The University of Alabama at Birmingham Physician Assistant Studies program has been awarded a grant of $1,492,465 from the HRSA to expand mental health training for their students, increase the number of underrepresented in medicine, and extend clinical care to more underserved patient populations.

VerCherria Goodman and Jeff Harris – students in UAB Graduate Programs in Health Informatics. – and Jonathan Patterson, a student in the PhD in Administration-Health Services, Health Informatics Track, have been awarded merit scholarships by the Alabama Chapter of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (Alabama HIMSS).

UAB has honored 27 students in the M.S. in Health Administration (MSHA) program with the President’s Diversity Champion Award for student organizations. The students took the initiative to create the MSHA Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Student Council whose purpose is to prioritize DEI as fundamental pillars of the MSHA program and bring heightened social awareness to the faculty, staff, alumni, and students of the program.

The UAB Department of Health Services Administration has named Jessica Williams, Ph.D., director of the B.S. in Health Care Management program and Ria Hearld, Ph.D., director of the PhD in Administration-Health Services program.

The UAB School of Health Professions has partnered with the School of Medicine and the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at UAB to offer a one-year post-graduation fellowship to a student in the M.S. in Genetic Counseling program. The fellowship will provide advanced clinical training, research and teaching opportunities in the area of cancer genetic counseling.  The student who is selected for the position will have full tuition support, be employed by the UAB Department of Genetics, and earn an educational stipend during the fellowship year in exchange for a four-year post-graduation commitment to work at UAB.

UAB Health System has donated $25,000 to establish the John Lewis Health Equity Program Support Fund. The gift, in honor of the Alabama native and civil rights hero, supports the UAB Academy for Addressing Health Disparities Through Health Care Leadership.

The University of Alabama System Board of Trustees appointed Donald Lein, PT, Ph.D., to the Bergman/Pinkston Endowed Professorship in the University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Physical Therapy on November, 13, 2020. Lein is only the second ever to earn the physical therapy professorship that honors UAB professors emeritus Joan Bergman and Dorothy Pinkston.

Emily Caffrey, Ph.D., supervised practice coordinator and adjunct faculty member of the UAB M.S. in Health Physics program, is the recipient of the 2020 Elda E. Anderson Award. At the age of 31, she is the youngest member of the Health Physics Society to earn the honor that has been delivered every year since 1962.

The Physician Assistant Education Association delivered awards to the UAB Physician Assistant Studies Program, Program Director Tosi Gilford, MD, PA-C, and to student Amber Rohrberg.

Nine people recently made history as the first graduates of the UAB Graduate Certificate in Applications of Mixed Methods Research. Highlighting the diverse nature of this research certificate, the graduates range from Schools of Education, Health Professions, Nursing and Public Health and include doctoral students, researchers, and faculty.

The UAB School of Health Professions’ Wellness and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committees collaborated to create tours of the murals and landmarks that celebrate Birmingham’s history in the Civil Rights Movement, plus, today’s efforts for justice and healing. These tours can be enjoyed walking, driving or online.

Kathy Nugent, Ph.D., has been named chair of the Department of Clinical and Diagnostic Sciences (CDS) at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Health Professions. Nugent is a leader in technology and research commercialization who has been associate vice president and executive director of the UAB Harbert Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (HIIE) since 2014.

Today, Joseph Baugh is Co-Managing Partner of Capital Growth Medvest, a Birmingham-based health care real estate development and funding group that has completed well over $1 billion in health care developments and acquisitions. But in his early 20’s, he had no idea what his future would be.

The UAB Nutrition Obesity Research Center (NORC) selects Glenn Rowe, Ph.D. as this year’s Named New Investigator.

The UAB Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy graduate programs each move up in the latest U.S. News & World Report “America’s Best Grad Schools” rankings. The MSOT program is now #23 and the DPT program is now #13.

The UAB Departments of Health Services Administration and Nutrition Sciences united for a "Poster & Lightning Talks Session" at the Edge of Chaos. The two departments, each members of the School of Health Professions, used a poster session format to bring together faculty, staff, students and scientists to discuss research and teaching.

The UAB School of Health Professions had seven undergraduate students - all in the B.S. in Biomedical Sciences program - earn honors at the 2019 UAB EXPO. Every semester the EXPO celebrates excellence in research, creative activity and scholarship by showcasing the academic endeavors of undergraduate students in nine categories for oral and poster presentations.

When students in the top-ranked health administration program in the United States look to apply their training in the real world, they don’t have to go far. One of the nation’s top academic medical centers is just across the street.

Jessica H. Williams, Ph.D., a researcher and associate professor in the UAB School of Health Professions’ Department of Health Services Administration, has been named the department’s Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

The Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME) approved certification of the University of Alabama at Birmingham Graduate Program in Healthcare Quality & Safety. The UAB HQS program, housed in the School of Health Professions, is one of only four programs nationally to earn the initial certification.

“CAHME certification demonstrates our program’s commitment to excellence in educating healthcare quality and safety professionals,” said Allyson Hall, Ph.D., director of UAB’s HQS program and professor in Health Services Administration.

The certification of UAB HQS and the other three programs, represents an important milestone in an almost three-year process. In 2016, David Nash, MD, MBA, founding dean of the Jefferson College of Population Health approached CAHME about the idea of offering certification—and ultimately accreditation—for healthcare quality and safety education. Nash then joined with Christy Harris Lemak, Ph.D., chair of the UAB Department of Health Services Administration to accelerate the process.

A 2017 summit with 20 attendees, plus a survey of programs, demonstrated strong interest that led to a task force of academics from Healthcare Quality & Safety programs across North America designated as Founding Members. Of those 10 programs, only four applied for and passed the initial certification vote.

“We recognized the need for national standards, a defined set of competencies, and a collaborative effort to lead this emerging and important new part of the health care field,” said Lemak who also teaches and conducts research in the areas of health care management and leadership development. “Being a part of this initial group of programs is what UAB is all about – leading for better care for patients and communities around the world.”

For programs to earn certification, they must follow the Board approved standards and pass an independent application review by leading academics, practitioners in quality and safety, CAHME Board members, and staff from the National Association for Healthcare Quality.

CAHME is the only organization recognized by the Council on Higher Education Accreditation to grant accreditation to individual academic programs offering a professional master’s degree in healthcare management education.

“CAHME certification and (eventual) accreditation of HQS instruction broadens our ability to fulfill our mission of improving the quality of healthcare management education, both in North America and globally,” said Anthony Stanowski, DHA, FACHE, president and CEO of CAHME. “We are grateful to the many academic and industry leaders who have worked so hard to achieve this important milestone.”