Medical Student Services is the student affairs office for the medical school. We support the academic mission with a focus on student wellness, personal growth and professional development. We weave a support system through learning communities, individual career advising, academic tutoring, and service learning.

MSS On-Call

An MSS dean or director is always on call. You can reach MSS On-Call anytime by calling UAB Paging 205-934-3411 and asking to page the MSS Director on Call. 

ReportIt

• • ReportIt is an online system students can use to report concerns or commendations about anything related to medical school faculty, students, staff, or facilities. 
  • Certain deans receive the reports, depending on the type of concern or commendation submitted. 
  • Students have the option to submit a report anonymously, but we encourage you to include a name and email address (these an can be pseudonymous or non-identifying), so a dean can ask any needed follow up questions to act on your report in a meaningful way and provide updates on your report. 

Please visit the Medical Student Services page for more information.

The Academic Success Program maximizes students’ personal and professional development by providing individualized advising and supportive programming. We do this by facilitating the academic and career success of all medical students in a collaborative and inclusive environment.

Services:

Learning Success

• • Study skills, study groups, learning strategies, and test-taking strategies
  • Step 1 and Step 2 CK preparation

Personal & Professional Support

• • Professional Development Office referrals
  • Stress relief activities
  • Accommodations must be requested through the UAB Disability Support Office. If you have any questions about disability-related accommodations in medical school, you can contact Disability Support Services directly, or Dr. Melinda Harrison, the Heersink School of Medicine's DSS liaison.
    • All information is confidential, and your diagnosis/disability does not need to be disclosed in order to consult on the process to receive accommodations.

Peer Education

The peer education program serves a dual mission: providing free, supplemental support to medical students who need additional help with coursework; and supporting medical students who wish to extend and reinforce their knowledge and develop instructional skills while helping their peers.

Peer Educators lead:

• content-specific large group sessions
• anatomy mock practical exams
• question-based small groups and provide individual tutoring by referral.

Student leaders in the peer education program are trained by the academic success program and receive ongoing professional development. 

Programming:

The academic success office conducts seminars and workshops on highly relevant topics aligned with the medical school year as well as offers learning strategy seminars for the Summer Health Professions Education Program (SHPEP).

Our Team: 

Brook A. Hubner, Ph.D., Director

Fahmida Bratina, MA, Learning Specialist

Laura Johnson, EdS, Senior Learning Specialist

Melinda Harrison, Ph.D. Senior Learning Specialist

Financial Aid
Financial Wellness
Scholarships
Tuition & Fees

The Office of Service Learning provides service opportunities that are tied to medical school curriculum throughout all four years. These experiences reinforce what you learn in the classroom and provide needed services to our communities.

Student Organizations

• See the full list student organizations and leadership. Note: Student groups are responsible for maintaining their own lists of officers. 
• If you have questions about an existing student organization or wish to start a new one, please contact Jessica Orcutt.
• For guidelines regarding student involvement in extracurricular activities, visit the Policies & Procedures page.

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Student Senate

• Visit the Student Senate website to connect with the Senate online.
• To find guidelines regarding student involvement in extracurricular activities, visit the Policies & Procedures page.

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Service Opportunities

• Limited and long-term service learning opportunities are available through the Office of Service Learning.
• If you're interested in finding our more about the Health Equity Scholars Program, email Caroline Harada, MD, Assistant Dean for Community Engaged Scholarship.

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Housing

•  Visit the Housing page for listings and contacts. 

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Best Medicine Show

• Visit the Best Medicine Show website for the most up-to-date show details.

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Other Helpful Links

• Honor Council: Review the UABSOM Honor Code or report a potential violation. 
• Ordering Scrubs: Scrubs can be ordered directly from UAB Hospital. To order, visit https://www.suitestyles.com/ and use username uab and password scrubs1. Click on med students, make your selections and proceed to checkout.

UAB Police

UAB’s accredited police force of more than 70 sworn officers, including a special Student Housing Police Precinct, patrols our campus 24 hours a day and makes routine sweeps through residence halls and parking areas.

