically for the following specialties: emergency
medicine, radiology, pathology, infection
control, pediatrics, family practice, internal medicine,
and dermatology.
5

Cover Story
★★★★★
UASOM DOCTORS
SERVING OUR NATION IN TIMES OF NEED
By Dale Short
ALANDING SHIP IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN,
NEAR GUADALCANAL. A FIELD HOSPITAL IN
THE VIETNAMESE COUNTRYSIDE. A PRISONER-OF-
WAR CAMP IN THE IRAQI DESERT.
FOR DECADES, SCHOOL OF MEDICINE STUDENTS
AND ALUMNI HAVE BEEN CALLED TO SERVE THEIR
COUNTRY IN TIMES OF WAR. BY ITS NATURE, THAT
SERVICE ENTAILS AN INTENSE EMOTIONAL CONFLICT
FOR DOCTORS: WORKING TO SAVE LIVES, AS PART OF
AN ENTERPRISE WHOSE GOAL IS TO TAKE LIVES. BUT
A COMMON THEME, FOR THOSE WILLING TO TALK
ABOUT THEIR EXPERIENCES, IS THAT MILITARY DUTY
HELPED THEM BECOME BETTER PHYSICIANS.
6

Full Speed Ahead:
Lonnie Funderburg, World War II Veteran
Lonnie Funderburg, M.D. (’50), says his World War II service as a naval
officer was the precursor to his decision to enroll at the then-Medical College
of Alabama in 1946—after initially pursuing a career as a pharmacist. “The
majority of the students that year had come out of the military,” Funderburg
recalls. “After experiencing life in the service, we had a chance to go to school
full-time on the G.I. Bill, and we felt pretty privileged.
“I was no honors student, but I wasn’t afraid of work. I felt I had to prove
to them that I could make the grade, so I bore down pretty hard. We all knew
how important education was, and we felt we had to get busy, making up for
lost time. There was no time to waste, no time to be foolish.”
Funderburg’s damn-the-torpedoes approach has continued throughout his
career. He served an internship in the naval hospital in Philadelphia, conducted
research in narcotic and spinal anesthesia, and worked for 32 years at what
is now Baptist Medical Centers. Along the way he found time to study business
at Harvard, and to teach anesthesia on mission trips to Nigeria, Haiti,
and Gaza, and English on trips to China.
“I guess I’m sort of manic-compulsive,” Funderburg laughs. “I want to get
things done, and I can’t stand to waste an opportunity.” He and his wife,
Mary, who worked as a religious educator before rearing their two sons and a
daughter, will celebrate 61 years of marriage this spring.
“I like to make money, but it’s never been a major factor in what I choose
to do,” Funderburg says. “If the military and God taught me anything, it’s to
take a crooked stick and make the most you can from it. But God’s been good
to us. I’ve got no complaints.”
(Clockwise from top left) Lonnie Funderburg ashore in New Zealand; Terrell
Spencer at his Army Medical Corps station in Pleiku, Vietnam; camels paid
frequent visits to Charles Kent Powers Jr.’s field hospital in the Iraqi desert;
Robert Lee Henderson in his school days; medical students at the
Tuscaloosa campus during the Second World War; Henderson at a camp for
Special Forces advisors in Vietnam; Spencer on a medical tour of Army firebases;
wartime medical students in Tuscaloosa; Ronald Orso graduated in
the class of 1972; Phillip Foshee with his Air Force F-80 fighter; by the time
he graduated from medical school in 1962, Foshee had three children;
Henderson treating a Montagnard villager in Vietnam.
★★★★★
Catching Up:
Phillip Foshee, Korean War Veteran
Phillip Foshee, M.D. (’62), also found that his military
service—as an Air Force pilot and instructor during the
Korean War—shaped his career choice. When he joined
the Air Force in December 1950, he was facing the draft
while home from college and partway through a degree in
architecture, the profession his older brother had chosen.
“My local draft board had just announced they were taking
pretty much everybody in town,” Foshee recalls, “so I
could see it was time for me to sign up.”
For Americans, it was a time of shock and crisis in the
burgeoning Korean conflict. Just weeks earlier, a surprise
attack by Chinese and North Korean soldiers had trapped
15,000 Marines, killing 3,000 of them and wounding
another 7,000. With ground
troops struggling, America’s air
power seemed the only answer
for turning the tide, and the Air
Force began a massive buildup.
Foshee’s first duty station was
San Francisco, where he trained
as a radio operator on the B-29
bomber. He applied for pilot
school, and graduated as a pilot
with a knack for teaching. For
the remaining three years of his
stint, he worked as a flight
instructor at a training facility
in Greenville, Mississippi.
After his Air Force career, he
joined the Alabama Air National
Guard and began taking premed
courses in college.
“I had two cousins who were
surgeons,” says Foshee, “and
my father always wanted to be a physician, but for some
reason I didn’t think I was cut out for it. I’ll never be sure
exactly why I finally chose medicine, but I decided it was
what the Lord wanted me to do.”
The relatively late start was a big hurdle to overcome: “I
was the next-to-oldest guy in my class, and by the time I
graduated I had three children. I was afraid I wouldn’t get
a residency.” That fear turned out to be unfounded, as he
was accepted at Mobile General Hospital and later worked
at South Highlands Infirmary in Birmingham. For a while
he gravitated toward surgery, but eventually chose general
practice, serving for 39 years in the town of Clanton, where
he has remained since his retirement.
Foshee still does flight physicals for pilots at a small
office in his home and treats his grandchildren’s occasional
playground injuries. One of the pleasures of retirement is
meeting multiple generations of his former patients as he
goes about his day. “I see them on the street, or in the grocery
store, all the time.”
(Left) Lonnie
Funderburg in his
“dress whites” as
a U.S. Navy officer.
“About the
only time I wore
those was when I
got married in
1943,” he says.
(Above) Phillip
Foshee was a
flight instructor
with the
Alabama Air
National Guard
while taking
pre-med classes
at college.
7

Cover Story
He’s given up flying and has donated his home-built Viking airplane
to the Wings of Hope humanitarian group in St. Louis. “They’ll use it
in their medical missions around the world,” Foshee says. “I’m just
glad to be able to help.”
Recognizing the Enemy:
Terrell Spencer, Vietnam War Veteran
Like countless other physicians around the country, Terrell Spencer,
M.D. (’68), attended medical school under the constant shadow of the
Vietnam War. “Nearly everybody was being called up,” he says. “I
could have been deferred an extra year for more training, but since I
had to go anyway, I decided to go.”
enemy soldier came in wounded, it was my job to treat him, too.
There’s an old saying that war is 29 days of boredom followed by one
day of sheer terror, and that’s very true.”
Two indelible memories of Spencer’s Vietnam service are the .45
automatic pistol he carried everywhere, but never had to fire, and the
phone call he received in the middle of the jungle telling him his first
child had been born.
“The main thing those experiences taught me,” he says, “is how
similar all people are, how many things they have in common.
Under stress, you learn pretty fast which aspects of our lives are just
cultural and which ones strike a chord with everybody. The
Vietnamese prisoners had the same fears and wants as everybody
else. You learn to connect with patients as people, because all those
surface differences just wash away.”
Left to right: During his time in Vietnam, Spencer was awarded the Bronze Star, the Air
Medal, and the Army Commendation Medal; Henderson prepares for a training
parachute jump with Vietnamese special forces troops; Ronald Orso poses with General
Norman Schwarzkopf in Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Storm.
As a member of the Army Medical Corps, Spencer was stationed
in the rural town of Pleiku in Vietnam’s central highlands. “It was
a fairly primitive setup, from which we crafted a very fine medical
group,” he says. “We had some 30 medics, aid stations, helicopter
services, ambulances. We learned from scratch, and as a result we
learned quickly.”
A popular misconception, according to Spencer, is that military
doctors mainly treat combat wounds. In fact, he says, “Illnesses always
outnumber injuries. You can have whole divisions taken out by diarrhea,
malaria, dengue fever. We saw injuries from field stoves blowing
up, from two-ton truck tires falling on people.
“Then, once every few weeks, there were combat injuries, which we
tried to stabilize in the field and then medevac out. And when an
In the Line of Fire:
Robert Lee Henderson, Vietnam War Veteran
Robert Lee Henderson, M.D. (’62), went to Vietnam a few years
before Spencer. After failing to get the field surgery slot he wanted
because too many other doctors had already applied, Henderson volunteered
for the Special Forces. He went to jump school at Fort
Benning, Georgia, studied special warfare at Fort Bragg, North
Carolina, and was assigned to a unit outside Saigon whose job was
transporting medical supplies to hospitals in the hinterland.
“Besides furnishing supplies and protecting soldiers from tropical
diseases,” he says, “we did medical visits to local villages, trying to get
people more on our side by taking care of their health problems.”
But some days, the stakes were much higher. Henderson remembers flying
in to treat soldiers at an American camp that had been completely overrun
by Vietcong forces, and its two medics killed. “It was nighttime, and
there were .50-caliber tracer rounds coming up alongside the helicopter,”
8

he says. “I thought, ‘Well, I could die right here.’ But
strangely enough, that realization was like a huge weight
being lifted off of me. I just said, ‘Okay, let’s go.’ ”
One of the clippings in Henderson’s scrapbook is a
United Press International news story written by a
journalist who was on the last helicopter into the devastated
camp. “The reporter saw my M1 carbine and
my .45 sidearm and he said, ‘Aren’t you a doctor? What
kind of medicine do you practice with those?’ And
without thinking, I told him, ‘Preventive medicine.’
“The news story didn’t mention my name, but my
mother read the article in the paper and she told me
later, ‘That sounded just like something you’d say.’ ”
Like Spencer, Henderson says his time in Vietnam
changed his life. “It’s an experience I wouldn’t have
missed for the world. Before going in the service I was
a hard worker, but I didn’t have a lot of confidence or
self-esteem. After three years in Special Forces,
though, I wasn’t afraid of anything or anybody. I knew
exactly what I could do and what I couldn’t do, and it
stood me in very good stead for my residency.”
Sunrise in Saudi:
Ronald Orso, Operation Desert
Storm Veteran
Ronald Orso, M.D. (’72), saw wartime service at
a much later stage in his life. Orso was already a 19-
year veteran of the National Guard when his 109th
Evacuation Hospital unit was dispatched to the
Desert Storm conflict in early 1991. “It was something
of a shock,” he recalls. “In November we were
sent to Fort Benning for training, and we got to
come home for Christmas before being deployed.”
While American troops moved toward Kuwait,
Orso’s group set up their 450-person hospital on the
border between Iraq and Saudi Arabia. As it happened,
the majority of their patients were Iraqi soldiers.
“It was a really pitiful situation,” Orso recalls. “Those
guys had been in the middle of the desert for months or
years. They were undernourished, they had virtually no
medical facilities, and their hearts were not in what they
were doing. When they saw we were going to take care
of them, not kill them, they were so appreciative.
“It’s hard to hate somebody who’s wounded.
You naturally feel sorry for them. People would
ask me, ‘How does it feel to take care of Iraqis?’
and I would answer, ‘I don’t, I take care of human
beings.’ I think it’s a real tribute to our profession
that we’re in a war zone with people trying to kill
us and still we’re trying to save their lives. I
believe that’s one thing that sets our culture apart
from some others.”
The few American casualties that Orso did see are
still vivid in his mind.“The only female pilot to die
in that war died in our hospital,” he says. “It was a
very sad time.”
Other memories that linger are an Easter sunrise
service in Saudi Arabia, with a white sheet draped on
a makeshift cross, and the faces of wounded Iraqi prisoners
as they were being returned to Baghdad. “They
were afraid that Saddam would kill them if he found
out that the Americans had saved their lives. I’m not
sure what happened to them. I’ll never know.”
The biggest differences between the Vietnam and
Desert Storm experiences, according to Orso, were
the levels of preparation and the rate of casualties.
“Doctors in Vietnam were overwhelmed with the
massive numbers and the terrible trauma,” he says.
“By contrast, we weren’t short of anything. We were
actually overstaffed, which was great.
“I’m practicing today with two surgeons who were
(Top) Charles Kent Powers Jr. at the 800th
M.P. Battalion headquarters, Camp Bucca.
(Bottom) “Like many of the soldiers, I lost 30
pounds” in the Iraqi sun, Powers says.
in Vietnam, and they’re excellent. That’s because all
they did, every day, was operate. Whereas in Saudi
Arabia I would do maybe three or four surgeries a
week. I’m really concerned about the soldiers who
are in Iraq now, because they seem to be having a
much harder time than we did.”
A Hospital in Hell:
Charles Kent Powers Jr.,
Operation Iraqi Freedom Veteran
Charles Kent Powers Jr., M.D. (’88), knows about
that firsthand. He recently spent six months serving
in a field hospital for a military police unit that operates
the main prisoner-of-war camp in Iraq, Camp
Bucca in Umm Qasar.
9
“It’s a very austere environment,” Powers says.
“Basically, the Army found a plot of desert and
fenced it off. For the troops there are tents with dirt
floors, no air conditioning. The prisoners have a
variety of illnesses and injuries that war-time life in
the desert involves—knife and gunshot wounds,
snakebite, scorpion bites, heat exhaustion. When I
left at the end of May, it was 123 degrees during the
day and 100 degrees at night.”
Staying focused and encouraged under such grim
conditions was a priority: “Every day you get up and
try to do your best, try to have a positive attitude and
set a good example as an officer,” he says. “You’re serving
with young ‘kids,’ men and women in their early
20s, and you try to keep them cheered up, and encourage
them to complete their mission and continue treating
the prisoners with human dignity. I think the
Army was proud of the job we did there.”
Powers had a little outside help. “I cannot relay
how much I appreciate the thoughts and prayers of
those Stateside,” he says. “Cards and goodie boxes
lifted our spirits, and God used it as a time to build
me spiritually and physically.”
The first day at the camp is still a fresh memory.
“When we got there, the smell told us immediately
where we were,” he recalls. “They had been operating
about 10 days with no latrines. You could hear a lot of
yelling and chanting—minor riots broke out on a frequent
basis. There were escape attempts, with flares
going off at night and dogs looking for the escapees. I
really missed my wife and seven children.
“One thing I particularly remember is a speed-limit
sign at the edge of the camp, and on the back of it
somebody had written ‘Hell.’ And though the Army is
not generally big on individualism, the sign was not
taken down. The place was like Hell, in a way. It was
hot and miserable and you didn’t know who to trust.”
A Terrible Intensity:
Pictures That Never Fade
Terrell Spencer says that, regardless of the conflict
in which they served, one common thread for all
physicians is the indelible impression war leaves on
the memory:
“Under battlefield conditions, your senses seem to
be hyper-acute. Everything looks brighter, smells
stronger, is more intense. Your timeline for events
starts to be a single day, because you know you might
be dead by nighttime. You don’t necessarily try to
remember things, but you can’t help it. The impressions
are so strong.
“I’ve found that when I have a patient who’s in his
80s, and his mind might be wandering, one way to
connect with him is to ask, ‘What’s your unit, sir?’ A
man who’s been in the service can tell you his unit and
his serial number, almost every time. Those memories
of the military seem to last until the very end.”

