Greetings from the Chairman
Seth Landefeld, MD, Department of Medicine Chairman
I am delighted to update you on all that’s happening in the Department of Medicine. The Tinsley Harrison Internal Medicine Residency Program is the heart and soul of the Department. I attend on the Tinsley Service each July and January, where I have learned time and again that UAB provides the best clinical training anywhere. I welcome you to visit on service any time you’d like.
Like the Residency, the Department of Medicine is vital and thriving. Our 240 clinical faculty are growing our inpatient and outpatient programs, with 10% more patients coming to UAB each year. Cardiology’s four-year-old TAVR program, for example, has now provided more than 300 patients with aortic valves. This ranks us at #11 in the U.S. for volume. The outcomes have been life-altering, giving people like former Selma police chief Earnest Tate, a viable alternative to higher-risk open heart surgery.
Program Update: UAB Clinician Educator Track
“To hold my teacher in this art equal to my own parents; to make him partner in my livelihood…and to teach them this art,”
Teaching is an essential part of our profession and a fundamental aspect of the Hippocratic Oath, borrowing from the Latin meaning of the word “doctor.” Despite this ideal expectation, few physicians have any formal training in education or teaching skills. Beginning during the 2016-2017 academic year, fifteen residents will be participating in the newly developed UAB Clinician Educator Track. Designed for residents interested in a career in academic medicine, the track encourages exploration of medical education and mentorship for future clinician educators over a two-year curriculum.
Program Update: HD Track
The State of Alabama is ranked #49 in health outcomes overall, #47 in diabetes prevalence, #40 in smoking rates, and #46 in obesity.1 These facts are unsurprising to those of us on the front lines of providing health care in Alabama. In our interactions with patients, we often come across educational, socioeconomic, and cultural barriers that prevent us from providing the best possible medical care.
Program Highlights: Spring Party
Senior & Alumni Profile: Karam
George & Susan Karam with Drs. Coe and Cobbs
In every new issue of Letters to Tinsley, we interview a senior resident to learn more about the trainees that the residency calls friends and colleagues. We also interview an alumnus to learn about their current practice and the impact that UAB Residency training has made upon them. For this edition, we have a very special interview with resident Susan Karam with a bit of a twist. Susan’s father, Dr. George Karam, is a graduate of UAB internal medicine residency and served as chief medical resident from 1980-1981.
Program Highlights: Crawfish Boil
Alison & Jake Rogers at the 2016 Crawfish Boil.
On April 9th, the Internal Medicine Residency staff, leadership, and residents gathered at Dr. and Mrs. Heudebert’s house for a crawfish boil. This event followed the first of its kind, which occurred in 2013, with 150 lbs. of crawfish cooked by chief medical resident Kirk Russ and under the instruction of PGY3 Chris Capps.
First Residency Program Reunion
Drs. Crawford Owens and Dick Briggs
This event was held in March at the UAB National Alumni Society House, bringing together residents from every decade from the 1960s to 2016. Program Director Lisa Willett gave a program update, and alumni were treated to a slideshow of resident life over the decades.
Farewell from the CMRs
Stripling, Willett, Blackburn, Morris, Weil, & Russ
It has been an honor to serve the Tinsley Harrison Internal Medicine Residency Program this year as Chief Medical Residents. There have been ongoing improvements to our program this year with the continuation of the Health Disparities Track, formation of the Clinician Educator Track, emphasis on Resident Wellness, and a focus on Diversity Enrichment. However, the central tenants of this residency program—unsurpassed clinical education, myriad research opportunities, and excellent patient care—remain unchanged. We would like to thank the program leadership and office staff, but especially the residents who teach us daily, for an amazing year.
Alumni Essay: The Physical Exam
by Jim Harms, MDI can still recall listening with awe to my sister, a medical student at the time, describe how she had learned to use physical exam techniques to diagnose disease. There’s something magical about the concept of being able to sit with a patient, and discover what they ail from using only your hands, senses, and intellect.When I became a medical student, crammed in study carrels for long hours, I was able to indulge my fascination as I read about eliciting egophony, or identifying a pericardial