The UAB School of Medicine is committed to providing an environment conducive to the professional growth and advancement of minorities in health care. Excellence and innovation only flourish in an environment in which important challenges are tackled by individuals who come together from the broadest possible spectrum of life experiences and perspectives. Advancing true diversity and inclusion is not only a goal, it is an academic necessity; compelling evidence attests to the reality that diversity within a medical school markedly increases the quality of medical education, expands and informs the research agenda, and improves the quality of health care delivered to the surrounding communities. 

UAB School of Medicine creates an environment where minorities in medicine choose to be by:

• Cultivating an environment that supports and encourages the professional development of minorities in medicine in their chosen medical field. 
• Actively recruiting minority faculty members, as excellence is cultivated through gleaning insight and expertise from a wide range of cultural and personal perspectives. 
• Promoting the retention and advancement of tenure-track minorities in medical science.
• Providing mentoring and career support for junior faculty members.
• Identifying possible barriers to the advancement of minorities in academic medicine and developing effective strategies to combat them.

A Conversation with Dr. Levi Watkins from UAB School of Medicine on Vimeo.