Feature Stories
BIGChanges
A Day in the Life of a Resident Under New Duty-Hours Restrictions
By Anita Smith
It’s a Sunday on the Trauma Service at UAB’s
University Hospital. Fourth-year surgery resident
Phillip Lackey, M.D., is a chief resident on the
service; he’s on call today, and he’s busy. Arriving
at the hospital before 5:30 a.m., Lackey has a junior
resident in tow as he makes rounds at trauma
patients’ bedsides in intensive care and on floor
units. He makes notes and puts in orders for what
needs to be done for these patients.
ROUNDS IN A RUSH
Shortly before 8 a.m., Lackey walks to a conference
room in an adjoining building, where
Trauma Service Morning Report is about to
begin. This morning, 13 people are participating.
Using Morning Report time to review the status
timetables for various procedures. And they run a
tally of available beds.
After Morning Report, Lackey joins an attending
surgeon and a junior resident for more patient
rounds. Summoned frequently by his pager,
Lackey answers some patient-care questions by
phone and temporarily interrupts rounds to handle
other needs in person. He receives word that
a truck collision victim is being brought in, and
he and an attending surgeon report to the emergency
room to lead the assessment, make sure the
patient is stabilized, and put in orders for diagnostic
scans of his injuries. A few minutes later,
Lackey interrupts his rounds again to go to the
CT-scan area to reassure the accident victim, who
is having trouble lying still for the scan.
departure time that precisely. “Back then, we went
off-duty whenever our work was done,” he says.
The difference between then and now is the
“80-hour rule,” a hot topic of discussion in residency
programs at the UASOM and across the
United States. In effect since July 1, 2003, the
rule specifies that all residents must be limited to
80 hours on duty within a seven-day workweek.
This includes in-house call and encompasses all
overnight-duty hours spent in the hospital,
regardless of whether a resident spends some of
those hours resting. The 80-hour rule covers all
119 specialties and subspecialties in 7,800 residency
programs in the United States that are
accredited by the Accreditation Council for
Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).
of every trauma patient in the hospital, residents
and attending physicians go over what has been
done for patients thus far, their progress, and
what will be done next. They review patients who
are victims of everything from car accidents to
gunshot wounds. They discuss special issues—
such as patients who have been intubated and
those dealing with complications such as pneumonia
and kidney dysfunction. They identify
Yet in all the uncertainty of this busy day,
Lackey is aware of something about his own schedule
that he would not have known several months
previously. “I know it’s very likely I’ll be going off
“Our restricted duty hours make it even more important that we as
residents become better at communicating with one another about
such issues as tests and other care we’re ordering for our patients.…
We need to learn how to have better communication.”
— Anne B. Davis
duty and leaving the hospital this evening between
5 and 6 o’clock,” he says. At that point, he will be
expected to hand off in-progress patient-care work
to other residents. Prior to mid-summer 2003,
Lackey could not have pinpointed his expected
JUDGING THE IMPACT
One of those dealing with the effects of the
hours change is Dennis W. Boulware, M.D., the
UASOM’s senior associate dean for education.
“This new rule has somewhat polarized the medical
community nationally,” says Boulware.
“Some greatly welcomed it. Others think it is
horrible and that it will contribute to the destruction
of the tradition of medicine. My opinion is
somewhat mixed.”
Boulware says years must pass before the full
impact of the 80-hour rule will become clear.
However, he has come to some conclusions after
a few months of experience with the rule and its
consequences.
Boulware says the rule came into being because
the ACGME was feeling pressure from consumer
groups and Congress, fueled by worries that overtired
residents were contributing to errors in
patient care.
10

Feature Stories
Regarding his own concerns about the potential
negative impact of the rule, Boulware notes
that by reducing residents’ on-duty hours,
ACGME has created the need for additional
“patient-care handoffs”—residents having to
hand off patient-care responsibilities to others.
Boulware fears additional handoffs could contribute
to lack of continuity in patient care and
could result in more confusion in the health-care
system. He says this is ironic, since the ACGME
was trying to use this new rule to contribute to a
smoother system.
“I am concerned, too, about what this might
mean down the road regarding public trust in a
health-care system already under fire by the public,”
says Boulware.
Regardless of one’s opinion about the 80-hour
rule, Boulware says, it’s here to stay—at least for
the foreseeable future. “The ACGME planned for
this a long time and it has a reputation for sticking
to its rules.”
Another prediction that the ACGME will hold
fast comes from Marshall M. Urist, M.D., vice chair
of the Department of Surgery and co-director of the
General Surgery Residency Program. “At least where
surgery is concerned, I think arguments to the
ACGME appealing for exceptions are not going to
go very far,” he says. “Although we do know that it
will be possible to increase residents’ on-duty hours
from 80 to 88 in special cases, we also know such an
increase can be made for educational purposes only,
not to accommodate service needs.”
other care we’re ordering for our patients. This is
good in that we need to learn how to have better
communication. Some of us tend to be solitary
thinkers, and while solitary thinking can have
good points, it’s also important to learn to be
great team players. After all, most of us will have
partners with whom we will be communicating
after we go into practice.”
Another positive, says Davis, is the injection of
some balance into doctors’ lives. “Physicians need
to be well-rounded. They don’t need to be trained
as individuals who work all the time. These morerestrictive
duty hours address that.”
Surgery resident Lackey says there is no doubt
that his own family life has benefited from the
new rules. He has more time with his wife and
He is uneasy about the consequences on the
structure of residents’ educational experiences. At
least until residents become accustomed to the
new rule, Boulware says, senior residents often
will spend time supplementing what junior residents
can do for patients within limited duty
hours. In addition, he notes, the new rule poses
challenges in scheduling certain educational experiences
for residents.
Boulware is worried, too, about the long-term
impact the duty-hours changes could have on medical-school
faculty: “Faculty are being impacted in
two ways. Because of fewer resident duty hours,
some faculty who once had residents with them
now do not. Also, fewer resident duty hours result
in additional patient-care responsibilities being
shifted to the faculty. I fear that these impacts could
drive some faculty out of medical education into
private practice, particularly if they already had
been considering private practice as an option.”
Based on his own observations, Urist questions
the validity of linking sleep-deprived residents to
errors in patient care. “I have not observed a big
problem with residents making bad decisions
because they were sleep-deprived,” he says.
Urist adds that he had been concerned about
whether the new rule would permit surgery residents
to take part in the diverse surgery experiences
they need, but he says so far that has
worked out well. On the positive side, he says the
80-hour rule will free residents to explore outsidethe-hospital
learning experiences such as independent
reading.
MORE TIME, MORE QUESTIONS
Residents themselves see some positives about
the rule. Anne B. Davis, M.D., a third-year resident
in internal medicine, says, “Our restricted
duty hours make it even more important that we
as residents become better at communicating
with one another about such issues as tests and
11
In order to hand off patients at the end of
shortened duty hours, residents such as Phillip
Lackey must put an even greater
emphasis on coordination and communication.
two children, and he even can make plans for predictable
weekend time off. At the same time, he
worries about the impact that restricted duty
hours might have on continuity of patient care
and on the quality of training that residents
receive. He wonders, “Will residents receive less
training because the training is less rigorous? Will
they have the skills they need to have?”
Lackey also ponders possible future implications
for residency programs—implications that
are topics of debate throughout the medical profession.
Will the 80-hour rule set the stage for
major changes in the way residents are trained?
Will it in fact help set the stage for residencytraining
periods that will become even longer
than they are today?
As Boulware says, “Only time will tell.”

Making Connections
Koehler Named Chair of Radiology Department
By Charles A. Goldthwaite Jr.
Robert Koehler, M.D., may be just beginning
his tenure as chair of the Department of
Radiology, but he’s anything but a novice.
Koehler brings more than 20 years of experience
in the department to his current post, having
joined the department in July 1982 as vice chair
and director of the program in gastrointestinal
radiology. He held those positions until 2002,
and was named the new department chair last
November after serving as interim chair during a
year-long candidate search.
A Fellow of the American College of Radiology
and the 2002 recipient of the American Board of
Radiology’s Distinguished Service Award,
Koehler is a nationally recognized clinician,
scholar, and teacher. At the UASOM, Koehler
received the Department of Radiology’s Teacher
of the Year Award in 1989 and its Distinguished
Faculty Award in 2003. “Of all the great things
about my profession, I enjoy the interpersonal
elements the most,” Koehler says. “Before I
became chair, I was primarily a doctor and a
teacher, either communicating with patients or
training residents. As chair, I’ve become much
more involved in faculty development and getting
people to work effectively together.”
Surprisingly, radiology was not the first area
of specialty for Koehler. After receiving his medical
degree from Cornell University Medical
College he completed an internship and residency
in internal medicine at Washington
University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
During that time, he developed an affinity for
diagnosis and technology, which was encouraged
by colleagues in radiology. “My mentors at
Washington University felt such an utter enthusiasm
for their work that it was infectious,”
Koehler recalls. “I developed a deeper interest in
radiology and came to see that it was the field
that I wanted to specialize in.”
After serving a two-year stint as an epidemiologist
with the United States Public Health
Service, Koehler completed a diagnostic radiology
residency and fellowship in gastrointestinal
radiology at the University of California San
“Before I became chair, I was
primarily a doctor and a
teacher, either communicating
with patients or training
residents. As chair, I’ve
become much more involved
in faculty development and
getting people to work
effectively together.”
Francisco (UCSF). He spent one year as a clinical
instructor of radiology at UCSF before
returning to the Washington University School
of Medicine as an assistant—and later, an associate—professor
of radiology. From there, he
moved to Birmingham, serving as the vice chair
Four SPORE
UAB Tops in Cancer Research
By Russ Willcutt
— Robert Koehler
When Selwyn Vickers, M.D., learned that he
had landed a SPORE (Specialized Programs of
Research Excellence) grant for pancreatic-cancer
research, he was pleased—out of 15 applicants,
only UAB, the Mayo Clinic, and M.D.
Anderson had been funded, so there was good
of radiology under the leadership of Robert
Stanley, M.D.
“When I look back, it is remarkable how much
positive change has occurred since I came to the
university,” Koehler notes. One of 11 faculty hires
in the 1982–1983 year, Koehler worked firsthand
with Stanley as the department expanded rapidly
in scope. “The whole fabric of radiological care at
UAB changed markedly in the 1980s, and we
have continued to recruit outstanding people,
increase our level of National Institutes of Health
funding, and expand our residency training.”
As he looks forward to radiology in the 21st
century, Koehler recognizes that there are many
challenges ahead. “Radiologists must constantly
stay in motion, because the dimensions of the
field are always changing,” he notes. Many of
the tools that are standard today did not exist
when Koehler was a resident, a situation that
will be true for today’s graduates as well. “When
I was training, the most common indication for
abdominal surgery was exploratory laparotomy,
literally cutting open the belly to determine the
problem,” Koehler recalls. “Now, radiology provides
a way to determine the answers, which has
led to less-invasive treatments and increased
effectiveness when surgery is required.”
Upon embarking on his journey as department
chair, Koehler envisions the Department of
Radiology as one part of an even more integrated
future. “During the last 20 years at the UAB medical
center, I have been impressed daily at the great
mutual support and collegiality here,” he says. “We
are blessed with talented faculty and staff who pull
together to improve all aspects of care, and it is great
to be part of such a community.”
reason to celebrate. Still, the news was bittersweet,
because the $4.5 million awarded was far
less than the $10 to $12 million that had been
requested—a shortfall experienced by all three
institutions due to budgetary constraints at the
National Institutes of Health.
“We’re definitely better off than we were,” says
Vickers, “but pancreatic cancer is a disease that
needs as much help as any, and maybe even
more.” That’s because pancreatic cancer hasn’t
generated the same level of attention as have others,
such as prostate and breast cancer, resulting in
12

The Big Move
Sprinting Toward Completion
By Emily Delzell, courtesy of UAB Synopsis, and Dawn Mesa
“Our first and most
important goal is to create
as seamless a transition as
possible in order to continue
providing the same quality
of care and services our
patients now enjoy.”
— Jane Chandler
To ensure a flawless move to the new University Hospital, units are carrying out test runs with mock patients.
As most everyone can attest, a lot of work goes
into moving a home or office, even if it’s just a
move across the street. Now imagine moving an
entire hospital across the street—one with many
departments and patients, and lots of equipment,
as well as a bustling emergency room.
That’s the challenge being faced by UAB’s North
Pavilion Project Operations Office, led by coordinator
Jane Chandler, RN, Ph.D. “Our first and most
important goal is to create as seamless a transition as
possible in order to continue providing the same
quality of care and services our patients now enjoy,”
notes Chandler, who has organized and implemented
the operations planning initiative and who, along
with many others, is coordinating the relocation
effort. “We also are focused on maintaining continuity
of operations and minimizing downtime.”
The 885,000-square-foot University Hospital
will have 37 operating suites, two procedure
rooms, three medical/surgical units, four intensive-care
units—trauma and burn, surgery, neuroscience,
and cardiovascular—and the University
Emergency Department (UED) spread among
nine patient-care floors. At 38,000 square feet,
with up to 45 private treatment rooms, the UED
is nearly three times larger than the old space.
The department is located on the first floor,
along with a large public lobby. The second floor
will serve as the main concourse into the University
Hospital complex from the new visitor parking
deck, with the primary entrance located on Fourth
Avenue South. The new University Hospital has 10
elevators, and visitor elevators are oriented at each
level to either the three-story lobby or the open
light well, which will help with orientation. A total
of six bridges connect the new University Hospital
with the Wallace Tumor Institute, Spain Wallace,
the West Pavilion, and other patient-care areas.
Designed to be patient- and family-friendly, the
new facility has seating for more than 900 visitors,
including large, open public accommodations
centered around the atrium and skylight. A healing
garden—a stress-relieving place for patients
and their families to sit quietly among plants and
seasonal displays of colorful flowers—will be
located around the fifth-floor skylight, where it
can be viewed from the floors above.
The Operations Planning Committee will be
working with all affected units and services to
finalize the relocation plans in the coming
months. The move is currently scheduled to take
place in five stages, with some support services
occupying the building as of July. Currently, the
Committee estimates that most clinical areas will
relocate during the second half of August, with all
moves being completed by early fall.
fewer available research dollars. “Nearly everyone
knows somebody who’s had prostate cancer, for
example, and they also know people who’ve survived
it, and those survivors are powerful advocates,” says
Vickers. “In 2000, something like $190 million was
awarded to fund prostate-cancer research, and about
$380 million for breast cancer—but only $15 million
for pancreatic-cancer research.”
Morbidity rates are especially discouraging: Of
29,700 cases of pancreatic cancer reported in a recent
year, there were 29,300 deaths, according to Vickers.
“That makes it the fourth most deadly cancer, but 10th
Selwyn Vickers leads UAB’s pancreaticcancer
research efforts.
in terms of incidents reported,” he says.
That’s why funding to develop screening tests (none
currently exist) and effective treatments for pancreatic
cancer is so important, and Vickers believes that UAB
is just the place to make a start. “The Cancer Center
has a very good reputation, and UAB has a history of
collaborative effort, so I think that in addition to our
three existing SPORE grants for brain tumor and
breast and ovarian cancer research, those were the
deciding factors in the decision to award us these
funds, and we’ll certainly make the most of them …
and hope for more in the future.”
13

