Carlie Stein Somerville, M.D., assistant professor of Medicine and Pediatrics, is the junior faculty winner of the 2021 Dean’s Excellence Award in Service.
She currently serves as the program director for the combined Medicine Pediatrics Residency Training Program and as director for the Staging Transitions for Every Patient (STEP) Clinic.
Stein Somerville is a tireless advocate for patients living with complex conditions that originate in childhood. While our patients with cerebral palsy, cystic fibrosis, and other conditions can receive world-class specialty care at both Children’s of Alabama and UAB, the transition from pediatric to adult care is often fraught with pressure points that can leave patients in need of a steady guide to help them learn to independently manage their health.
In the fall of 2020, Stein Somerville led the development a team that provides the best of both worlds. She built support across both institutions, secured grant funding and clinical space, and put together a team of multi-disciplinary professionals to open the Staging Transition for Every Patient (STEP) program in Fall of 2020. In mid-March, the clinic expanded to include adult patients living with muscular dystrophy. Now the STEP program includes specialists across 10 departments and 15 divisions within COA and UAB.
These efforts have already garnered attention among other medical centers, and Stein Somerville is sharing her knowledge with these institutions as they build similar programs.
Stein Somerville earned her medical doctorate here at UAB in 2013 and completed her Internal Medicine/Pediatrics Residency training here in 2017.
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