ABOUT FIRM
Connected by a shared purpose.
The Department of Family, Internal, and Rural Medicine brings education, clinical care, research and service together with the College of Community Health Sciences at The University of Alabama. Our faculty teach medical students, residents and fellows while caring for patients in Tuscaloosa and West Alabama.
The department connects primary care, hospital medicine and rural educational pathways with scholarship that seeks to improve care and the patient experience. Learn about FIRM’s people, scope and direction.
WELCOME FROM THE CHAIR
An invitation to FIRM.
We are growing with a clear purpose: Improve patient care and the patient experience, strengthen education and scholarship, and respond to the healthcare needs of West Alabama.
Tamer Elsayed, MD
Chair, Department of Family, Internal, and Rural Medicine
DEPARTMENTAL PURPOSE
Mission, vision and values.
Our mission
The Department of Family, Internal, and Rural Medicine works to improve and promote the health of individuals and communities in rural Alabama and the Southeast through leadership in medical education, primary care and population health; the provision of high-quality, accessible healthcare services; and research and scholarship.
Looking toward 2031
Our proposed vision connects community-engaged primary care with access, patient experience, rural research and responsible AI.
OUR PEOPLE
Meet the faculty.
Browse all 34 faculty profiles
Click to viewDiscover the expert faculty mentoring the next generation of primary care doctors and training rural health leaders at UA. (blurb by AI)
Click to view the 10 profiles of the administrative and additional program support profiles.
EDUCATION AND TRAINING
Explore your next stage of learning.
The Department of Family, Internal, and Rural Medicine connects medical and residency education, post-residency fellowship training and rural education pathways. Students, residents and fellows learn through supervised patient care in clinics and hospital settings, supported by faculty teaching, feedback, mentorship and scholarship. The chair identifies Family Medicine and Internal Medicine as the department’s two medical student clerkships.
Learn about educational pathways for our Family Medicine Residency and Fellowships website.
Explore the College of Community Health website for medical student information.
RESEARCH AND SCHOLARSHIP
Questions that inform practice.
Faculty interests connect clinical medicine, rural health, medical education, quality improvement and responsible AI. Explore the people and questions behind this work.
CLINICAL AND COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS
Find care. Explore rural programs.
Clinical services
The clinical work of the Department of Family, Internal, and Rural Medicine connects primary and preventive care with prenatal and maternity care, chronic disease management, geriatrics, sports medicine, hospital medicine, nutrition, obesity management and lifestyle medicine. The care our faculty physicians provide in clinic and hospitals also creates opportunities for supervised clinical teaching and instruction in medical procedures for our learners.
Click to learn more.
Rural and community programs
Our Rural Medical Scholars and Rural Community Health Scholars master’s degree programs offer pathways to rural medicine practice.
Click to learn more.
News and Impact
A discussion of AI in academic medicine
Latest discussionDr. Tamer Elsayed participated in an academic medicine panel at the April 9, 2026, Rural Health Conference. A CCHS report describes the discussion of artificial intelligence and the need for human judgment in its use.
A College of Community Health Sciences report describes the discussion of artificial intelligence and the need for human judgment in its use.