College of Community Health Sciences

Improving health in your community

College of Community Health Sciences

The University of Alabama College of Community Health Sciences is dedicated to improving and promoting the health of individuals and communities. The College accomplishes its mission through leadership in medical and health-related education, the provision of direct patient care and research.

College announces new psychiatry residency

The College of Community Health Sciences is launching a new residency program to help address the critical need for psychiatrists in the state. The newly accredited University of Alabama Tuscaloosa Psychiatry Residency Program is a four-year education and training program for medical school graduates that will prepare board-eligible residents in the field of psychiatry. The residency will allow for six residents each year, with the first class to start June 2026.

Education

  • The College is home to one of the nation’s oldest and largest family medicine residencies, the UA Tuscaloosa Family Medicine Residency program, and offers post-residency fellowships as well as graduate degree programs in population health and community and rural health.
  • In its role as a regional campus of the University of Alabama at Birmingham Marnix E. Heersink School of Medicine, the College provides the third and fourth years of clinical education and training to a portion of medical students.
  • Through a series of nationally recognized pipeline programs, the College recruits and mentors students from rural Alabama who want to return to their hometowns or similar areas to practice.

Health Care

  • The College operates University Medical Center, with six locations that together comprise the largest multi-specialty community medical practice in West Alabama.
  • The College also operates the UA Student Health Center and Pharmacy and Capstone Hospitalist Group.

Research

  • The College houses the Institute for Rural Health Research, the UA Center for Convergent Bioscience & Medicine and the UA Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society and engages in research to support its mission. 

Departments

Sports Medicine

The Department of Sports Medicine is committed to impacting the field of sports medicine through innovative and practical clinical teaching and training.

Surgery

The Department of Surgery provides comprehensive education and training for future generations of physicians and delivers the most advanced care to patients from across the region. 

Translational Science and Medicine

Coming Soon!

In the News

Congratulations

Distinguished CCHS Professor wins UA’s SEC Faculty Award

Dr. M.N.V. Ravi Kumar, Distinguished Research Professor with the College of Community Health Sciences, has been selected as UA’s recipient of the 2025 Southeastern Conference Faculty Achievement Award.

Our Mission

We are dedicated to improving and promoting the health of individuals and communities in rural Alabama and the Southeast region through leadership in medical and health-related education, primary care and population health; the provision of high quality, accessible health care services; and research and scholarship.

Core Values

  • Integrity
  • Learning
  • Innovation
  • Transparency
  • Social Accountability
  • Patient-Centeredness
  • Interprofessional Collaboration