Issue 28 - Fall 2026

By: Vraj Patel, PGY-2

As residents, we often can’t wait for sign-out. It’s the handoff that ends our shift, the time we pass our patients to the next team, and for a few hours, let go. We pay careful attention to summarizing the hospital course, reviewing pending studies, and making contingency plans all with the goal of making sure nothing important gets lost overnight. 

By: Buddy Gardner, PGY-2

Many similarities exist between medicine and music. Both are a cacophonous mixture of art and science, both require individuals to work as a team to achieve a goal greater than any one of them could alone, and both contain an ocean of knowledge with multiple areas in which one can become an expert.

By: Vinay Mehta, PGY-2

“With great power comes great responsibility.”

Most comic book, movie, or general pop culture fans recognize this quote, popularized by everyone’s favorite web-slinging superhero, Spider-Man.

By: Garett Ozmer, PGY-1

I became a physician because my pediatric neurologist inspired me to treat every patient with kindness and respect. Through my experiences in shadowing and medical school, I was exposed to mostly good outcomes. Whether by chance or by design, the residents and attendings shielded me from difficult conversations, code blues, and death, so I arrived as a resident never having experienced these in depth.

By: Madikay Faal, PGY-2

During a mundane day at the hospital, the list of diseases and procedures one could hear is never-ending. New expensive medicines are being developed around the clock, but for many of us it is far too easy to forget the original prescription: sunshine. It is free, consistent, and widely available. In this brief piece, I hope to highlight why we need to prescribe it more for our colleagues and for ourselves.

By: Mark T. Dransfied M.D., Chair of the Department of Medicine

As we head into the final stretch of the year, I find myself thinking about the many residents who have passed through our program and the remarkable work you're doing now. Your success extends the legacy of Dr. Tinsley Harrison, and I’m delighted to update you on how things are going here at UAB.