READY FOR THE FUTURE Biodefense Preparations
By Russ Willcutt
In November 2003, the National Institute of Allergy
and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) announced plans to
build two national and nine regional level-three biocontainment
laboratories and issued a call for proposals. Of
the more than 30 responses that NIAID received, UAB
was among those funded, receiving a $15.9 million grant.
“The grant was structured so that it required a
one-to-three match, however, so the university needed
to secure about $5 million in matching funds,”
says Richard Marchase, Ph.D., senior associate dean
for biomedical research at UAB and principal investigator
on the grant. “About a month later, in
response to a request by President Garrison and
Chancellor Portera, Governor Riley pledged the
money from the state, which will allow us to build
this $21 million facility.”
Sites are being evaluated on and near campus for
the 40,000-square-foot facility, which will be known
as the Southeast Biosafety Laboratory Alabama
Birmingham (SEBLAB). Marchase says it should be
operational by early 2007.
“We expect to continue our anthrax-related
research, as well as research to develop diagnostic
screening methods and vaccines for anthrax, West Nile
virus, and the flu,” says Marchase, adding that investigators
from throughout the region will have access to
the facility. “In writing the proposal, we made the case
that we have an exceptional group of investigators here
at UAB, and that we’re one of the strongest universities
in the country in terms of our potential to understand
and defend ourselves against these deadly agents.”
Those strengths will be bolstered by a consortium
of universities known as the Southeastern Regional
Center of Excellence for Emerging Infections and
Biodefense (SERCEB). According to Richard
Whitley, M.D., a founding member of the National
Institutes of Health-funded organization, “This is a
founding group of six universities—indeed, all academic
medical centers in our region—that will work
together to develop vaccines, drugs, and diagnostic
West Nile virus under the microscope.
tests against emerging infections such as West Nile
virus, among many others. We will also be conducting
research into organisms such as smallpox that
could be used in bioterrorist attacks.” UAB’s partners
in this effort are Duke University, Emory University,
the University of Florida, the University of North
Carolina, and Vanderbilt University.
Taking the results from research conducted
through the NIAID Collaborative Antiviral Study
Group (CASG) contract—which was recently refunded
for $34 million over a seven-year period,
with Whitley as principal investigator—scientists at
UAB, Southern Research Institute, and other
SERCEB member institutions will work to develop
antiviral drugs to combat emerging infections such
as West Nile virus and, eventually, even severe acute
respiratory syndrome (SARS).
“We’re especially interested in the orthopox family,
which includes smallpox and monkeypox,” says
Whitley. “Just to give you an example of what this
collaboration is allowing us to do here on campus,
we have Earl Kern and Mark Pritchard doing antiviral
drug screening in the Division of Infectious
Diseases at Children’s, and Ming Luo and Larry
DeLucas at the Center for Biophysical Sciences and
Engineering studying the 3-D structure of the
enzymes necessary for these viruses to replicate.
David Chaplin examined innate host immune
responses to biothreat organisms, and Jack Secrist,
Tom Voss, and colleagues at Southern Research
Institute are synthesizing drugs based on these structures
that will attack smallpox from a completely
different angle, as well as providing animal models
to study the efficacy of these drugs. So it’s this huge,
multidisciplinary effort, with the same shared goal.
“Our hope is that SERCEB and SEBLAB will
help unite scientists from all across campus, and the
region, with each contributing their particular
expertise,” says Whitley. “Because, to me, that’s one
of the most important characteristics of UAB—we
truly are an institution without walls.”
Searching for a Diabetes Cure
ISLET CELL TRANSPLANTATION
By Laura Freeman
As anyone suffering from the complications of type I diabetes can attest, insulin is
far from a cure. Even if patients manage to avoid blindness and amputation of extremities—for
which they are at high risk—they are still more likely to die prematurely
from heart or kidney disease than nondiabetics.
While transplants have been changing the lives of patients with other organ
failures for years, until recently the sensitivity of pancreatic islet cells to immunosuppressive
drugs has limited the effort to bring that hope to diabetics.
However, Devin Eckhoff, M.D., and his team are working to change that situation.
In April, they performed the first islet-cell transplant in Alabama, using a
technique pioneered in Canada that employed a less-toxic combination of
immunosuppressive drugs and reversed diabetes in 85 percent of patients. After
two years, the success rate for the University of Alberta at Edmonton program
continues to be an impressive 75 percent.
14
A LIFE WITHOUT INSULIN
“Our ultimate goal is to help patients live without insulin or immunosuppressive
drugs,” says Eckhoff, division director of transplantation surgery. “The transplant
procedure injects islet cells through a catheter. The cells lodge in the liver
and begin producing insulin.”
The team, which includes Carlton Young, M.D., overseeing clinical aspects, and
Juan Contreras, M.D., heading up the lab, hopes to take what they learn in duplicating
the Edmonton study and make modifications in the second stage of their program.
“We’ll be working on finding new approaches to improve the survival of islet
cells,” adds Eckhoff. “We want to transplant more viable cells and learn how to
help more of them survive without damage or rejection.”
Since only about half of the new islet cells typically make the transition to
become a functioning transplant, living donors are not an option at this point;
they would be unable to contribute sufficient numbers of islet cells to free a diabetic
from the need for insulin. However, the patient and donor have to share only
the same blood type, which improves the odds of finding a compatible donor
organ. Close tissue matching is not necessary and perhaps not even desirable, since
a too-close match could make the new islet cells vulnerable to the same type of
attack that damaged the patient’s pancreas.

IN PRAISE OF WINE The Great Protector By Laura Freeman
“To your health!” That traditional toast, long raised over glasses of wine, is
proving to be prophetic.
Recent major studies have shown a consensus that light to moderate consumption
of alcohol (one to four drinks daily for men, one to two for women),
particularly red wine, can help prevent coronary-artery disease and heart attacks.
The big question that remains centers on the mechanisms
behind wine’s preventative benefits.
UASOM professor Francois Booyse, Ph.D., and his
team of 17 researchers are working on a study funded by a
$7.6 million, five-year grant from the National Heart,
Lung and Blood Institute to find the answer—or in this
case, the answers.
Multiple components in wine appear to work together to
attack heart disease on several fronts simultaneously. In
addition to helping prevent arteriosclerosis and lowering
blood pressure when consumed in moderation, elements
within wine seem to help reduce thrombic risks that could
lead to a heart attack.
“Our program specifically focuses on studies related to the
effects of low to moderate levels of alcohol and polyphenols
on the mechanisms of fibrinolysis, a normal ongoing process
that results in the removal of small blood clots, and vasoreactivity,”
says Booyse. “Both alcohol and various individual
polyphenols inhibit the activity/production of a number of
specific enzymes as well as fibrinogen, all directly involved in
and responsible for reduced coagulation or clotting. In addition,
alcohol and polyphenols will simultaneously increase the
production of various enzymes involved in clot lysis, further
reducing the overall risk of clot formation and heart attacks.”
Alcohol and polyphenols have also been shown to
increase plasma High-Density Lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol,
which many investigators believe helps protect the cardiovascular
system through a process known as reverse cholesterol transport.
“Increased plasma HDL will bind more cholesterol and reduce the level of the
Why wine? Fermentation raises the
number of beneficial polyphenols—
giving it an edge over grape juice.
lipoprotein-cholesterol pool in the vessel wall and its deleterious effects in vascular
tissue and cells,” notes Booyse.
Would a glass of grape juice with breakfast every morning have the same beneficial
effects? Probably not. Although both juice and wine may begin with
grapes from the same vineyard, chemical changes happen along the way.
“Polyphenol composition, content, and often structure
are modified and altered during fermentation,” Booyse
explains. “Grape juice contains lower levels and a different
composition of polyphenols.”
The long-term goal of studying the heart benefits of wine is
to gain insights that can be used in developing better drugs
and therapeutic strategies to help both wine drinkers and nondrinkers
avoid heart disease and live longer, healthier lives.
Working with animal models, mouse-derived blood vessels
and hearts, and cultured endothelial cells and cardiomyocytes,
the UAB team draws on the talents and
expertise of researchers from multiple disciplines. In addition
to Booyse, who is a professor of medicine and director
of the Molecular Cardiology Research Program, the principal
investigators and project leaders include Edlue
Tabengwa, MSC, and Hernan E. Grenett, Ph.D., of the
Department of Medicine; Dale A. Parks, Ph.D., of the
Department of Anesthesiology; and Victor Darley-Usmar,
Ph.D., of the Department of Pathology. Twelve other
researchers include faculty and co-investigators from the
departments of Genetics, Pathobiology, Pharmacology
and Toxicology, and Physiology and Biophysics.
Unlike fine wines, which may require years of aging, the first
fruits of this study are already being shared. The team is contributing
its insights and conclusions on a continual basis, typically
publishing 10–12 papers and 15–20 abstracts per year.
When the study’s final results are gathered, learning more
about how wine helps to save hearts may teach us something worth celebrating
with a sip of champagne—or better yet, a hearty burgundy or merlot.
IMPROVING IMMUNOSUPPRESSION
UAB transplant immunologist Judith Thomas,
Ph.D., has been working with primates with diabetes
to improve their tolerance to immunosuppressive
drugs and to reduce their need for insulin.
“We’re hoping to build on her success,” says
Eckhoff. “Data from her research is helping the transplant
program select immunosuppressive drugs that
are more effective and less damaging to islet cells.”
There is a possibility UAB’s genetic research could
make a contribution down the line. “Perhaps we’ll eventually
be able to modify islet cells from pigs and make
transplants available to more diabetics so they won’t
Fighting a killer: This April, a team led by Devin
Eckhoff (seated), and colleagues Juan Contreras and
Carlton Young, perfomed the first islet cell transplant
procedure in Alabama. Their efforts may one day
give type I diabetics a life without insulin injections.
15
have to depend on insulin injections,” Eckhoff adds.
Meanwhile, the team is still evaluating and selecting
patients for the first stage of the study. They will
continue to perform transplants as often as donor
islets become available.
“For now, our selection criteria include making sure
a transplant could be a net benefit for any patients we
choose,” says Eckhoff. “Rather than selecting those
whose diabetes is well controlled with insulin, we’ll be
looking at patients who are having complications from
diabetes or difficulty maintaining blood-sugar levels
due to hypoglycemic unawareness or other factors.
“The potential for helping patients with type II diabetes
is limited, since their problem is insulin resistance
rather than lack of insulin. Transplants, however, could
eventually be part of an approach to help those whose
islet cells have been exhausted,” he adds.
For Eckhoff and other UAB researchers—and the
one million insulin-dependent diabetics in
America—developing a cure to end diabetes would
be sweet success indeed.

Physicians’ Forum By
Dawn Mesa and Russ Willcutt
I NDIGENT C ARE: A CRISIS IN THE WORKS
With one of the lowest per-capita income levels in the United States, Alabama has more than its
fair share of indigent residents. They come from many different walks of life: homeless, homeowners,
elderly, infants and children, single mothers, families, and both legal and illegal immigrants.
The delivery of health care to these largely uninsured populations is reaching crisis proportions in
the state as more and more indigent patients seek care in our hospitals and clinics. Ultimately, it is
these institutions that bear the brunt of the financial cost for treating the indigent—a burden that is
pushing some facilities to the breaking point.
In the second of a two-part Physicians’ Forum series, the Alabama
Medical Alumni Bulletin asked two prominent alumni about their experiences
in treating the medically indigent populations in two of the
largest metropolitan areas in Alabama. Wickliffe (Wick) Many, M.D.,
heads up the internal medicine residency program at the UASOM in
Montgomery; Iris Fancher, M.D., is a pediatrician who practices at the
Bessemer Health Center in metropolitan Birmingham.
What medical programs are currently in place in your community to assist the indigent population?
Iris Fancher
Iris Fancher (IF): I’m employed with the Jefferson County Department of Health, where I am a Public
Health Medical Officer and pediatrician at Bessemer Health Center. The health department has a primarycare
program that provides services to all who present, including the indigent and under-insured, as well as
those with insurance. Our fees are based on a sliding scale according to income. It is not unusual for 50 percent
of our clientele not to have insurance coverage. Many of our patients are eligible for Medicaid services,
but are unaware of their eligibility and never make any attempts to apply for these benefits. There are six health
centers across Jefferson County, staffed by about 16 physicians, pharmacists, and dentists. Each center offers
pediatric, family planning, maternity, adult health, pharmacy, and dental services. In addition, we provide
immunization services at all our clinics and in Tot Shot Centers at specified sites. We also have nutrition consultants
who manage the federal WIC program at all our centers.
Wick Many
Wick Many (WM): We have several programs. The first is the county health department, which has some
clinics. There is also a federally funded clinic here—Lister Hill Clinic—and Baptist Health, the parent company
of Baptist Medical Center, started an indigent clinic several years ago called Medical Outreach Ministries,
which is staffed mainly by retired physicians. There’s also the UASOM clinic here, staffed entirely by UAB
employees, which takes care of both in- and outpatients—we’re really the only facility that takes care of both.
We see patients who present to our hospital, Baptist Medical Center South, with no physician and no insurance,
which is part of our mission.
We take care of patients not only from Montgomery County but also from Lowndes, Macon, Bullock, and
other counties traditionally considered part of the Black Belt. Our facility also provides space for pediatric specialty
clinics even though we are an internal-medicine residency program. We have three clinics that deal exclusively
with children. Two are HIV-related; one is an adolescent HIV clinic and the other is a family clinic that
provides care for newborns born to HIV-infected mothers. We also have a sickle-cell clinic.
Unfortunately, we have been too successful. Our adolescent HIV clinic started with only two patients and
now they’re up to 45. Because of the lack of resources, lack of awareness, and poor public health, HIV in rural
Alabama is similar to that seen in underdeveloped nations. It’s a health-care crisis that’s going to be with us for
quite some time.
What has been your experience in treating indigent patients?
IF: I have worked with the health department for about 16 years, and a great deal has changed since I first
joined. At that time, we would see everyone without regard to his or her ability to pay. Now, because of
16

