The Orientation Leaders (OLs) for your orientation week have been selected! They will be working hard to make sure your orientation is fun, informative, and welcoming. We will introduce the entire group through the final two editions of Vital Signs so you can get to know them before Orientation in July. Meet group 2 below!

As their first year of medical school comes to a close, our co-coordinators reached out to MS1s LC, Ataya, Ben, and Jamie to chat about what this year has meant to them, what they’ve enjoyed the most, and how it has lived up to, or differed from, their expectations.

As the spring semester comes to a close, many of you may be considering how to best spend your time this summer. To provide some insight, our student co-contributors asked their fellow classmates to reflect back on how they spent, or how they wish they had spent, their summer before medical school.

Whether you’ll be new to Birmingham or a local considering a neighborhood change, navigating the housing market can be tough. But we know from experience that an inside scoop from your peers is always beneficial. For this Student Insight feature, our co-contributors reached out to a few of their classmates to learn more about their current neighborhoods and how they feel it works for their med student lifestyle.

In part two of the Heersink School of Medicine Office for Diversity and Inclusion’s Black History Month Series, see how two UAB groups—the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Office for Community Outreach and Engagement and Live HealthSmart Alabama—are addressing challenges in underserved communities and seeking equity for the groups they serve.

To help you get to know more about the UAB Heersink School of Medicine and its Student Senate, as well as the city of Birmingham, your Vital Signs Student Co-Contributors interviewed the MS1 Student Vice President, McKinley Williams, and Class Treasurer, Hemant Srivastava.