UAB Police also offer various awareness, defense, and safety programs for students.

Contact: 205-934-3535 (emergency), 205-934-4434 (non-emergency)

Transit

Blazer Express, UAB's campus bus service, offers free transportation for students, employees, and authorized visitors along six routes - some of which run as late as midnight. Just show your One Card to ride. Late night, on-demand van service is also available daily from 9 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. through Blazer Express.

Contact: 205-934-8772

Rave Guardian

Rave Guardian is a free, personal safety app and service available to UAB students, faculty, and staff. Users sign up with their UAB email address and app allows users to designate “guardians” — who can be family, friends or even the UAB Police Department — to provide a virtual safety escort. The user sets a timer and designates a guardian; if the user does not deactivate the timer before it expires, an alert is sent to the guardian with the user’s location.

The app also allows for direct emergency access to UABPD — essentially serving as a personal panic button through which police can identify the user’s location.

Learn more about Rave Guardian from UAB Emergency Management and download Rave Guardian from Google Play or the App Store.

Help Phones

Hundreds of Help Phones are strategically located around campus, both inside and outside buildings, in parking garages, and along sidewalks. Look for the blue light and the word “HELP.” A press of a button puts you directly in touch with UAB police, who monitor the system 24 hours a day.

Emergency Alerts

For immediate notification of emergencies (severe weather, crime, etc.), all students should sign up with UAB's B-ALERT system, which is used to communicate to the entire campus at the same time. You can choose which method of communication suits you best—voice call, SMS text message, or e-mail—or use any combination of the three.

During such events, uab.edu/emergency is the official source of UAB information from class cancellations to rescheduling of building hours to safety procedures.

Restricted Access

Volker Hall has carded entry systems, allowing entry only to those with approved access. In the wake of COVID-19, ONE Card access is required 24 hours a day. The 4^th and 5^th floors of Volker are accessible only with ONE Card access 24 hours a day.

Clery Report

The 2023 UAB Annual Security and Fire Safety Report is now accessible online. To obtain a copy, visit the UAB Police Department’s website and select “Read the 2023 UAB Annual Security & Fire Safety (Clery) Report.” Alternatively, you can directly access the report here.

For a printed copy of the report, please call (205) 934-4649. The report follows the guidelines mandated by the Federal Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act and contains the following information: reporting incidents; federal campus sex crimes prevention act; missing person procedures; distribution of timely warnings; emergency preparedness, response, and evacuation procedures; criminal statistics; fire safety report, etc.

Huntsville Regional Medical Campus Fire and Safety Report

Montgomery Regional Medical Campus Fire and Safety Report

Report It

ReportIt is an online system medical students can use to report concerns or commendations about anything related to medical school faculty, students, staff, or facilities. 

Certain deans within the School of Medicine receive the reports, depending on the type of concern or commendation submitted. 

Students have the option to submit a report anonymously, but we encourage you to include a name and email address (these an can be pseudonymous or non-identifying), so a dean can ask any needed follow up questions to act on your report in a meaningful way and provide updates on your report.  

Commencement 2026

Date: Saturday, May 16, 2026
Location: Will be announced later
Start time: 1 p.m., ceremony will last approximately 2 hours
Student arrival: Students arrive by 12:30 p.m. to line up

Live Stream: The ceremony will be streamed live online at https://go.uab.edu/SOMCommencement

More details, including regalia rental and specifics about the ceremony, will be shared with students at the MS4 Class meeting in February.

Date: August 16, 2025
Location: Alabama Theatre, 1817 3rd Ave N, Birmingham, AL 35203
Start time: 1 p.m., ceremony will last approximately 2 hours 
Student arrival: Students arrive by 12:30 p.m. to line up 

Live Stream: The ceremony will be streamed live online

The schedule and detailed information will be communicated during New Student Orientation. 

Match Day 2025

Date: Friday, March 21, 2025
Location: Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center, 1200 10th Ave S, Birmingham.
Start time: 10:45 a.m.

Live Stream: Ceremony will be streamed live online at www.uab.edu/matchday

More details will be added in January/February 2025

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