Physicians’ Forum
budget cuts, the department is facing a tremendous
challenge.
As a pediatrician, I see patients from birth to age
19. I will sometimes see some of my chronically ill
patients, such as those with sickle-cell disease or
cerebral palsy, beyond that age. Most of these
patients have Medicaid coverage and they are able
to receive services as needed. We are associated with
Children’s Hospital, where we refer our more complex
patients for specialty care or those requiring
hospitalization.
WM: Working in infectious disease, I see consults
at the hospital who may be people who are fully
insured or people who have absolutely no resources
whatsoever. As part of my responsibilities here with
the UASOM Montgomery, we have a private practice
that is part of the school, similar to The Kirklin
Clinic in that we do see private patients. Typically,
I see about 30 to 35 consults a month in the hospital,
and anywhere from 10 to 15 of those patients
will be completely indigent. Currently, I’m seeing
three or four in the hospital who have catastrophic
diseases because they didn’t have access to preventive
health care. I have two others in the hospital
right now with newly diagnosed HIV infection.
In what ways has this impacted you and/or
your practice?
IF: Medicaid coverage changes from day to day, and
many times patients arrive assuming they have coverage
when they do not. Coverage may be suspended
because the patients did not reapply for coverage,
because there’s been an address change, or for various
other reasons. Occasionally, a patient needing
care will leave the clinic because of lack of coverage.
Sometimes patients will leave the clinic with a prescription
and not fill it because they have no funds
for medication. Whenever we become aware of
patients’ inability to pay we implement several creative
approaches to provide care. The health centers
and staff also contribute to funds that are administered
through the social workers to help cover medication
and some transportation costs.
WM: It impacts us quite a bit because we have
budget constraints. When you have to write off
large amounts of bad debt, the money has to come
from somewhere. We’ve been impacted by the state
budget cuts and, in a very unusual move, we are
considered a non-state agency, so our funding was
cut 75 percent.
Unlike Birmingham, we do not have a charity
hospital—there’s no Cooper Green here; we are the
area’s Cooper Green. Fortunately, we do receive
support from the county and from the city. The
amount we’ve received each year has remained the
same, and we’ve been blessed that is hasn’t been cut.
We consider that a success.
Has your patient base changed in the last five
years, and if so, how?
IF: A few years ago, we began to see an increase in
the number of Hispanic patients presenting to our
clinics. We adjusted by offering Spanish classes to
our staff as well as training in cultural diversity. At
present, most of our Hispanic patient services are
consolidated at two facilities, Central Health
Center and Chris McNair Health Center, where we
have full-time interpreters who assist staff in communicating
with and providing services to our
Hispanic patients.
Currently, more patients are presenting from the
private setting for care. Usually there is a loss of insurance
coverage or the patients may be under-insured.
WM: The patient base has stayed pretty much the
same. Because of the fact that there is no hospital in
Lowndes or Macon counties, we continue to serve
both urban and rural communities. Patients come
in from the small rural areas with very little, if any,
preventive health care.
Our main sources of patients are some of the
smaller communities near here where there is a very
high rate of either uninsured or Medicaid patients.
How does indigent care affect other physicians
and medical facilities in the area?
IF: I believe the biggest challenge we are facing in
health care is funding, or lack of it. I am sure that
private practitioners see patients who have no medical
insurance coverage, especially long-term
patients who for various reasons have lost their
insurance coverage. However, one cannot run a
practice for indigent patients unless there is some
source of funding—and providing hospital care is
almost out of the question.
WM: I think it has a big impact on some of the surgical
subspecialties. Because we don’t have a charity
hospital here, if you have an indigent patient who is
involved in a car accident or sustains a gunshot
wound, the physicians still have to treat them, and
still have to deal with their share of the costs involved.
It is also somewhat of a negative in recruiting for
our surgical colleagues. It’s an issue because they
can’t compete with communities like Birmingham,
for example, as far as reimbursement or compensation.
This is a spillover effect of indigent care.
17
Do you have any ideas or suggestions for
improving indigent care in Alabama?
IF: Education of the public and funding for public
health are essential to improving health care in our
area. The Jefferson County Department of Health
is aggressively pursuing getting the public involved
in learning about healthier lifestyles. If funding is
not available, then programs that are put in place
for specific health-care issues will not be available to
those who need them most due to the cost—specifically,
issues and programs that address weight
management, increased cholesterol, and epidemic
increases in diabetes mellitus type II in pre-teen
and adolescent patients.
Funding is the central issue as always, but I think
it is also important to build a strong relationship
between the county health department and the various
health systems in the area. This relationship
should be so interrelated as to avoid duplication of
services and conserve limited funds. The community
should also have significant input as to the
design and delivery of these services.
WM: I can speak medically and I can speak politically.
Medically, I think that we need to do a better
job of supporting our health departments in
the sense that—again, this goes back to money—
they are working on shoestring budgets. They
have been cut back so badly that public-health
clinics have basically been annihilated. They’ve
cut back on important programs, such as those for
hypertension, and it’s a short-sighted move. I
think developing a more coordinated health-care
policy will be important.
The other thing is that, locally, we have a lot of
organizations that are providing indigent care, but
there’s no “czar of health care” in that regard.
Obviously, everyone is doing the best job they
can, but there is some duplication of resources. It
would be nice to have someone who is in absolute
charge to designate and better coordinate, or at
least get everyone together to formulate some sort
of long-term plan.
Also, our legislators are going to need to realize
that health care and education are so intertwined
that, unless they make courageous moves, we’re
going to continue to lag behind.
As physicians, we’ve been blessed and we need to
continue to take the noble approach of providing
the best medical care regardless of the patient’s ability
to pay. We’ve got to instill this notion in today’s
medical students from the earliest stages.

Student Rounds: Resident Life
By Dawn Mesa
As previously reported in the Summer 2003 issue of the Alabama
Medical Alumni Bulletin, and in this issue on page 10, the
Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)
has set new rules regarding the maximum number of hours residents
can now work per week.
The rules, which went into effect on July 1, 2003, limit residents to
no more than 80 work hours per week and no more than 30 consecutive
work hours at a stretch. In addition, residents must be given
one day out of seven free from all clinical and educational responsibilities,
they cannot be scheduled for in-house call more than once
every three nights, they should be given at least 10 hours for rest
and personal activities between daily duty periods and after in-house
call, and in-house moonlighting counts toward the weekly limit. All
limits are averaged over four weeks.
To see how the new rules are affecting resident life at the
UASOM, the Alabama Medical Alumni Bulletin asked three current
residents about their experiences in light of these changes and their
opinions about what the changes have meant for UAB’s hardest-hit
specialties: surgery, OB/GYN, and internal medicine. Laurence
Rosenberg, M.D., is a fifth-year general-surgery resident; Erika
O’Donnell, M.D., is a fourth-year OB/GYN resident; and Elizabeth
Turnipseed, M.D., is a first-year internal-medicine resident.
What has been the biggest change since the new regulations went into effect?
Laurence Rosenberg (LR): I think the biggest difference, overall, is that residents aren’t chronically tired all the
time now. Residents are better-rested, they’re able to read and study more. I’m sure there’s not a resident out
there from the previous generation who doesn’t have a story about falling asleep at the dinner table or while
driving. I know I’ve done that once or twice.
EO: We take a lot less calls, which means less
experience. I think we’re doing a good job maximizing
the calls and experience that we have, but
when I was an intern, I was taking nine calls a
month. When you compare that to interns now
who are taking five or six calls a month, they’re
missing out on a lot of experience.
ET: I think, for me and for a lot of the interns,
the rule that has affected us most is the 30-hour
post-call rule. I don’t like to walk out of the hospital
feeling like things are unfinished, for a variety
of reasons. One, you don’t want to put off
what you’re doing on someone else and, two, it’s
really hard—especially at my level in learning—
to really get a sense of what’s going on if you
don’t see something through to fruition.
What is the schedule like now for residents
in your field?
LR: General surgery has a “float” group of residents
who take turns in the night rotation. Each
resident spends a rotation each year—four to
seven weeks—working from 5 p.m. to 7 a.m.,
Monday till Friday morning; Sunday they then
come in at noon and work until 7 a.m. Monday.
They continue that pattern and each level is
assigned to a team—vascular surgery, general surgery,
and so on. There is also a senior-level resident
on call for each team, which allows for easier
access to these residents, who can help out
with certain problems.
EO: The OB/GYN schedule is very manageable.
We didn’t really change anything with our general
service, as far as how many are on it. Things
will change next year when the new hospital
facility opens and we have an extra person to
cover triage.
Erika O’Donnell (EO): I think that some of the OB/GYN rotations had higher time requirements than others
and the 80-hour restriction impacted those services—oncology and antepartum particularly—more than
others. We had to adjust our call schedule and, like surgery, changed our night-float system. It’s working out
really well now; when we converted initially it was slightly problematic in terms of coverage issues.
Elizabeth Turnipseed (ET): Given that I never worked in the previous environment, I’ve noticed that, in internal
medicine, we can rather easily facilitate the 80-hour workweek. The post-call, 30-hour regulation is a little
bit more difficult to adhere to and more noticeable. If this system is going to work as it’s intended, it’s got to
involve more shared responsibility.
What has been the biggest negative since the new regulations went into effect?
LR: The biggest negative that most faculty and people complain about is a perceived lack of continuity of care.
I don’t necessarily agree with that, though, because prior to the regulation change, residents weren’t on call
every night—so they weren’t there all the time to take care of those patients regardless.
Erika O’Donnell says the 80-hour workweek has
created a more tight-knit group of residents.
18

some nurse clinicians for the different divisions. They help tremendously, and
take care of discharges, setting up home health and social services, and answering
patient phone calls—this does help out a lot.
EO: We cover two hospitals for call: Cooper Green and University. The nightfloat
system is in place at University, and then we have people at Cooper Green
for a particular rotation who cover most of the call during the week, one night a
week, and the general call pool team covers the weekend and Friday. Everyone
takes their turn. The biggest change at Cooper Green is that one resident covers
there with an attending present at all times, except for Thursdays when there are
two people there. We’ve had to have our third-year on night float at University
act as a floater at Cooper Green—they’ll help out if it gets busy there.
ET: Our department has increased the number of residents that it’s getting
every year. I think we increased by five this past year and that we’ll be increasing
by five for the next several years.
Restricted duty hours give residents more time to rest and catch up on their
reading, says Laurence Rosenberg. “We’re here to learn and be educated—
that’s the point of residency.”
ET: Most of our ward medicine months have a night-float system where some
member of the team is on every fourth night and night float comes in to help
them, but the other members get to go home. Ultimately, you have to spend
every eighth night at the hospital, but the team is on call every fourth. The subspecialty
services are a little different. In pulmonary, for instance, there are five
of us, but only one member takes call every night. In medicine, at least, we
never have call nights more frequently than every fourth night, but then they
range from every fourth night to every eighth night.
On a personal level, how is your situation now that these limits are in place?
LR: It affects the junior-level residents a little more than the senior-level residents,
but I am able to read more and I’m not fatigued all the time. I can clearly
feel a difference; it allows me to be more communicative and have a more
positive attitude. I think that’s a true benefit from the patient’s standpoint.
Do you think this system is working out well?
LR: I think it works well. Nothing’s perfect, and every situation has problems,
but the old way had problems too. I know that, overall, most people are significantly
happier in terms of their ability to complete and tolerate five years of a
general-surgery residency.
EO: As a chief, I’ve been here going on four years now, and I think that our faculty
and residents have a great rapport and work together very well. I think the
80-hour workweek has made us a tighter group; we’ve had to rely on each other
for coverage, and it’s brought us even closer together.
ET: There is still some tweaking to be done, but I think for the most part it’s
worked out. From a patient-care perspective, there were a lot of problems with
residents being so grossly overworked. We can’t take our education out on the
patients that are here for care.
How have the new rules affected hospitals that employ residents?
LR: In the past, it wouldn’t be uncommon for residents to work 110 to 115
hours a week, and if they can now only work 80 hours a week, that time has to
be made up. There was no argument that a lot of the time residents are in the
hospital is a waste of their time—they’re not being educated or doing productive
things to learn. Instead, they’re doing tasks that in other places are done
administratively but, because residents are the cheapest form of labor, the residents
have to do them.
How have the new rules affected your department?
LR: In surgery, either our director—Dr. Kirby Bland—or the hospital has hired
With in-house call limited to every fourth night, Elizabeth Turnipseed and fellow
residents have more time for family and hobbies.
EO: I have a four-and-a-half-month-old daughter, so it’s given me more time
at home with my family. I think going home post-call has allowed me to be
rested and get some sleep. I think I’m more efficient the next day because I’m
not so tired and not taking a ton of calls a month. Being a chief and looking
for a job this past year, it’s also allowed me the time needed to interview.
ET: It’s definitely been a busy year, but it’s not overwhelming. I do come in
early in the morning, but I leave the hospital in time to go home and see my
family. I think it’s nice to know that there’s a little bit of predictability to it.
Looking at the residency program in general, there are a lot of residents who
are married, who have children, who have hobbies—I think that’s a good indicator
that it’s working.
19

From the Development Office
California Alumnus Funds Endowed Lectureship for Montgomery Program
By Dawn Mesa
S. Rexford Kennamer, M.D., recently made a
generous gift to the School of Medicine that provided
for the establishment of the S. Rexford
Kennamer, M.D., Endowed Lectureship in Internal
Medicine for the Montgomery Internal Medicine
Residency Program. Kennamer, who has spent the
majority of his professional life in California, was
raised in Montgomery and is eager to help the cause
of medical education in his hometown. The gift will
be used to establish a lectureship that will support
education for residents, fellows, faculty, and private
practitioners in the Montgomery area, and to bring
renowned physicians to the area.
Kennamer graduated from the two-year program
of the Medical College of Alabama in 1943,
then went on to finish his medical degree at
Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. He
served his internship at Jackson Memorial
Hospital in Miami and his residency in internal
medicine at Veteran’s Hospital in Dallas before
heading even farther west—to stay. Kennamer
completed a fellowship in cardiology at Cedars of
Lebanon Hospital in Los Angeles and the UCLA
School of Medicine. In 1954, he opened a private
cardiology practice in Beverly Hills and during the
course of his career was the personal physician to
such stars as Gary Cooper, Frank Sinatra, and
Elizabeth Taylor.
Among his career achievements, Kennamer was a
longtime co-investigator in the research lab at
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (CSMC); served as
clinical chief of cardiology at CSMC; was named a
fellow of the American College of Physicians; and is
founder and president of the Western Cardiac
Foundation, which helps fund cardiac research and
biomedical teaching.
Over the years, Kennamer has funded a variety of
educational initiatives, including the Kennamer
Fellowship Program in internal medicine at CSMC
and the UCLA Medical Center.
PROGRAMS WORTH SUPPORTING:
Division of Infectious Diseases
By Dawn Mesa
The Division of Infectious Diseases in the Department of Pediatrics does
not focus solely on medicine for children. In fact, collaborative research programs
currently in place in the division are making a difference in the lives of
both children and adults.
Directed by Richard Whitley, M.D., the division is one of 14 within the
Department of Pediatrics. With 21 faculty members, the division has a primary
focus on herpes viruses, but there are several faculty members who delve
into areas outside this arena, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome
(SARS), West Nile virus, and the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The
division brings in about $18 million in annual support from the National
Institutes of Health (NIH), second only to the Division of Hematology/
Oncology division in NIH support at UAB.
“What’s fun about this division,” says Whitley, “is that our people not only
really like to do research, but they also like to take care of patients as well.
When you look at the division’s research interests, we focus our work on herpes
viruses, but we also recognize the need to move into emerging infections
and microbial agents that compromise our nation’s biodefense—areas which
have now become key components of the division.”
With this in mind, Whitley himself is a co-chair of the newly formed
Southeast Regional Center of Excellence for Emerging Infections and Biodefense
(SERCEB), of which UAB is a member institution—as are Duke University,
Emory University, the University of Florida, the University of North Carolina,
and Vanderbilt University. The consortium is centered at Duke and led by
Barton Haynes, M.D., of the Duke Human Vaccine Institute.
The consortium will initially work on developing new vaccines, diagnostics,
and treatments for orthopox viruses (including smallpox and monkeypox),
bacillus anthracis (anthrax), and yersinia pestis, the bacteria that causes
plague. SERCEB also will develop new vaccines to prevent emerging infections,
including SARS (Dr. Sullender), and innovative diagnostics (Drs.
Lakeman and Sullender) and new drugs to treat infections for which current
treatments may not be optimal.
In addition to SERCEB, there is other cutting-edge research taking place
within the division. Much work is being done to study congenital
cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection (Drs. Britt, Boppana, Fowler, and Pass)—
the most common cause of congenital infection in the United States today, one
with a societal cost of about a billion dollars a year. Whitley notes, “From the
perspective of the National Academies of Science, they’ve made it their highest
priority to find methods to prevent the infection.”
The division also has made CMV research a high priority—both its molecular
aspects and the mechanics of the body’s response to the virus. Work is
being done to develop third- or fourth-generation vaccines against the virus
and to prevent hearing loss in children afflicted with the condition.
Additional studies are underway to implement a national screening program
for babies at risk for hearing impairment due to CMV.
Other important research in the division comes by way of the gene therapy
group, which includes Drs. Parker, Cassady, and Markert. In particular,
20

