What is it?
A very special evening for all rising third year residents to celebrate the legacy of the Tinsley Harrison Residency Program. Third year residents are given coverage to go to a special dinner and to honor the Legacy of great training at UAB.
The History of the Legacy Dinner
written by Lisa Willett, M.D., Vice Chair of Education and Faculty Development
Director of the Tinsley Harrison Internal Medicine Residency Program from 2012-2023
L to R: Dr. Bill Dismukes, Dr. Lisa Willett, and Dr. Gustavo Heudebert
The first Legacy Dinner was June 26, 2012. About a year prior, Dr. George Karam (UAB resident and CMR, 1977-81), approached me with the idea of an endowment for the UAB Internal Medicine (IM) Residency Program. The goal of this endowment was to ensure the UAB IM residents of today recognized the privilege of being a physician and appreciated the incredible training provided by UAB in our program.
This endowment was a special gift and I wanted to truly honor the importance of it. I proposed the idea of the Legacy Dinner to George. Together, we felt it would fulfill the values of the endowment and honor the Legacy of Dr. Harrison. Led by Dr. Karam, Dr. Craig Coe (UAB resident, 1980-83, and internist in Dothan, AL) and the intern class of 1980-81 gave the gift of the Endowment for the Legacy Dinner. The Legacy Dinner creates a foundation for the residents in the principles Dr. Harrison called his trainees to embrace: thinking, listening, and understanding; humor and analogy; moral and mental discipline. In today’s complex world of medical training, we recognize that Dr. Harrison’s legacy, and the values he instilled at our institution, should never be forgotten. The invitation to the Legacy Dinner specially gives a nod to earlier days, when Dr. Harrison would host the residents in his home to discuss clinical cases. He would tell them, “come at 6 and leave by 8.”
The Legacy Dinner is held annually for residents beginning their final year of training as they become leaders in our program. It has a positive impact on their final year of training and inspires them to influence the junior residents, interns, and students they will supervise. Each year, the residents receive a lapel pin (designed by George Nelson, CMR, 2014) which they wear throughout their PGY3 year, and beyond, as a remembrance of the special evening.
On June 26, 2012, the Inaugural Legacy Dinner was held at the home of Professor Emeritus Dr. C. Glenn Cobbs
The first Legacy Dinner, and each one until COVID, was hosted by Dr. Glenn Cobbs and his wife Naneita. Dr. Karam intentionally chose the menu with Louisiana cuisine, Dr. Coe brought wine from his personal cellar, and we all dined on fine china, a testament to the significance of the occasion. The speakers at the first Legacy Dinner were Dr. Karam, Dr. Coe, Dr. Dismukes (program director for 22 years), Dr. Glenn Cobbs, and Dr. Cecil Coghlan (UAB cardiologist). We filmed the speakers' remarks and were able to capture key quotes, many previously unknown, now forever part of our culture. The dinner went well beyond 8PM and it was truly a special night.
"You are the role models for the interns, and when they start on day 1, they are looking for somebody who really can help them understand what the privilege is." — Dr. George Karam
"How incredible it is to be a physician, and that these three years of your life are some that you hopefully look back as the most amazing time of your life. And the influence that Dr. Harrison had and his philosophy and his values and the great legacies that you all have the opportunities to train under are still here." — Dr. Lisa Willett
"I owe most of my life to Tinsley Harrison." — Dr. William Dismukes
"Contagious Fire. What he meant was somebody that turns you on to do a better job. Try to perform and act and be around other people that say, holy smokes. Be a contagious fire kind of person." — Dr. Glenn Cobbs
"Dr. Harrison talked about things like the importance of moral and mental discipline. The gift is a Legacy, anytime you are the beneficiary of a gift, there then becomes an obligation to sustain the legacy. We need to help people at your stages have one attribute that I don’t think people give you anymore – and that attribute is the awareness of what is going on." — Dr. George Karam
"Keep the flame lit. You’ve been trained by the best." — Dr. Craig Coe
"His love for his patients and his students was beyond description. E=hH2. The first h was small and the second was a capital H. The small h represents head, what you can transfer as knowledge from your head to the student. That’s not so important, they will learn it anyway. But H, capital H squared, because that is your heart and the most important thing you can give them is your love, your heart." — Dr. Cecil Coghlan
"You have got to be role models. I would say the most important thing for you as a third year resident is to try to be a role model for people under you." — Dr. Glenn Cobbs
"My advice to you, rising senior residents, allow yourselves to be surprised in this last year by things you don’t know. Allow yourselves to feel uncomfortable. Allow yourselves to look to the patients for the answer when it is not clear to you. At the end of three years here at UAB, I feel like a doctor and so will you." — Dr. Malika Munkdor