I cannot imagine a more rewarding career than academic medicine. For me, the rewards start by engaging the groups we serve, which are many. As educators we engage medical and post-graduate students....

The six weeks since President Ray Watts appointed me to succeed him as your Interim Senior Vice President for Medicine and Dean have been very eventful, which is normal for a place as dynamic as UAB. This new position has given me an even greater appreciation for the work we all do to make a positive impact on students, patients, science and the community. Communicating our progress, and our challenges, is vital to understanding who we are as an institution and affording the community the opportunity to understand and appreciate who we are and what we do. To that end, this is the first of what will be several monthly messages from me.