says Whitley, “we are using genetically engineered herpes simplex virus to treat
the tumors of glioblastoma multiforme—the most lethal form of brain cancer—and
understand how the tumor and virus interact, which is leading to the
design of new viruses that are more active in the tumor. The ultimate goal is to
have a virus that can be administered intravenously to go directly to the tumor
and ‘shell’ it out.”
Developing new antiviral drugs is another research focus in the division.
Funding has recently been awarded to develop orthopox vaccines that will treat
the viruses that are a factor in bioterrorism and emerging infections, such as
smallpox and monkeypox, as led by Drs. Earl Kern and Mark Pritchard. It is
hoped that these vaccines will
“We focus our work
on herpes viruses, but
we also recognize the
need to move into
emerging infections
and microbial agents
that compromise our
nation’s biodefense.”
— Richard Whitley
be available for use in patients
in the fall of 2004.
Other projects in the division
include the development of
HIV intervention techniques
for adolescents (Drs. Wilson
and Crain), as well as hospital
models for improved antibiotic
usage and ambulatory care (Dr.
Hutto) so that children won’t
have to be kept in hospitals for
long periods of time. Plans are
also in the works to develop a
protocol to treat SARS and West
Nile virus.
“At the end of the day,” says
Whitley, “the division is primarily
focused on virology, but we have a lot of fun in terms of addressing the contemporary
needs of the population at large, not just the needs of children.”
For more information on how you can help the division further its research,
please contact Jennifer Philpot in the Development Office at (205) 975-7298,
or see the envelope enclosed in this issue. To learn more about the work being
done in the division, please visit its Web site at [main.uab.edu/uasom/2/
show.asp?durki=23257].
PROGRAMS WORTH SUPPORTING:
Sparks Clinics Rett Syndrome Clinic
By Doug Gillett
For the first six to 18 months, everything appears normal. Then the girls
start to regress. They lose any progress they made in learning to walk, as well
as whatever vocabulary they’ve developed. They don’t make eye contact the
way they used to. And they engage in strange, constant hand motions like
wringing their hands or pulling at their hair. The worst part is that this
regression is permanent—these girls will grow and develop little over the
remainder of their lives.
The disease that has subjected thousands of baby girls to this fate, Rett
syndrome, was first diagnosed by an Austrian pediatrician in the 1960s. But
it was only in the early 1980s that the world began taking notice. Since then,
Alan K. Percy, M.D.—director of the Sparks Clinics and associate director
of the Civitan International Research Center—has dedicated himself to
tracking down the syndrome’s causes and devising treatment.
21
“We always thought it was a genetic condition, because it only affected
girls,” he says. “The unusual thing about it is that it rarely recurs in the family,
so that made traditional genetic-linkage studies impossible.”
Working with Rett expert Huda Zoghbi, M.D., in Houston, Percy located
a gene with which the syndrome was associated, and he says that 80 to 85
percent of the girls who meet the clinical criteria for Rett syndrome have
mutations in that gene. Researchers have identified more than 200 different
mutations, but eight specific mutations make up the vast majority of those
cases, Percy explains.
“By the nature of this gene, we think we have at least a ballpark idea of what
the problem is—the connections that nerve cells make with each other, the
synapses, are not formed stably, or they’re not formed at all,” he says. “And if
they are formed, they’re not maintained properly, so the brain itself doesn’t
develop the way it would in a normal person.” Estimates once put the incidence
of the disease at one in 40,000 females, but the frequency increased as
doctors got better at differentiating the syndrome from disorders that had similar
symptoms, such as autism and cerebral palsy. Incidence is now estimated
at approximately one in 20,000.
continued on next page

continued from previous page
Alan K. Percy has spent decades investigating
Rett syndrome.
From the Development Office
Percy has a rare-disease grant proposal in the works to
study the natural history of the disorder. “The only way we
can do that is to follow large numbers of girls and women
over time to see how they mature,” he says. “Then we’ll
have some kind of composite information. . . . And if we
collect a significant number of girls with each of those
mutations, perhaps we can make inferences about what one
mutation does versus another.”
UAB’s database contains information on more than
150 girls, in addition to more than 300 in the database
Percy started during his time at the Baylor College of
Medicine. “The goal of this natural-history study, which
is being conducted between the two locations, is to follow
1,000 girls,” he says.
“Our costs are minimized by the fact that the clinic visits
are free—the families simply have to get here,” Percy
explains. “We will see girls up to age 12 twice a year, and over
age 12 once a year. We’re not trying to become the physicians
for these girls—they’ll remain with their own doctors, wherever
they are. We just want to have the information.”
These efforts have applications beyond research. The work
is proving to be an invaluable resource for families, Percy says,
“because we’ve gathered things from our own experience as
to how to approach various aspects of care.”
Families need all the help they can get. Girls with Rett
syndrome are classified as “total-care,” meaning they need
lifelong assistance with everyday concerns such as feeding,
transportation, and hygiene; they also experience a higher
incidence of health problems ranging from constipation
and gastric reflux to scoliosis so severe it requires surgery.
“We’ve learned a great deal about that,” Percy says. “So
there are aspects of this disorder for which we’ve become
a resource for people all over the country.”
For more information on how you can contribute to
the efforts of the Sparks Clinics Rett Syndrome Clinic,
please contact Jennifer Philpot in the Development Office
at (205) 975-7298, or see the envelope enclosed in this
issue. In addition, to learn more about the work being
done in the clinic, please visit its Web site at
[www.circ.uab.edu/Sparks/Rett/index.html].
PROGRAMS WORTH
SUPPORTING:
Division of Orthopaedic Surgery
By Russ Willcutt
Knees are necessary. That’s why research being
conducted in the Division of Orthopaedic Surgery
is so important. Not only are they working to
design better artificial-knee mechanisms, they’re
testing those that have been in use for some time,
and then removed, to examine the wear and tear
they’ve undergone—all in an attempt to provide
better future materials and designs.
“We’re working with the Department of
Biomedical Engineering both to design new totalknee
replacement mechanisms, along with other
components, and to examine those we’ve retrieved
through replacement procedures—known in the
orthopedic community as ‘device retrieval and analysis,’
” says Jack Lemons, M.S., Ph.D., who is the
director of laboratory surgical research for the
22
Far left: Jack Lemons.
Left: The orthopaedic
surgery division’s analysis
of wear and tear on
existing artificial knee
mechanisms will help
engineers design
stronger, more durable
joints for elderly patients.
Division of Orthopaedic Surgery in the School of
Medicine and Prosthodontics and Biomaterials in the
School of Dentistry. “We receive about 400 devices
each year, and we rely on residents and graduate students
to perform the majority of the analyses.”
The program is mostly funded internally at this
point, with additional funds provided by the National
Institutes of Health (NIH)—but more help is needed.
“While we need stipends for the students and
money to cover the costs of materials, what we need
more than anything is to be able to purchase new
equipment and to refurbish our labs,” Lemons says.
He adds that he has hopes of gaining new laboratory
space in the Shelby Building once it’s completed,
but there is still the matter of the new equipment
that will be needed to continue the division’s
research and achieve successful outcomes.
“To re-outfit our current facilities, we’d need
something along the lines of half a million to a million
dollars,” he says. “The various micro- and nanohardness
machines, for instance, can cost anywhere
from $30,000 to $250,000, but the return on that
investment can be quite substantial.”
While these devices are sometimes used to aid
trauma victims or younger individuals afflicted
with osteoarthritis, the vast majority of the patients
who will benefit from the division’s research findings
are elderly. “We’re constantly looking to the
NIH and the National Science Foundation for
funding,” Lemons says. “But we also feel that there
might be members of the community who would
be interested in furthering our efforts, too.”
To learn more about contributing to this worthy
cause, including naming opportunities, contact
Jeannie Horton at (205) 325-8660, or see the
envelope enclosed in this issue. In addition, to
learn more about the work being done in the division,
please visit its Web site at [main.uab.edu/
uasom/2/show.asp?durki=23738].

Lanier Gifts Support
Neurology Research
Family Foundation Aids Efforts to Solve Parkinson’s Disease
By Matt Windsor
When Ray L. Watts, M.D., came to the UASOM from Emory University last
year, he brought with him decades of research into neurological disorders and
an invaluable partner: the Sartain Lanier Family Foundation.
The charitable organization, founded by successful apparel businessman Sartain
Lanier, had a history of contributions to Vanderbilt University and Atlanta-area
institutions such as Emory. But personal tragedy brought the foundation into contact
with Watts, and the relationship has continued to flourish in Birmingham.
An expanding neurology department is working on treatments for Parkinson’s,
Alzheimer’s, and more, says Ray L. Watts.
“My longtime patient, Vance Lanier [vice chairman of the foundation’s board
of trustees and Sartain’s son], was a very strong supporter of Parkinson’s
research—he had Parkinson’s himself,” Watts explains. “He passed away in
December of 2003, but the family and the foundation continue a strong interest
in helping to solve Parkinson’s disease.”
Watts has received gifts of $300,000 from the foundation both last year and
in 2004, and those gifts are helping support research efforts in the UAB
Parkinson Disease and Movement Disorders Center. The center, designated by
the National Institutes of Health in 2003, offers comprehensive clinical care,
conducts clinical research to evaluate novel treatment options for the disease,
and educates health-care professionals and the public.
Philanthropic support will also help Watts and colleagues reach two ambitious
goals, he says: “What brought me back to UAB was the opportunity to
help build on the excellence already present in the Department of Neurology,
and perhaps even more important, the opportunity to work with others at UAB
in an effort to build a comprehensive Neurosciences Center of Excellence and
position that center to become a national and international leader in the coming
five to 10 years.”
To achieve those goals, “we’re going to recruit about 25 additional faculty in Neurology,
half of whom will be laboratory research-oriented, and half of whom will be
clinical research-oriented,” says Watts. The expansion will double the size of the
department; plans call for Neurology to move to the Sparks Building so it will be in
close proximity to investigators in Psychiatry, Neuropathology, and Neurobiology.
“That’s what it will take to get us to a size comparable to the best departments in
the nation,” he says. “And if we recruit the right people, then with them will come
excellent clinical programs, research programs, and educational programs.”
23
Film Premiere Benefits 1917 Clinic
By Dawn Mesa
A bit of Tinseltown came to Birmingham this past November,
when a Hollywood-style movie premiere at the Alabama Theatre
was held to benefit UAB’s AIDS Outpatient (1917) Clinic.
The Trip was produced by two Alabama natives, producer
Houston King and executive producer Tom Blount. “The benefit
was our most successful ever, in a number of ways,” says Michael
Saag, M.D., director of the clinic. “Financially, we netted more than
$31,000 for the clinic, which is
quite remarkable … and even
more important, the turnout
was quite phenomenal.”
The clinic, which opened in
1988, conducts high-quality
research protocols in both the
clinical science and basic science
arenas, provides education
to health-care providers, and
establishes vital links with the
patient community and general
population through orchestrated
outreach programs. The
clinic provides many services to
individuals living with HIV/
AIDS, including an outpatient
treatment clinic, research clinic,
dental clinic, women’s HIV
clinic, and oncology clinic. The
1917 Clinic also serves as one
of 28 federally funded AIDS
Clinical Trials Group sites
involved in the evaluation of
experimental therapeutics.
Looking ahead, the clinic is
planning to host additional fundraising
events—though not on
the scale of a Hollywood-type
movie premiere. Presently, plans
are under way to host a theater-type event later this year. In addition,
volunteer opportunities are available for those interested in assisting
in the clinic. For more information on how you can help the 1917
Clinic and its patients, please contact Rebecca Lark in the
Development Office at (205) 975-6149.
While Watts is an internationally known leader in Parkinson’s research, his
department’s interests run the gamut of neurological problems. “We want to
understand basic normal processes in the brain,” he says, “but our real focus is
on understanding disease mechanisms so that we can develop new and better
treatments in many different areas: Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s, brain
tumors, stroke, multiple sclerosis—you name it.”
A Birmingham native, Watts says he relishes his return to the campus where
he earned undergraduate degrees in electrical and biomedical engineering. “I
love UAB, and I love Alabama, so it’s great to be back.”

