The Cahaba-UAB Family Medicine Residency is joining the prestigious Advancing Innovation in Residency Education (AIRE) pilot project, a collaboration between the American Board of Family Medicine and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. Cahaba-UAB Family Medicine Residency is Alabama's first—and only—AIRE program participant.

AIRE aims to promote greater innovation in residency training to improve the quality and safety of health care program graduates provide to their patients.

This newly accredited innovation incorporates an optional but integrated fourth year of training enabling residents to develop advanced expertise and clinical mastery. Fourth-year residents participating in the program will have at least one Area of Concentration integrated into their residency program beginning in their 2nd year. This mastery level of achievement in much-needed areas such as obstetrics, behavioral health, and emergency medicine will significantly improve patient outcomes in the underserved communities where our graduates will practice.

"From the inception of our Residency Program, we, like many Family Medicine Residencies, have offered a Fellowship year. We are gratified to be a part of this innovation, assimilating Fellowship content over 4 years of post-graduate medical education, rather than just a hermetically sealed final year of Fellowship," said John B. Waits, M.D., program director and DIO of the Cahaba-UAB FMR. “Being a part of this innovation cohort will enable our program – and consequently our residents and fellows – to be able to more effectively move from competency to mastery, preparing them to provide exceptional care to patients and make a positive impact in our community."

Since 2014, Cahaba Medical Care and UAB have forged a distinctive partnership, leveraging the strengths of both entities to produce outstanding family medicine physicians dedicated to aiding underserved areas across Alabama. Through didactic learning, hands-on clinical experiences, and mentorship, the next generation of family medicine physicians develop the skills and knowledge necessary to deliver comprehensive, patient-centered care. The program emphasizes the importance of continuity of care, community engagement, and evidence-based practice.