Dr. Tamer Elsayed, director of the UA Tuscaloosa Family Medicine Residency Program, was named interim chair of the CCHS Department of Family, Internal, and Rural Medicine. He assumes the role July 1. Elsayed, a family medicine physician and graduate of the residency, has extensive clinical experience and teaches medical students and resident physicians in inpatient…

Dr. Pamela Payne-Foster, professor of community medicine and population health with CCHS, received the prestigious 2023 Lahoma Adams Buford Peace Award in recognition of her professional and personal advocacy in causes that promote peace and justice. The University of Alabama endowed award is housed in the UA School of Social Work and is presented annually…

Eleven students studying to become physicians and practice in rural Alabama communities were recognized April 23 at a convocation for the Rural Medical Scholars Program. The program, now in its 27th year, is operated by The University of Alabama College of Community Health Sciences and the University of Alabama at Birmingham Marnix E. Heersink School…

Five residents of The University of Alabama Tuscaloosa Family Medicine Residency Program were named chief residents for the 2023-24 academic year. The new chief residents and their leadership roles: Dr. Mitch Currie – hospital, committees, hospital quality improvement and patient safety Dr. Nicholas Goodwin – information technology Dr. Jillian Kelly – schedules, policies, procedures and…

April is National Minority Health Month and the College of Community Health Sciences celebrated with a panel discussion presented by College alumni and titled “Better Health Through Better Understanding: Women’s Health and Health Literacy.” The panelists, all graduates of The University of Alabama Tuscaloosa Family Medicine Residency Program, which CCHS operates, were: Dr. Arnelya Cade-Chapman,…

At the outset of the opioid epidemic, overdose deaths resulted mainly from prescription opioids, including natural and semi-synthetic opioids. Soon, heroin was the top culprit. Now, fentanyl is the leading cause of opioid overdose deaths, according to speakers at the 22nd Annual Rural Health Conference, held April 12-13 at The University of Alabama and hosted…

On Jan. 11, 1964, the Surgeon General of the United States Public Health Service, Dr. Luther Terry, an Alabamian, released the federal government’s first report implicating cigarette smoking as a major cause of lung cancer and other diseases. Dr. Alan Blum was then a high school junior in Woodmere, NY, and at the urging of…

Lewis Stewart Lewis Stewart, Jr., has joined the College of Community Health Sciences Board of Visitors. The College’s Alice McLean Stewart Endowed Lecture for Addiction Education is named in honor of his mother. The CCHS Board of Visitors is a volunteer board made up of alumni, donors, community physicians, businesspeople and other friends and supporters…

College surpasses fundraising goal for student health support fund The College of Community Health Sciences exceeded the fundraising goal set for its Bama Blitz passion project, raising $19,256.45 to assist uninsured or underinsured University of Alabama students with their health care costs. The College had set a goal of raising $10,000 for the Student Health…

Betty Shirley believed that mental health issues would become more prevalent over time, and she recognized early on the positive impact that educating primary care physicians in the provision of mental health care could have on people struggling with these challenges. “I believe that diseases of behavior will dominate the 21st Century, whether these be…