Marsh Named Dean of UA College of Community Health Sciences, Associate Dean of UA School of Medicine

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Dr. E. Eugene Marsh III has been named dean of The University of Alabama’s College of Community Health Sciences and associate dean of the UA School of Medicine.

Dr. Judy Bonner, UA provost and vice president for academic affairs, and Dr. Robert R. Rich, senior vice president and dean of the UA School of Medicine, announced the appointment. Marsh has served as interim dean of CCHS since July 1, 2004, when the former dean, Dr. William A. Curry, moved to the Birmingham campus of the School of Medicine.

“We are very excited that Dr. Marsh will continue to serve as dean,” Bonner said. “He has a strong track record in medical teaching and practice, and we look forward to the contributions he will make as he leads the College of Community Health Sciences in serving our local community, as well as rural and other underserved areas of the state.”

“Dr. Marsh has done an excellent job as interim dean, and we feel strongly that he will carry on his great works to continue to improve the school,” Rich said. “He is an outstanding doctor, professor and administrator.”

CCHS provides the last two years of clinical education and training for a portion of medical students enrolled at the UA School of Medicine. Students can choose any field of specialization, but CCHS encourages and trains medical students to practice in the smaller, rural and often underserved communities of Alabama.

CCHS also provides a three-year family practice residency program that is one of the oldest and most productive in the Southeast. The College’s educational programs are designed to increase the accessibility and availability of health care, particularly in the state’s rural areas, and to improve the quality of that care through teaching, clinical service, research and community outreach.

CCHS operates a comprehensive, state-of-the-art medical clinic, University Medical Center, where College faculty members conduct their medical practices and where students and residents receive clinical experience and training. In addition, the College’s research component supports faculty and student research efforts, including clinical trials, and has been a participant in federal and state grants totaling more than $24 million.

Russell Student Health Center has been a part of CCHS for the last three years. A new addition to University Medical Center will be completed in January that will bring RSHC closer and will allow more integration of services to better provide health care and health care education to students at The University of Alabama.

Marsh has been associated with CCHS in several capacities since moving to Tuscaloosa in 1990. He has been director of the neurology clerkship since 1993 and associate dean for academic affairs from 2001 to 2004. He also serves as the medical director of the Alabama Quality Assurance Foundation, a nonprofit physician organization designated by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services as Alabama’s Medicare Quality Improvement Organization.

Marsh received his bachelor’s degree cum laude from UA in 1975 and his M.D. from the University of South Alabama in 1979. After an internship in family medicine, he completed a neurology residency at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. Upon completion of his military obligation, Marsh completed two additional years of training at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics as a fellow associate in cerebrovascular disease, or stroke.

He is the author of numerous publications and presentations, most of which deal with cerebrovascular disease. Marsh has received numerous awards for excellence in teaching, and he was awarded the Leonard Tow 2003 Humanism in Medicine Award by the Arnold F. Gold Foundation. He has served on several state and regional committees and task forces related to stroke and health care quality. He is active in the American Heart Association and currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Southeast Affiliate. He recently was elected to the Board of Directors for the American Health Quality Association, representing a 13-state region.

“I am honored to serve CCHS as dean,” Marsh said. “Our College has enjoyed remarkable success over the last 32 years. I feel that we are now positioned to have an even greater impact on health care in this community and in this state as we strive to provide high-quality, patient-centered care to our patients, and train our students and residents to do the same.”