2004 Alumni Weekend Report
The 31st annual Medical Alumni Weekend, February 27-28, 2004,
featured the traditional activities: the Reynolds Historical Lecture,
the Alumni Association Board of Directors’ meeting, the Scientific
Program, the annual luncheon and association meeting, the
Constance and James A. Pittman Lecture, and 13 class reunion dinners.
We also featured two book signings just before the luncheon:
Martin L. Dalton Jr., M.D., class of 1957, brought his new book,
Champ Lyons: Surgeon; and former dean Clifton K. Meador, M.D.,
signed his newest publication, Med School.
REYNOLDS LECTURE
The 25th annual Reynolds Historical Lecture on Friday evening featured James
H. Thrall, M.D., lecturing on “Scientific Reductionism and 21st-Century
Radiology.” The lecture was presented in the Historical Library’s Ireland Room,
located in Lister Hill Library. It was followed by a reception sponsored by the
Reynolds Library and the Caduceus Club at the Woodward House.
SCIENTIFIC PROGRAM
Saturday morning, President Betty W. Vaughan, M.D., welcomed everyone to
the scientific program, “Medical Issues 2004.” Then she turned the program over
to chair Alan R. Dimick, M.D. There was something for everyone, starting with
the presentation on “Organization and Functions of the Jefferson County
Coroner/Medical Examiner’s Office,” by Robert M. Brissie, M.D. Brissie is professor
and director of the UASOM’s Division of Forensic Pathology and serves as
chief coroner/medical examiner of Jefferson County. Next on the program was
“The Management of Menopause” by R. Edward Varner, M.D., professor in the
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Sarah L. Morgan, M.D., associate
dean for research compliance and professor of nutrition science, followed with a
discussion titled “Osteoporosis 2004.” After the coffee break, Ray L. Watts,
M.D., professor and chair of the Department of Neurology, presented “Recent
Advances in the Understanding of Parkinson’s Disease.” The program closed with
a fascinating presentation, “Skin Grafting Between Burned Twins,” by William
D. Hardin, M.D., associate professor of surgery and director of the Burns and
Trauma Center at Children’s Hospital.
ANNUAL LUNCHEON
President Vaughan presided over the annual luncheon, held at the Birmingham
Marriott. The traditional awards were presented as follows:
2004 DISTINGUISHED ALUMNUS
In recognition of outstanding contributions in the field of medicine and
demonstration of the high principles of the medical profession
Norman E. McSwain Jr., M.D., FACS
Norman E. McSwain Jr., M.D., is a native of Albertville, Alabama. He received
his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee,
in 1959 and graduated from the Medical
College of Alabama in 1963. He is currently
professor of surgery in the Department
of Surgery at Tulane University School of
Medicine in New Orleans, Louisiana, and
has been the visiting clinical professor for
NASA at the Johnson Space Center in
Houston, Texas, since 2002.
Over the course of his career, McSwain
Norman McSwain and his
daughter Merry.
24
has been the trauma director at Charity Hospital Level I Trauma Center, Medical
Center of Louisiana at New Orleans; special assistant, clinical medicine, at the
Johnson Space Center; and associate residency program director and director of the
Trauma Program in the Department of Surgery at Tulane University School of
Medicine. He has been a member of the teaching staff in the emergency department
at Charity Hospital of Louisiana at New Orleans and the attending staff at Tulane
Medical Center Hospital and Clinic and Charity Hospital. He has also served as
police surgeon at the New Orleans Police Department and medical director of the
New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.
McSwain is founder, medical director, and editor-in-chief of the PreHospital
Trauma Life Support (PHTLS) training program for the National Association of
Emergency Medical Technicians (NAEMT). The program has trained more than
300,000 pre-hospital providers in 37 countries since it started in 1981. He has
served as a member of the Prehospital Care Committee of the American College
of Surgeons (ACS), and as chair and initial member of the ad hoc committee to
start the Advanced Trauma Life Support program (ATLS) for the ACS. This program
has trained more than 400,000 physicians since 1980. He also founded the
Emergency Medical Technician Training Program at the University of Kansas
School of Medicine and served as chair from 1973–1977.
McSwain is certified with the American Board of Surgery (1972); National
Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians–Ambulance (1978); and National
Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians–Paramedic (1980).
He has physician certificates in diving medicine from the International Society of
Aquatic Medicine in Los Angeles, California, and hyperbaric medicine from St.
Luke’s Hospital in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He also has a divemaster certificate from
the National Association of Underwater Instructors and an enriched air (nitrox) diver
certificate from Technical Diving International in Coral Star, Bahamas. He was a
founding member of the board of directors and director of Continuing Medical
Education for the International Society of Aquatic Medicine from 1975–1995.
A prolific writer, McSwain has authored 26 books and 105 book chapters since
1976, contributed to 331 publications since 1968, and made more than 700 presentations
since 1972. His significant professional honors include the
Commendation Medal, United States Air Force (1965); NAEMT President’s
Leadership Award (1980, 1984, 2000); U.S. Naval Forces Central Command
Citation for Outstanding Performance as General Surgeon, Medical Treatment
Facility, USNS Comfort (T-AH 20), during Operation Desert Storm (1991);
Surgeons Award for Service to Safety, American College of Surgeons, American
Association for the Surgery of Trauma, National Safety Council (1998); and the
NAEMT’s Rocco V. Morando Lifetime Achievement Award (2002). In 2003, he
was named the Scudder Orator by the American College of Surgeons.
McSwain served as a captain in the United States Naval Reserve on active duty
from 1965–1967; he served in the Medical Corps of the Reserve from 1984–1995.
2004 HETTIE BUTLER TERRY COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD
For outstanding commitment to community service
James H. Alford Jr., M.D.
James H. Alford Jr., M.D., is a native of
Albertville, Alabama. He graduated from
Albertville High School in 1955 and earned
a Bachelor of Science degree from the
University of Alabama in 1959. He graduated
from the Medical College of Alabama in
1963 and remained there to complete his
internship and residency in obstetrics and
Susan and James Alford.
gynecology in 1968. He is a fellow of the
American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and is a member of several other
medical organizations, including the Medical Association of the State of Alabama
and the American Society of Addiction Medicine.
Alford is an active member of the Alabama Physicians Health Program and has

served on the Alabama Impaired Physicians Committee for the past four years. He
also serves on the boards of Recovery Ministries of the Episcopal Church and the
Council on Substance Abuse. For the past two years he has been active as a speaker
for the Alabama Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.
Since 1992, he has been a member of International Doctors in Alcoholics
Anonymous (IDAA). Founded in 1949, this organization has 4,500 doctorate-level
members of health-care professions who are recovering from addiction. IDAA is dedicated
to promoting recovery from addiction and its consequences for its members
and their families. Jim has served on the Steering Committee for the past four years;
last year he was the chair of the group’s annual meeting, which was held in Mobile,
Alabama, with more than 650 members and their families in attendance.
Jim is the father of three children: Vivian, Bradley, and Gregory. He and his wife,
Susan, live in Montgomery, where he has practiced medicine since 1968. They have
one grandson, Huston, and are anticipating the birth of a second grandchild this fall.
2004 GARBER GALBRAITH MEDICAL-POLITICAL SERVICE AWARD
For outstanding service to the medical profession
George C. Smith Sr., M.D., FAAFP
George C. Smith Sr., M.D., is a boardcertified
family physician from Lineville,
Alabama. He received his Bachelor of Science
degree in pharmacy from Howard College
and graduated from the Medical College of
Alabama in 1965. After an internship at
Lloyd Noland Hospital he opened his practice
in Lineville in 1966, and still practices
Wanda and George Smith.
family medicine there with three partners. But his avocation is cattle farming; he
and his wife, Wanda, live on their cattle farm in Lineville. They have five sons.
Currently, Smith is a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Behavioral
Community Medicine at the College of Community Health Services of the
University of Alabama. He is active in serving as a preceptor for medical students,
residents, and nurse practitioners. He also has been active in organized medicine
most of his career, as president of the Alabama Chapter of the American Academy
of Family Physicians, as a member of the board of directors of Alabama Quality
Assurance Foundation, and as a member of the task force on health-care reform.
He serves as an alternate delegate of the American Medical Association.
Smith was elected to the Board of Censors of the Medical Association of the
State of Alabama in 1994. He has served as chair of the Board of Censors, State
Board of Medical Examiners, and State Committee of Public Health since 2000.
to all first-year students at Harvard Medical School. His book based on this course,
Human Genetics: A Problem-Based Approach (published by Blackwell Science), is
currently in its second edition, and has been translated into Italian and Korean.
Korf is also co-editor of the fourth edition of Emery and Rimoin’s Principles and
Practice of Medical Genetics. He is president of the Association of Professors of
Human and Medical Genetics, and just completed a term as vice president for clinical
genetics of the American College of Medical Genetics. He also serves as a member
of the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, which accredits U.S. and
Canadian medical-education programs. His research interests focus on the natural
history and treatment of neurofibromatosis type 1.
SATURDAY EVENING REUNIONS
The reunion classes of 1949, 1954, 1959, 1964, 1969, 1974, 1979, 1984, 1989,
1994, and the classes of 1947, 1956, and 1958 gathered on Saturday evening for a
reception at the Marriott for all the classes, sponsored by the Medical Alumni
Association. After an hour of fellowship, each class went to a separate class dinner.
Special thanks go to alumni Tom Caldwell, M.D., Bob Lauderdale, M.D., John
Rochester, M.D., Walter Pittman, M.D., Richard Lytle, M.D., George Adams,
M.D., Jimmy Chambers, M.D., Karl Egerman, M.D., Bill Staggers, M.D., Kevin
A large and voluble crowd made up of several decades of medical school
alumni filled the Marriott for the Saturday evening reunions.
Hornsby, M.D., Bill Beasley, M.D., Alan Dimick, M.D., Frank Waldo, M.D., and
Bob Adams, M.D., for all their help with reunions. Jimmy Chambers and Karl
Egerman raised the bar for everyone else—they worked the phones for their 1974
class, and were rewarded with record attendance!
The class reunions are a highlight of the Alumni Weekend each year. If you have
a reunion coming up in 2005 (if your class ends in a “5” or “0”) and would like to
help, please call Elaine Chambless at the Medical Alumni Office at (205) 934-4463.
CONSTANCE S. AND JAMES A. PITTMAN LECTURE
The Pittman lecture featured Bruce R. Korf, M.D., Ph.D., with a presentation
titled “Medicine in Transformation: Integration of Genetics into
Medical Practice”
Bruce R. Korf, M.D., Ph.D.
Bruce R. Korf, M.D., Ph.D., received his medical
degree from Cornell University Medical College and
his doctorate in genetics and cell biology from
Rockefeller University. He then completed training in
pediatrics, pediatric neurology, and genetics at
Children’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. He
served as clinical director in the Division of Genetics at
Children’s Hospital from 1986 to 1999 and as the medical
director of the Harvard-Partners Center for
Genetics and Genomics from 1999–2002. Currently he is the Wayne H. and Sara
Crews Finley Professor of Genetics and chair of the Department of Genetics at the
UASOM. In his previous appointment at Harvard Medical School, he served as codirector
of the course Genetics, Developmental and Reproductive Biology, taught
HERE’S TO SIXTY YEARS
The class that matriculated in 1943 held a 60-year reunion on December
5-6, 2003. One of their weekend activities was a luncheon at the Medical
Alumni Building featuring Kirby Bland, M.D. (’68), chair of the
Department of Surgery at the UASOM, as the speaker. Dewey White,
M.D., organized the host committee, which included Jack Alexander,
M.D., Robert M. Bryan, M.D., John Harris, M.D., William Kessler,
M.D., and Wiley Livingston, M.D.
25

medical alumni bulletin
CLASS NOTES
1955
GEORGE ELLIS RUDD received the Delta Chi
University of Alabama Jefferson J. Coleman Alumni
Award for personal and professional achievement in
August 2003. Rudd is retired from family practice
and lives in Pinson, Alabama.
1955 and 1960
SARA CREWS FINLEY AND WAYNE HOUSE
FINLEY were honored with the Lifetime Achievement
Award at the Health Care Heroes Awards
Luncheon on Nov. 4, 2003 at The Club in
Birmingham. They worked together for more than
35 years as geneticists and established the first medical
genetics program in the southeastern United
States at the UASOM in 1962. The Finleys’ program
was one of the first to be accredited by the
American Board of Medical Genetics in the early
1980s. Since retiring, they have continued at UAB
as professors emeriti and each serves on numerous
advisory boards and committees. Sara also was
nominated by representative Spencer Bachus at the
American Medical Women’s Association’s (AMWA)
Vision and Voice of Women in Medicine banquet.
Changing the Face of Medicine: Local Legends, a collaboration
between AMWA and the National
Library of Medicine, was created in an effort to
highlight the contribution of women physicians
around the country. Members of Congress were
invited to nominate women physicians from their
state who have made a significant impact in the field
of medicine.
1961
FLEMON CARDEN JOHNSTON JR. became
president of the American Academy of Pediatrics
(AAP) at the 2003 AAP National Conference and
Exhibition in New Orleans on November 3. He has
served as the president of the Alabama chapter of
the AAP, chair of the AAP’s Annual Chapter Forum
Committee, chair of the AAP Section on Pediatric
Emergency Medicine, and member of the AAP
board of directors. He has also served as president of
the Jefferson County Medical Society and the
Council of Medical Specialty Societies. Johnston
has contributed more than 600 health segments for
the television news program Kids M.D., seen on
more than 40 stations. He lives in Birmingham and
currently practices emergency medicine at
Children’s Hospital.
1964
WILLIAM E. DISMUKES has been named
Laureate of the Alabama Chapter of the American
College of Physicians (ACP). This high honor recognizes
senior physicians with “acknowledged excellence
and peer approval in the field of internal medicine.”
Dismukes received the award in recognition
of his exceptional career as a clinical educator and
investigator. He has been a fellow of the ACP since
1972, a master of the college since 1996, a governor
of the Alabama chapter of the ACP-ASIM from
1999–2003, a member of the Executive Committee
of the ACP-ASIM Board of Governors, and a member
of the Board of Trustees ACP Foundation. He
has been with the UAB faculty for 33 years, is professor
of medicine and microbiology and vice chair
of the Department of Medicine, and was selected as
one of the Top Ten Teachers in that department from
1995 to 2002. He also served as director of the clerkship
in medicine from 1972 to 1981 and was director
of the Department of Medicine’s residency training
program from 1981 to 2002. Dismukes lives in
Birmingham and specializes in infectious diseases.
1970
RICHARD C. DALE has been recognized by the
Alabama Quality Assurance Foundation as one of
Alabama’s outstanding Medicare providers for
patients receiving mammograms. To achieve this
recognition, claims data from the Centers for
Medicare and Medicaid Services had to suggest that
90 percent or more of the female Medicare patients
seen by Dale between July 1999 and June 2001 had
at least one mammogram. He is one of only 117
physicians in Alabama to be recognized for this
mammography indicator, which is identified by
expert panels as a health-care issue critical to the
care of female patients. Dale lives in Birmingham
and specializes in internal medicine.
26
1972
PINK L. FOLMAR JR. has been named Laureate
of the Alabama Chapter of the American College of
Physicians. This high honor recognizes senior physicians
with “acknowledged excellence and peer
approval in the field of internal medicine.” Folmar
received the award in recognition of extensive service
to organized medicine in the state. He has practiced
internal medicine at the Simon-Williamson
Clinic in Birmingham for 27 years. Folmar was
president of the 35-physician clinic from
1986–1989 and is a member of Baptist Princeton
Medical Center’s teaching faculty, where he currently
serves on the Baptist Regional Board of Trustees.
He has been a member of the School of Medicine
Dean’s Advisory Council, president of the Medical
Association of the State of Alabama (MASA), a
MASA and Jefferson County Medical Society
(JCMS) Board of Censors member, JCMS president,
and chair of the county Board of Health.
Folmar lives in Birmingham and specializes in internal
medicine.
1973
THOMAS F. DODSON is currently serving a second
year as secretary-treasurer of the Georgia Surgical
Society. He was selected to the steering committee of
the Eastern Surgical Society in 2003 and selected by
his peers to be included in Best Docs in America for
2003-2004. He continues as program director and
vice chair for education in the Department of
Surgery at Emory University. Dodson lives in
Atlanta, Georgia, and specializes in vascular surgery.
1973
ROBERT EDWARD MORRIS was appointed as
chief of staff of Callahan Eye Foundation Hospital
by the board of directors of The Eye Foundation,
Inc. He assumed his duties in April 2003 and is the
first chief of staff for the hospital, which joined the
UAB Health System in July 1997. Morris is an
associate professor in the Department of
Ophthalmology, the immediate past president of
the CEFH Medical Staff, president of the Helen
Keller Foundation for Research and Education,
president of the International Society for Ocular
Trauma, and a member of the board of directors for
the United States Eye Injury Registry. He lives in
Birmingham.
1973
EDWARD E. PARTRIDGE has stepped down as the
director of the Division of Gynecologic Oncology
after 13 years to devote more time to communitybased
research and service, particularly ongoing programs
for the underserved in cancer care, prevention,
and control. He will continue to see patients and
continue as vice chair of UAB’s Department of
Obstetrics and Gynecology, and associate director
for cancer prevention and control in the UAB
Comprehensive Cancer Center. He lives in
Birmingham and specializes in gynecologic oncology.
1974
GEORGE MARSHALL ADAMS retired March
31, 2004, after 30 years of family practice to enjoy
Italy and various avocations and diversions. He lives
in Tampa, Florida.
1978
MELINDA G. ROWE accepted the position of
commissioner of health for the Lexington-Fayette
County Health Department in Lexington, Kentucky,
on Nov. 1, 2003. She has served as health director

