Ryan Outman, executive administrator in the UAB Department of Family and Community Medicine, has been selected as a recipient of the inaugural Heersink School of Medicine Dean’s Excellence Award for Staff.
The awards recognize and honor individual Heersink staff members who have demonstrated outstanding accomplishments and significantly supported Heersink’s core mission areas of education, clinical care, and research.
“I am honored to be part of the inaugural cohort to receive the Dean’s Excellence Award,” Outman said. “I was excited to see these awards established to recognize staff that contribute to the many Heersink School of Medicine accomplishments. I appreciate the recognition of my contributions that would not be possible without the exceptional staff and faculty that I work with in our department.”
As executive administrator, Outman leads operations for the department and works with all staff and faculty members to accomplish the department’s goals in clinical practice, education, research, and service. Along with Chair Irfan Asif, M.D., Outman has overseen a period of tremendous growth for family medicine at UAB, as the department has grown from six core clinical faculty members and 27 administrative staff focused on Birmingham to almost 30 faculty members and 50 staff with programs impacting primary care delivery statewide.
Outman has also been a leader in staff development within the department and across UAB. He co-leads the UAB Developing Emerging Leaders (DEAL) program, which offers administrative professionals training, networking, and professional development to help them advance within UAB and UAB Medicine. He has also led numerous professional development efforts for the Department of Family and Community Medicine faculty and staff, including a series of workshops built around team building and becoming a leader, distribution and discussion of leadership and development-focused books, and assistance with one-on-one career coaching, conference support, and other professional development opportunities.
According to Asif, Outman has been instrumental in developing the department's multi-disciplinary approach to primary care and expanding its clinical footprint through new practice sites. He has also played a vital role in working with faculty and staff in growing the department’s Comprehensive Urban Underserved and Rural Experience (CU2RE) program for medical students, an $18 million initiative aimed at increasing the number and quality of medical students pursuing primary care at the UAB Heersink School of Medicine. This work includes collaborating with all Heersink campuses to develop faculty, simulation programming, and new technology for medical students, such as the recently launched Department of Family and Community Medicine POCUS initiative, giving all medical students access to handheld ultrasound devices.
Outman has also been a leader in the UAB Sports and Exercise Medicine program, a collaboration between the departments of Family and Community Medicine, Orthopaedics, and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Through this work, the department has partnered with sports teams and events such as the USFL, USA Wheelchair Rugby, UAB Athletics, the Birmingham Legion FC professional soccer team, and the 2022 World Games. Additionally, Outman has contributed to stabilizing and expanding the statewide Alabama Practice Based Research Network, which has received more than $70 million in funding from the NIH, CDC, and AHRQ and addresses disparities in the care of chronic diseases. He has also helped to grow the Alabama AHEC, which focuses on education and community health in rural areas of the state.
“I was proud to nominate Ryan for this award, and I am thrilled to see his hard work and leadership recognized,” Asif said. “Ryan has been an essential part of our department’s growth and success, and his thoughtful leadership has strengthened our team and helped us reach and exceed our goals. I am thankful to work with him.”