Dr. Catherine Parker, winner of the 2018 Brewer-Heslin Endowed Award for Professionalism in Medicine, talks with a patient in clinic.

Catherine Parker, M.D., assistant professor in the Division of Surgical Oncology in the UAB Department of Surgery, has been awarded the 2018 Brewer-Heslin Endowed Award for Professionalism in Medicine.

“It was our utmost honor to nominate Dr. Parker for the 2018 Brewer-Heslin Endowed Award for Professionalism in Medicine,” said Department of Surgery Chair Herbert Chen, M.D. “Dr. Parker is an incredibly driven physician who embodies a high level of passion, dedication and excellence in her chosen field.”

The award, which was presented at the UAB School of Medicine’s annual White Coat Ceremony on Sunday, is named for the late Alabama Governor Albert P. Brewer and UAB Medicine’s Chief of the Medical Staff Martin J. Heslin, M.D., who is also a professor in the Division of Surgical Oncology and the executive vice-chair of the Department of Surgery. The endowment was established in 2015 to recognize physicians at UAB who demonstrate extraordinary commitment to providing highly skilled and deeply compassionate medical care to their patients. Brewer made the gift in appreciation for the professionalism he observed and admired in Heslin, who had been his surgeon.

Parker said she was humbled to receive the award.

“I am honored to be recognized for this award and grateful to be among the other distinguished physician recipients,” she said.