of the East Health District in Savannah, Georgia,
for the past two years and was previously the director
of health for the Louisville/Jefferson County
Health Department in Louisville, Kentucky, from
1995 to 2001. Rowe specializes in pediatrics and
public health.
1979
MICHAEL PAUL PRUITT was recently elected
vice president of the Jacksonville Psychiatric
Society. He lives in Neptune Beach, Florida, and
specializes in psychiatry.
1980
LEIGH FINCHER graduated from the University
of Arkansas School of Law, magna cum laude, J.D.,
in June 2003, and was awarded a health-law scholarship.
Her interest is in health-care policy as it
affects the doctor-patient relationship. She lives in
Fayetteville, Arkansas, and specialized in emergency
medicine.
1987 (Resident) 1988 (Fellow)
RONALD D. ALVAREZ has succeeded Edward
E. Partridge, M.D. (class of 1973), as director of
the Division of Gynecologic Oncology in UAB’s
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Alvarez
lives in Birmingham and specializes in OB/GYN.
1993
RICHARD “CLARK” CROSS was appointed as
assistant professor in UAB’s Department of
Anesthesiology by Alfred Habeeb Professor and Chair
David H. Chestnut (class of 1978). Cross is a diplomate
of the National Board of Medical Examiners
and the American Board of Anesthesiology. He lives
in Birmingham and specializes in anesthesiology.
1993
LETA LOU HERRING was recently appointed as
assistant professor in Prime Care by Nancy F.
Dunlap, M.D., Ph.D., chief of staff of The Kirklin
Clinic and medical director of TKC Primary Care
Services and Clinics. Herring is board-certified in
internal medicine and advanced cardiac, pediatric,
and trauma life support. She is a resident of
Birmingham and specializes in internal medicine.
1993
JENNIFER R. ROOT has been South Carolina’s
delegate to the American Medical Association
Young Physicians Section (AMA-YPS) for the past
two years and was elected this past summer to the
board of trustees of the South Carolina Medical
Association. She recently attended the annual
meeting of the American Society of Anesthesiologists
as a delegate from South Carolina. She resides in
Columbia, South Carolina, and specializes in
anesthesiology.
1995
STEVEN PRESLEY is on the faculty at Baptist
Health System in the Internal Medicine and
Transitional Year Residency Program. He lives in
Birmingham and has a small primary-care practice in
addition to his faculty and teaching responsibilities.
1995 (Resident)
JEFFREY D. KERBY was appointed as associate
professor in UAB’s Department of Surgery in July
2003 by Kirby I. Bland, M.D., professor and chair of
the department; and Loring W. Rue III, M.D., professor
and chief of the section of Trauma/Burns and
Surgical Critical Care. Kerby was appointed chief resident
during his residency, completed a research fellowship
at UAB, and was awarded a Ph.D. in biochemistry
and molecular genetics. A lieutenant
colonel in the U.S. Air Force, he provided direct surgical
support to U.S. forces during Operation
Enduring Freedom, for which he was awarded the
Air Force Joint Service Achievement Medal.
1996
LAWRENCE S. “LANCE” PRINCE was recently
appointed as assistant professor in UAB’s Department
of Pediatrics by Sergio Stagno, M.D., professor and
department chair. Prince is a resident of Vestavia
Hills, Alabama, and specializes in pediatrics.
1997
RANDALL SCOTT DAVIS was recently appointed
as assistant professor of medicine with a secondary
appointment in the Division of Hematology
and Oncology by Max D. Cooper, M.D., professor
and director of Development and Clinical
Immunology. Davis was the recipient of the
UASOM Walter B. Frommeyer Jr. Fellowship in
Investigative Medicine Physician Scientist Award
in 2000; he was honored with the J. Claude
Bennett Award for Excellence in Research in 2001
and 2002. Also in 2002, he received the UAB
Division of Hematology/Oncology Award for Best
Research Fellow. He is a resident of Birmingham
and specializes in internal medicine.
1998
SARAH MARIE BOYCE was recently appointed
as assistant professor in UAB’s Department of
Dermatology and director of cosmetic dermatologic
surgery by Professor and Chair Craig A. Elmets,
27
M.D. Boyce graduated cum laude from the
UASOM and received the Samuel Clements Little
Neurology Award. She was the recipient of a fouryear
Missouri Delta Medical Center scholarship, a
Russell Medical scholarship, and a Southern
Medical Association scholarship. She is a resident
of Birmingham and specializes in dermatology.
1999
REBECCA W. MILLER was appointed as assistant
professor of medicine by Professor Robert M.
Centor, M.D., director of the Division of General
Internal Medicine and associate dean for Primary
Care. Miller lives in Birmingham and specializes in
internal medicine.
1999
DIAMOND VROCHER III was appointed assistant
professor of medicine by Thomas Terndrup,
M.D., chair of UAB’s Department of Emergency
Medicine. Vrocher received the Dean’s Award for
Medical Student Excellence in Emergency
Medicine, presented by the Society for Academic
Emergency Medicine, in 1999. His clinical interests
center on acute treatment of stroke and hypertension
in emergency patients, and his current research
focuses on emergency management of neurovascular
emergencies. He lives in Birmingham.
2001/2003
PEILY SOONG AND AMANDA L. DUNCAN
were married in May 2003. Amanda (class of
2003) is currently a pediatrics resident at UAB.
Peily (class of 2001) will be practicing at Pediatrics
East after he completes his pediatric residency
training at UAB.
CORRECTION
JON D. HOLMES, class of 1997, specializes in
oral and maxillofacial surgery.

Alumni Association News
ALUM BABES
LAURA NORELL, class of 1991, announces the birth of her second
daughter, Alice, born Nov. 12, 2003. Alice joins her sister, Eva, who is
two-and-a-half years old. Norrell is the medical director of St. Luke’s
Women’s Center and department chair of OB/GYN at St. Luke’s Hospital
in San Francisco, California.
JOHN DAVID WHEELER II, class of 1992, and his wife, Alison,
announce the birth of twins Anna Wallace Wheeler and John David
Wheeler III on Dec. 9, 2003. John specializes in obstetrics and gynecology
in Huntsville, Alabama.
JENNIFER R. ROOT, class of 1993, and husband Forest Evans Jr.,
M.D., announce the birth of their first child, a baby boy; Finley Lloyd
Evans was born Jan. 14, 2004. Jennifer specializes in anesthesiology and
lives in Columbia, South Carolina.
V. SEENU REDDY, class of 1995, and wife Meera announce the birth of
their first child, Amelia Katheryn, born Sept. 21, 2003. Reddy recently
became board-certified in general surgery and is a senior fellow in the
Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Emory University. He lives in
Decatur, Georgia, and specializes in cardiothoracic surgery.
FRANK SCHEFANO III, class of 1998, and his wife, Mary Dell,
announce the birth of their daughter, Abby Della Schefano, born Sept.
12, 2003. She joins her sister, Anna Maria Schefano, who is seven. Frank
is the director of the Department of Anesthesiology at Arkansas Methodist
Medical Center in Paragould, Arkansas.
LESLIE HARRIS JR., class of 1999, and wife Katrina announce the birth
of their son Nicholas Harris, born Dec. 25, 2003. He joins sister Nyla
Harris, born Feb. 26, 2001. Leslie is currently clinical instructor of medicine
and director of the Ambulatory Care Clinic at the UAB Montgomery
Internal Medicine Residency Program. He lives in Montgomery, Alabama.
ANGELA H. REDMOND, class of 1999, and her husband, John, announce
the birth of their son Alex Michael Redmond, born Jan. 16, 2004. Angela
specializes in pediatrics, and she lives in Cullman, Alabama.
JOANNE CHEN MYERS, class of 2000, and her husband, Warren,
announce the birth of daughter Hayden Elizabeth Myers, born Jan. 24,
2004. Joanne joined OB/GYN of West Alabama in Tuscaloosa this June.
LISA J. RUSCHAK, class of 2000, and her husband, Scott, announce
the birth of their son Zachary Joseph Ruschak, born Feb. 17, 2004. Lisa
specializes in family practice and lives in Greeley, Colorado.
ELIZABETH (BETH) TURNER FALKENBERG, class of 2000, and her
husband, Mark, announce the birth of their son, Luke William
Falkenberg, born March 16, 2004. Beth lives in Birmingham and specializes
in radiation oncology.
IN MEMORIAM
CLYDE DAVIS MCLALLEN, 1943 graduate of the two-year school, died
Jan. 5, 2004. A native of Anniston, Alabama, he moved to Birmingham,
where he specialized in internal medicine.
JAMES MACON BURNETT, class of 1946, died Jan. 7, 2004. He
served in the U.S. Army from 1943 until 1946 and in the U.S. Air Force
from 1951 to 1952. He lived in Birmingham and had a family practice
until his retirement in 1988.
LAMAR MCWHORTER CAMPBELL, class of 1955, died Jan. 26,
2004. He was a member of the Jefferson County Medical Society, the
Alabama Medical Association, the American Medical Association, and the
Birmingham Surgical Society. He was a diplomate of the American Board
of Ophthalmology with certification in 1963, a past president of the
Birmingham Clinical Club, an instructor at the University of Alabama,
and a chief of the Division of Ophthalmology at the Baptist Medical
Center. He lived in Ashville, Alabama, and specialized in ophthalmology.
WILLIAM SAMUEL MITCHELL, class of 1955, died Feb. 15, 2004. He
was a general practitioner for 42 years and lived in Calera, Alabama.
CHARLES HAROLD SMITH, class of 1955, died June 28, 2003. He
lived in Montgomery, Alabama, and specialized in psychiatry.
ANDREW JACKSON GAY JR., class of 1955, died on Jan. 18, 2004.
He lived in Belfast, Maine, and specialized in ophthalmology.
OLIVER CHARLES MITCHELL, class of 1959, died Oct. 31, 2003. He
lived in Houston, Texas, and specialized in neurological surgery.
WILLIAM “BILL” LLOYD MITCHELL, class of 1963, died in June
2003. He was a fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and
Gynecologists. Mitchell resided and practiced OB/GYN in Enterprise,
Alabama, for 35 years. He also was a genealogist, computer programmer,
historian, pilot, and accomplished artist.
RICHARD DAVIS “DICK” HARP, class of 1964, died Dec. 30, 2003, in
Panama City, Florida. A native of Birmingham, he was a member of
numerous organizations, including the Medical Association of the State of
Alabama, the American Medical Association, the American College of
Radiology, and the American Academy of Radiology. He served on the
board of trustees for Walker Baptist Medical Center in Jasper, Alabama; as
president of the UASOM from 1983–84; and as founder and senior partner
of Radiology Associates of North Alabama, P.C. He was a recipient of
the Paul Harris Fellow Award from Rotary International for outstanding
achievement and community service. He specialized in radiology.
JAMES EUGENE THOMAS, class of 1976, died Dec. 15, 2003. Born
in Birmingham, Thomas moved to Troy, Alabama, where he opened a
medical practice in 1979. He retired in 2002.
28

Alumni Association News
Nation’s Pediatricians Select
UASOM Alumnus as New Leader
The nation’s pediatricians have chosen a new leader, and he’s one of
our own. Carden Johnston, M.D., FAAP, was elected as the vice president
of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) at the organization’s
annual meeting in June 2002. He took office as the president-elect in
October 2002 and recently began serving as president for 2003–2004.
The AAP is the nation’s largest pediatric organization, with more
than 58,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical specialists,
and pediatric surgical specialists.
In taking the office of president, Johnston has identified two issues he
believes are essential to securing optimal child health and well being.
“My first priority is financial access to health care for all grandchildren,”
he says. “As a grandparent myself, I know firsthand how important
grandchildren are to their grandparents. To that extent, I believe pediatricians
and grandparents are natural allies.” With this in mind, Johnston
plans to work with the AARP on several child-related health projects.
Johnston’s other issue of primary importance as he takes office is
obesity prevention in children. Today’s children are heavier than
ever—a trend that shows no sign of slowing down any time soon.
Johnston says, “By tracking body-mass indexes in children, we have an
opportunity for early detection of those who are becoming overweight
or obese. Prevention is the cornerstone of pediatric care, and I believe
we can advance our advocacy efforts by exporting obesity-prevention
strategies into our other prevention activities. This is crucial not only
for our children today but also for our adults tomorrow; adult disease,
after all, begins in childhood.”
Johnston currently practices at Children’s Hospital and has served as
past president of the Alabama chapter of the AAP, chair of their Annual
Chapter Forum Committee, chair of their Section on Pediatric
Emergency Medicine, and a member of the AAP Board of Directors.
WHY BELONG TO THE MEDICAL
ALUMNI ASSOCIATION?
By Paul S. Howard, M.D.
It was February 1975. I was expecting a letter any day from the
UASOM Admissions Committee. Henry Hoffman had assured me
that my acceptance was imminent; nonetheless, I was anxious, uncertain,
and frankly scared of what the next four years might entail. I had
no idea what a doctor-in-training did, nor was I certain that I had
made the correct decision in applying to medical school. Yet even with my personal misgivings,
the notion of becoming a doctor made my parents so very proud that I knew it was my destiny.
The next four years would be the most intense and satisfying of my young life. Not only did
we all learn to be doctors, we were also required to make irrevocable decisions regarding future
training. These decisions shaped our future and were considered without enough information. I
suppose most of us chose well. Regardless, we as a group had achieved greatly. We would then
stumble forward into our careers forever known as the “class of 1979.”
I still see, talk with, and enjoy the company of many of my medical school classmates.
Although we rarely speak of it, we are all proud of our school. Whenever a UAB doctor is
quoted in the national press or UAB is touted as an important place, we all suppress a grin
and find ourselves walking a little taller. Many of us remember when today’s famous surgeon
or internist was a young faculty member or even our junior resident. Whether we will
admit it or not, we take collective pride in our medical school, our achievements, and the
achievements of all alumni.
The ultimate mission of the Alabama Medical Alumni Association is to be a voice for its membership.
We remain proud of who we are and where we come from. I like to think of UAB as an
institution not of bricks and mortar but one built on the history of its medical alumni. Our collective
memories and experiences are the foundation of a great school. Tinsley, Champ, and
Garber still reside in the clinics, labs, and operating rooms where we were created. Their legacy
must be nurtured and protected for the students and residents of today. We, the medical alumni,
are the ones to keep the traditions alive; it should be our charge to be the collective memory
of those who preceded us. Our mission is to remind the leaders of today where we have been and
on whose shoulders we have all ridden.
Is there a better reason to belong to the Medical Alumni Association? I think not.
Alumni, Let Us Hear From You
Please take a few minutes to share with us any personal or professional news for
publication in a future issue of the Alabama Medical Alumni Bulletin.
Name ______________________________________________ Today’s date __________ Year graduated ________ Specialty _______________________
Home address ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Business address ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Phone (H) _____________________ (W) ____________________ E-mail _________________________________________ Fax _________________
Spouse’s name ____________________________________ Children (if recent, include date of birth) __________________________________________
Personal/professional update (List names/dates of recent publications, awards, honors.)
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Please return this form to: Elaine Chambless - Director of Alumni Affairs
The University of Alabama Medical Alumni Association - MAB • 811 20th Street South • 1530 3RD AVE S • BIRMINGHAM AL 35294-2140
29

