Note to news editors and producers: Several residency alumni, including Dr. John Sullivan, Dr. Michael McBrearty (the first residency graduate) and Dr. Sandral Hullett (the first female resident and one of the first two African-American residents), as well as Dr. Richard Streiffer, dean of the College of Community Health Sciences, are available for interviews. Please contact Kim Eaton, 205/348-8325 or kkeaton@ur.ua.edu, to arrange interviews.
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The University of Alabama College of Community Health Sciences is hosting a reunion weekend Nov. 13 through 15 to celebrate 40 years of its Family Medicine Residency.
The weekend will allow Residency alumni to reconnect with their classmates, the College and the University through social events and a lecture series for continuing medical education.
The Residency, one of the oldest and largest family medicine residencies in the United States, was founded in 1974 and, to date, has graduated 450 family medicine physicians. More than half of those graduates are practicing in 46 of Alabama’s 67 counties, and 48 percent are practicing in a rural area of the state.
One in seven family physicians practicing in Alabama graduated from the Family Medicine Residency, and 77 percent of the Residency’s alumni practice in a primary care physician shortage area.
The College’s mission is to improve and promote the health of individuals and communities in Alabama and the region, and part of how it accomplishes that mission is by addressing the physician workforce needs of Alabama and the region with a focus on comprehensive Family Medicine Residency training.
The anniversary celebration weekend will kick off with a cocktail party Nov. 13 at the Tuscaloosa Museum of Art and will include guided tours of the museum’s Westervelt Collection.
A lecture series will be held at the College the morning of Nov. 14. Continuing medical education credits will be offered, and the lectures will cover a variety of topics related to the specialty of family medicine.
The series will also include a two-part presentation by Dr. John B. Sullivan, a 1978 Residency alumnus well known for his work in toxicology, including the development of rattlesnake bite anti-venom serum, as well as development of medication safety caps following seven Tylenol-related deaths in Chicago in 1982 that were the result of product tampering.
A gala will be held the evening of the 14th at the North Zone of Bryant-Denny Stadium. The event will feature a formal dinner with guest speaker Dr. Glen Stream, president of Family Medicine for America’s Health and former president of the American Academy of Family Physicians, followed by live music and dancing.
The weekend will conclude Nov. 15 with a farewell brunch at Sweet Home Food Bar in downtown Tuscaloosa.
Tickets for the weekend are $35 per person. More information about the weekend’s agenda, where to find accommodations and how to RSVP can be found at cchs.ua.edu/fmr40.
Contact
Kim Eaton, UA media relations, 205/348-8325 or kkeaton@ur.ua.edu