New Faculty
October 31, 2018
Andrea Wright, MLIS, joined the College as associate professor and clinical/technical services librarian in the Health Sciences Library. Wright is responsible for supporting evidence-based practice in the clinical environment, providing access to the latest research to support patient care. She also collaborates in research and publishing efforts at the College, provides instructional support in research and evidence-based medicine and manages online access to library resources. Wright earned her master’s degree in Library and Information Studies from The University of Alabama and a bachelor’s degree in History from the University of North Alabama. She spent nine years offering research support and evidence-based medicine education as a technology and information services librarian at the University of South Alabama Biomedical Library before serving for a year as a digital projects librarian at The University of Alabama. In 2014, Wright received a Georgia/National Library of Medicine Biomedical Informatics Fellowship. Her interests include research and data management, technology and informatics services in libraries, reducing health disparities and evidence-based health care.
Dr. Elizabeth Western joined the College as a part-time adjunct faculty member in the Department of Family, Internal, and Rural Medicine. She is primarily responsible for teaching and curriculum development for the College’s Rural Medical Scholars Program, which is exclusively for rural Alabama students who want to become physicians and practice in rural communities. The program includes a year of study, after students receive their undergraduate degree, that leads to a master’s degree in Rural Community Health and early admission to the University of Alabama School of Medicine. Western received a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Middle Tennessee State University, and a master’s degree and PhD in Organic Chemistry from The University of Alabama. She received her MD from the University of Alabama School of Medicine and completed her residency training at the UA Family Medicine Residency, which is operated by the College. She was in private practice in Tuscaloosa for the past six years and currently is a hospitalist for the Tuscaloosa Veteran’s Affairs Medical Center.
Dr. Michelle Pike joined the College as a part-time adjunct faculty member in the Department of Family, Internal, and Rural Medicine. In that role, Pike will assist with The University of Alabama-Pickens County Partnership, led by the College and which works to place UA students in medicine, nursing, social work, nutrition, psychology and health education – and potentially others – in Pickens County for internships and learning experiences. Through the partnership, the rural, underserved county is provided with additional health care resources, and UA students receive real world training in their respective areas of study. Pike is also Emergency Services Medical Director at Pickens County Medical Center. She completed her undergraduate degree at Truman State University in Missouri, during which she also earned a paramedic license. She worked on an Advanced Life Support Unit as a paramedic on critical care and emergency patient transports before entering medical school. Pike completed medical school at the American University of the Caribbean, St. Maarten, Netherlands Antilies, and her residency training at the UA Family Medicine Residency, which is operated by the College. She completed an Emergency Medicine Fellowship at the College, which is provided in conjunction with Rush Foundation Hospital in Meridian, Mississippi.