Alumni Profile
Alumni Profile: The Schmitt Family, M.D.s
By Sandra Bearden
medicine. “But a lot of his golfing buddies were
doctors, and several took an interest in my future
career,” Kim says. “One of them gave me discarded
medical journals to read when I was only 12 or
13. I didn’t know what the heck I was looking at,
but the gesture was encouraging. Another friend
of my dad’s arranged for me to go into an operating
room to observe surgery when I was in high
school. That was a great experience for me.”
“My parents were
great believers in
education as a key to
preparation for life.”
— Kim Schmitt
Kim and Lee Schmitt.
If Kim Schmitt had chosen tap-dancing, would her younger
brothers have followed in her footsteps as fledgling Fred Astaires?
The world will never know. Kim opted for a medical career,
and that influenced brothers Adam and Lee Schmitt to become
physicians, too. All three are graduates of the University of
Alabama in Tuscaloosa and the UASOM. All three—Kim (’81),
Adam (’90), and Lee (’90)—completed residencies at University
Hospital. And all three practice medicine in the Birmingham area.
There the similarities end. They’re siblings, but not clones.
Kim Schmitt, M.D., practices otolaryngology as well as head and
neck surgery at Medical Center East. Adam Schmitt, M.D., is an
emergency physician at Shelby County Medical Center. And Lee
Schmitt, M.D., is a general surgeon at Medical Center East.
Although the three all chose medical careers, medicine is a
family business only in their generation. As the eldest, Kim led
the other two in that direction.
“As far back as I can remember, I wanted either to be a doctor
or a tap-dancer,” she laughs. “My parents [Vernon Neil Schmitt
of Leeds and the late Jean Schmitt] were great believers in education
as a key to preparation for life. So the tap-dancing idea didn’t
go over very well.
“I knew I was going to have a career, even though I was born
in 1955, when women didn’t prepare for careers. But my mother
was forward-thinking in this regard. And it happened that my
pediatrician was Dr. Vera Stewart. So I had a role model, and in
my early years I thought all doctors were female.”
The Schmitts’ father, who went to college on the GI Bill while
his wife worked to help support the family, practiced law, not
Kim’s enthusiasm for medicine caught hold
with Adam, the middle child, and Lee, the
youngest, both several years younger than she. By
the time they were ready to start thinking of
careers, she was enrolled at the UASOM.
“I think I deliberately tried to influence Adam,” she says. “Why
one does this, I don’t know. But I really was enthralled with medicine
and thought Adam would be a good doctor. I didn’t try so
hard to influence Lee. I thought he had his mind set on law.”
He did. “I majored in English and was planning to enter law
school,” says Lee Schmitt. “But I used to visit Kim’s Southside
apartment when she was in med school, look at her books, and
learn about her work. Somewhere along the way, I switched to premed,
took the required science courses, and entered the UASOM.”
In deciding on a specialty, Lee wanted to “do something that
would permit me to work with my hands,” and completed a residency
in general surgery at UASOM. Although he still does general
surgery, much of his practice in the past year has been in
laparoscopic weight-loss surgery.
Although she also has a clinical practice, Kim Schmitt became
interested in head and neck surgery during her surgical residency,
and also does a good deal of nasal and sinus surgery. “It’s delicate
surgery, and having small hands helps,” she says.
Adam Schmitt, like most emergency-department physicians,
keeps a frenetic pace and contributes interesting ED experiences
to the conversations at family get-togethers. “But there’s less shop
talk than you might think,” Lee comments.
While his children chose medicine, Vernon Schmitt may still
have an attorney in the family. Lee’s son Payton is still too young
to decide, but Kim’s 16-year-old daughter, Alexandra, an honor
student at Altamont School, has set her sights on law school.
30

Alumni Profile
Alumni Profile: Tracey Miles, M.D.
By Steve Dupont
Tracey Miles admits there are times she questions her career path.
“Sometimes when I’m still working at nine o’clock at night, I think, ‘If I were
a radiologist or a pathologist, I’d be home right now,’” she says with a hint of
irony. But Miles opted to forgo those more lucrative specialties. Instead she
chose family medicine—and the depth of her commitment is in proportion
to the needs of her patients.
Since beginning her post-residency work at Tuscaloosa’s Maude Whatley
Health Center in 1998, Miles has performed a sort of clinical balancing act,
weighing treatment options against economic realities. “I’m very mindful of
staying abreast of the latest treatments,” she says. “But usually it’s a matter of
what my patients can afford.” And in many cases, that’s not much. Upwards
of half her patients lack health insurance, and many live on fixed incomes. A
case in point is the victim of two strokes who faced a decision between buying
aspirin or food. Needless to say, he chose the latter—and, as a result,
increased his risk of suffering another stroke.
Having grown up in Fort Mitchell, Alabama, a humble community in its own
right, Miles knows firsthand how difficult it can be to escape the cycle of indigence.
“Out of all my friends, I was the only one who didn’t get pregnant in high
school,” Miles recalls. “And I was the only one to go to college.” It is an achievement
she attributes to the strong values reinforced at home. Despite the fact that
neither of her parents graduated from high school, they were strong believers in
the value of education. However, Miles’ own ambition was likely a prevailing
factor as well. After all, when asked when she decided to become a doctor, she
says, “I remember it very clearly. I was
11 years old.” Her inspiration? A
family pediatrician who treated her
numerous times during a year of nagging
health problems.
After receiving her high school
diploma, Miles headed to Macon,
Georgia, where she used a full scholarship
to study biology at Mercer
University. Then it was on to the
UASOM, where she began her medical
training on another generous scholarship,
this one compliments of the
National Health Service Corps. There
was just one string attached—an obligation
to work in an “underserved
community” after graduating in 1995.
As it turned out, her residency in
family practice at DCH Regional
“I’m very mindful of
staying abreast of the
latest treatments. But
usually it’s a matter
of what my patients
can afford.… What
keeps me going is
that I really know I’m
making a difference.”
— Tracey Miles
Medical Center in Tuscaloosa would prepare her especially well for the challenge
ahead. Then, as now, she had to combine her medical knowledge with
diplomacy and resourcefulness to help patients coping with the effects of diabetes,
high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke. “We’re kind of in the
‘stroke belt’ here,” Miles says; she believes this is the result of cultural and
socioeconomic factors, namely poor diet and lack of preventive care. Poor prioritizing
is also a factor for many of the patients she sees on a daily basis. “I
do have some patients who say they can’t afford care and then pull out their
cell phones,” she notes.
Clearly, Miles’ role in the clinic goes far beyond medicine. On any given day
she’s there for her patients, not only as a doctor but as a social worker, a nutritionist,
a financial counselor, and, most important, as a friend. “What keeps
me going,” Miles says, “is that I really know I’m making a difference.”
31

From the Archives: Alabama Healthcare Hall of Fame By Tim L. Pennycuff
University of Alabama School of Medicine alumni,
faculty, and administrators are featured prominently
in the recently installed Alabama Healthcare
Hall of Fame display on the UAB campus. The display,
unveiled last year in University Hospital’s West
Pavilion adjacent to the patient-discharge area, is
dominated by a mosaic of photographs of the
numerous individuals who have been inducted into
the Hall of Fame since it was founded in 1997. The
organization honors those who have worked in the
fields of medicine, dentistry, nursing, optometry,
pharmacy, public health, and allied health.
Pictures in the display include former UAB presidents
Joseph F. Volker, D.D.S., Ph.D.; S.
Richardson Hill Jr., M.D.; and Charles A.
McCallum Jr., D.M.D., M.D.; and former UASOM
faculty members J. Garber Galbraith, M.D.; Tinsley
R. Harrison, M.D.; Howard L. Holley, M.D.; John
W. Kirklin, M.D.; Roy R. Kracke, M.D.; Champ
Lyons, M.D.; and James S. McLester, M.D. Others
featured include alumni and faculty from the
UASOM’s earlier incarnations—as the Medical
College of Alabama—in Mobile, Tuscaloosa, and
Birmingham. Also included are photographs of campus
landmarks such as the Hillman and Jefferson
Hospitals, and scenes of clinical, surgical, and laboratory
work at various periods over the past decades.
The West Pavilion display could not possibly
accommodate photographs of all 76 individuals who
have thus far been inducted into the Hall of Fame
but the display does include a complete list of each
induction class honored by the organization.
UASOM alumni to be so honored include William
H. Cooner, M.D.; Sara C. Finley, M.D.; Wayne H.
Finley, Ph.D., M.D.; Carl A. Grote Sr., M.D.;
Charles A. LeMaistre, M.D.; Ira L. Myers, M.D.;
and Martha C. Myers, M.D. Also honored are
numerous current and former members of the faculty,
including Alston Callahan, M.D.; Jerome
Cochran, M.D.; Max D. Cooper, M.D.; Arnold G.
Diethelm, M.D.; Seale Harris, M.D.; Basil I.
Hirschowitz, M.D.; Sandral Hullett, M.D.; Josiah
C. Nott, M.D.; and James A. Pittman Jr., M.D.
Additional information, including biographical
summaries of all inductees and procedures for nomination,
can be found on the organization’s Web site
at [www.healthcarehof.org].
Members of the Alabama Healthcare Hall of Fame
Committee selected all of the images in the display.
Of the almost 60 photographs used, more than 80
percent came from UAB Archives, which has a photographic
collection numbering more than 50,000
images. The official archival repository for the
University of Alabama at Birmingham, the UAB
Archives collects and preserves material about UAB,
its schools, departments, and offices, and its faculty,
staff, and students. The Archives also include materials
that document the history of the health sciences in
Alabama and the South, with a considerable amount
of historical information about the UASOM, from its
founding in Mobile in 1859 until the present.
(Clockwise from top left) John W. Kirklin, M.D.;
the Healthcare Hall of Fame display, located in
University Hospital’s West Pavilion; Hillman
Hospital, circa 1905; Buford Word, M.D., S.
Richardson Hill Jr., M.D., and Charles A.
McCallum Jr., D.M.D., M.D., with the instruments
of J. Marion Sims at their donation to the
Reynolds Historical Library, 1965; Jefferson
Hospital, circa 1958; James S. McLester, M.D.,
with Hillman Hospital residents and interns,
1933–1934; (left) Tinsley R. Harrison, M.D.;
(right) Roy R. Kracke, M.D.
32

UASOM ANNUAL FUND
“While interviewing for residency positions and touring another
university’s facilities, a fellow applicant observed from my name
tag that I was from UAB. He had visited the campus a few
years earlier. ‘UAB … I was very impressed by the facilities
they had down there,’ he said. ‘What a great hospital!’ I
agreed with him and proceeded to tell him about the new
state-of-the-art hospital being built and the newly
approved Women and Infants Facility. The student was
extremely impressed, as was everyone I met on the interview
trail who had contact with UAB or a UASOMtrained
physician.
“These experiences impacted my decision about where to do
my residency. Why leave such a good thing? My classmates have
faced a similar scenario. Many of us will be here next year, because
the UASOM is the most impressive institution we have seen, and
it is only getting better.”
JAMIE WORTHEN
MS-IV Class of 2004 President
Every dollar you give to the University of Alabama School of Medicine
Annual Fund helps the school educate the next generation of physicians.
Make an investment that will last for generations.
Your gift, regardless of the amount, will make a difference. Please
take the time now to write a check payable to the School of Medicine
Annual Fund and return it in the attached envelope. All gifts are
tax-deductible.
For online gifts, go to [www.uab.edu/supportmedicine].
For more information, contact Meredith Murdock at (205) 934-4469.

CONTINUING MEDICAL EDUCATION SCHEDULE
This is a sampling of the dozens of live and online CME courses scheduled for the next several months. For a complete
listing, contact the UASOM Division of Continuing Medical Education at (205) 934-2687 or (800) UAB-MIST, or visit their
Web site at [www-cme.erep.uab.edu/home.asp].
Live CME Courses
August 2-7, 2004
“24th National Symposium for Healthcare Executives”; sponsored
by the Division of Continuing Medical Education and the Center
for Health Services Administration; 24.5 CME credits.
August 5-8, 2004
“Southeast Trauma Symposium”; sponsored by the Division of
Continuing Medical Education and supported by an unrestricted
educational grant from Smith & Nephew; 17 CME credits.
October 11, 2004
“UAB Emergency Medicine Program”; sponsored by the Division
of Continuing Medical Education and the UAB Department of
Emergency Medicine; supported by unrestricted educational
grants from Aventis, BMS, Elan, GlaxoSmithKline, Guilford,
Millenium, Pfizer, and Ortho McNeil; 3 CME credits.
October 17, 2004
“SMDM 26th Annual Meeting: Public Health Decision Making”;
sponsored by the Division of Continuing Medical Education and
the Society for Medical Decision Making; 22.5 CME credits.
Online CME Courses
“Diabetic Complications in the Elderly”; sponsored by the
Division of Continuing Medical Education; 1 CME credit.
“Highlights in Hyperlipidemia Treatment”; sponsored by the
Division of Continuing Medical Education; 1 CME credit.
“Evaluating a Clinical Approach to West Nile Virus”; sponsored by
the Division of Continuing Medical Education; 0.25 CME credit.
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