UAB Synopsis, Vol. 29, No. 03, January 20, 2010
Department Well-Positioned for Growth
On January 9 Department of Medicine Chair Edward Abraham, MD, presented the State of the Department address to his division directors and vice chairs as part of a planning retreat.
“I came away from Ed’s review with a greater appreciation for the department’s across-the-board strengths and accomplishments. There’s plenty of good news close at hand,” says Nancy E. Dunlap, MD, PhD, vice chair for clinical services. “Amid a drumbeat of depressing news about the economy and how it is affecting academic medical centers around the nation, it is heartening to realize that the faculty within our department, with help from others within our institution, have positioned us well so that we can continue to progress in our three missions.”
Dr. Abraham presented evidence of departmental strength in several areas, including:
- Grants and contracts. “From 2006 to 2009, the department’s active grants and contracts from federal sources grew 25% in spite of shifting the accounting of grants for the General Clinical Research Center and the Comprehensive Cancer Center’s core grant to other departments. These grants did not leave UAB but were transferred to other departments as their principal investigators changed.
- Postgraduate education. “The 2009 medical class voted the DOM as the best teaching department – and that has been the case for 14 of the past 15 years. Our residency program was listed as 15th in the nation in U.S. News & World Report rankings. That keeps the high quality applicants coming in large numbers. We’re definitely attracting the best and brightest medical school graduates nationally and globally.”
- Clinical enterprise. “This is a big engine that makes us extremely competitive for recruiting outstanding clinicians. We are blessed with one of the biggest academic hospitals in the country, and it is worth all our time and effort to make it the highest quality, best-operated hospital around. Our outpatient processes are being reworked to make the clinics more efficient, such as through a centralized appointments office. Our inpatient and outpatient volume is up more than twice as much as the hospital as a whole.”
The purpose of the Department of Medicine retreat was to align the department’s leadership team and plan for the future. “The departmental leadership is committed to creating a dynamic culture of exceptional innovation, scholarship, and collaboration,” says Dr. Abraham.
“These economic times are difficult, but it serves us well to remember the positive work we are doing and the tremendous strength that we have within our talented faculty. We have set in motion a number of plans to keep the Department of Medicine moving forward.”
For more information on the Department of Medicine, visit its Web site.