I am delighted to write you about some of the wonderful things happening in our Department. The past several months have seen terrific work and great progress on the part of our residents, fellows, and faculty.

Four Chief Residents have just graduated after a year of being the hearts and souls of the Department as well as our most engaged teachers. Adam Edwards and George Nelson are now GI fellows at UAB, following in the footsteps of 2011-2012 Chiefs Jim Calloway, MD and David Fettig, MD. Starr Steinhilber has joined our faculty in General Internal Medicine to teach and contribute to our experiential curriculum in quality and safety. Ashley Haddad has taken a competitive position at the University of Chicago as a research fellow in GIM and health disparities. I hope Adam, George, and Ashley will join Starr on our faculty in a few years.

A few weeks ago we celebrated the 11 teachers selected by our residents as the best of the best:

• Surya P. Bhatt, MD (Pulmonary)
• Todd M. Brown, MD (Cardiology)
• Gustavo R. Heudebert, MD (General Internal Medicine)
• Gaurav Jain, MD (Nephrology)
• Ryan R. Kraemer, MD (General Internal Medicine)
• Kevin J. Leon, MD (Pulmonary)
• Brendan M. McGuire, MD (GI)
• Jason L. Morris, MD (General Internal Medicine)
• W. Steve Stigler, MD (Pulmonary)
• Frederick H. Weber, MD (GI)
• Winter L. Williams, MD (General Internal Medicine)

I am tremendously proud of all our teaching faculty. They consistently demonstrate the "contagious fire" Tinsley Harrison spoke of and embodied.

Two of our faculty were elected this spring to the most prestigious academic societies in Medicine. Steve Rowe was elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation for his work developing novel treatments for cystic fibrosis and extending this approach as the first potential disease modifying therapy for COPD. Ken Saag was elected to the Association of American Physicians for his ground-breaking research on the treatment of gout, rheumatoid arthritis, and other rheumatic diseases.

I am always delighted to welcome any of our graduates back to UAB. Last month we enjoyed a visit with Crawford Owen (CMR '67) and Robert Robichaux (CMR '78). These former chief residents were able to join us for our inaugural Global Health Day on May 13, 2015. Not only was it a chance to hear their stories, it was also a great day to celebrate our program's Global Health Track. There were poster presentations from our residents and a special Medical Grand Rounds talk given by Martin Rodriguez (CMR '03) and Josh Stripling (CMR '16).

Last, but certainly not least, I want you to know that Lisa Willet, Vice Chair for Education and our Tinsley Harrison Internal Medicine Residency Program Director, has shined a spotlight on a gender disparity in academic medicine through her publication in the American Journal of Medicine. Lisa Willett is lead author of a national survey that finds that female physicians in medical education leadership positions are paid substantially less than men. I commend Lisa for focusing our attention on this important issue.

I wish all of you a terrific summer. We will soon welcome a fresh group of interns to this vibrant training program. Let me know any time you'd like to visit.

Best regards,


C. Seth Landefeld, M.D.
Professor and Chair, UAB Department of Medicine