Dear Friends of UAB Medicine Rehabilitation,
On January 1, 2022, I was honored to begin my journey as the sixth chair of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. UAB Medicine Rehabilitation has had a rich and deep history of serving and advocating for people with disability since UAB Spain Rehabilitation opened its doors in 1964 with a dedication attended by Dr. Howard A. Rusk. UAB Medicine Rehabilitation is among the largest, integrated rehabilitation systems in the nation that serves the full spectrum of disability, musculoskeletal, and sports care. In addition to traditional PM&R diagnostic groups, unique divisions within the department include inpatient and outpatient rehab and neuropsychology, comprehensive orthotics and prosthetics laboratory, and industry-leading occupational medicine practice. I am proud to share with you our year in review.
This was a banner year for UAB Medicine Rehabilitation. Clinically, we successfully recruited 6 physiatrists, 2 neuropsychologists, 2 certified orthotists/prosthetists, and 1 occupational medicine provider. On May 6, we broke ground on the new state-of-the-art UAB Inpatient Rehabilitation Hospital. It will be an 11 floor freestanding rehabilitation hospital connected to UAB Hospital via skywalks. The facility will feature a rooftop courtyard, rehabilitation gyms on each floor, outdoor terrain park, office meeting space, parking for more than 200 vehicles, and will be our tertiary-referral flagship rehabilitation hospital.
On the research front, we are excited to share the renewal of our $3.4 million National SCI Statistical Center 5 year grant. UAB Rehabilitation has held the distinction of being the only NSCISC in the nation continuously since 1983. We were also successful in achieving renewals of our $2 million SCI Model Systems grant and a $2.2 million TBI Model Systems grant. We successfully achieved a Nielsen Foundation grant, a Department of Defense grant, and are expecting a NOA for an NIH R01 in a few weeks. We capped the year off with an exciting visit to UAB by NIDILRR Director Dr. Anjali Forber-Pratt to discuss ways we all can advocate and support disability research.
Academically, we successfully achieved ACGME approval for transitioning our UAB Medicine PM&R residency program to a Categorical 4-years PM&R residency training program. We are recruiting for 4 new PGY-1 positions this year. We have re-established our Orthotics and Prosthetics residency program and are recruiting for this training program as well. UAB Medicine Rehabilitation is ranked in the top 20 in the nation and 1st in Alabama by U.S. News & World Report. I look forward to watching PM&R continue to grow and excel in providing exemplary patient care.
Sincerely,
Vu Nguyen, M.D., MBA