Get to know Tuscaloosa

Get to know Tuscaloosa

Located on the banks of the Black Warrior River in central Alabama, Tuscaloosa (county pop. 172,000) has been recognized in Money Magazine as... read more

Tour our Facilities

Tour our Facilities

DCH Regional Medical Center; University Medical Center and local nursing homes provide training in the skills and procedures necessary to diagnose and... read more

Clinical Training Sites

Clinical Training Sites

DCH Regional Medical Center; University Medical Center and local nursing homes provide training in the skills and procedures necessary to diagnose and... read more

West Alabama Chamber of Commerce

The West Alabama Chamber of Commerce provides an informative site which offers information on the Tuscaloosa, Northport and Tuscaloosa County area.  Offering a broad spectrum of information... read more

Tuscaloosa Convention and Visitors Bureau

The Tuscaloosa Convention and Visitors Bureau is located in the heart of Historic Downtown Tuscaloosa.  The TCVB can provide you with a map of the Tuscaloosa... read more

Alabama Statewide Information

Alabama Statewide Information: Better known as al.com; here you can get the latest on Alabama local news, sports news and US breaking news.  This site features a ‘real time’ news feed update so you... read more

Elective Emphasis

Obstetrics

The ObGyn experience at UA features a service attended by both ObGyn and Family Medicine faculty. Opportunities exist for both ambulatory experience and inpatient experience in antepartum, intrapartum, and postpartum / post-op care. The required three month rotation in basic obstetrics and gynecology provides an extremely hand-on experience in labor and delivery and the operating room.  For residents interested in practicing obstetrics, further training is available at CCHS.

  • Advanced obstetrics elective curriculum is supervised by full-time faculty in family medicine and obstetrics and gynecology.
    • typically three additional months, including high-risk OB and NICU exposure
  • Fellowship in obstetrics and gynecology is available featuring:
    • additional longitudinal training in the ObGyn clinic and in L&D
    • increased training in operative deliveries
    • C-section, primary and repeat
    • open and laparoscopic tubal ligation
    • medical and operative ectopic pregnancy management
  • Prenatal services occur at the University Medical Center
  • Delivery occurs at DCH Regional Medical Center

Sports Medicine

The Family Medicine Residency maintains a strong working relationship with The University of Alabama Athletic Department and its team physicians and trainers.  Sports medicine has always been included in the curriculum, because sports-related injuries frequently are seen by family physicians.

  • Popular and productive, one-month rotation with the University’s Athletic Department is taken during the 2nd year.
  • Sports Medicine Fellowship – recruiting now, begins July 2010!

Practice Management

The practice management curriculum runs concurrently with the family medicine curriculum during the entire 36 months of residency. It features hours of personal financial counseling, and over ten hours of a professional coding seminar. Also included are other didactics and hands-on sessions, such as setting up a mock practice, performing real cost-benefit analysis in offices visited the 2-week practice management rotation, and learning early on how to “conquer” your accounts receivable.

Procedures

Our approach to procedures is completely customizable to each residents goals. Opportunities exist and elective paths can be chosen to receive extensive training in:
  • Office diagnostics (EKG, PFT, DXA, GXT/ETT, Holter)
  • Derm (cryo, shave, punch, and excision)
  • Musculoskeletal (aspiration, injection, splinting, casting)
  • OB (vacuum, forceps, cerclage, tubal ligation, C-section)
  • Gyn (Colpo, LEEP, IUD, endometrial biopsy)
  • Endoscopy (EGD, colonoscopy)
  • Ultrasound (OB, general, vascular, echo)

Rural Medicine

A primary goal of the College of Community Health Sciences is to train physicians in the practice of primary care medicine in rural areas of Alabama and the Southeast. At present, each resident works with practicing physicians in one of three adjacent counties involved in the Rural Alabama Health Alliance.

  • The required one-month rotation in rural medicine includes:
    • Office practice
    • Rural hospital care
    • Emergency medicine
    • Occupational medicine
    • Community medicine
  • Additional elective experiences are available for additional experience in rural medicine.
  • NEW – an ACGME-accredited Rural Track has been created and begun in Centreville, AL for upper level residents interested in training in full-spectrum, procedure-oriented rural family medicine.

International Medicine

Needs exist not only in our country, but abroad as well. The Tuscaloosa Family Medicine Residency both encourages and provides opportunity for international health electives. The full amount of elective time allowed by the ACGME and the ABFM (2 non-consecutive months in each of the R2 and R3 years) is allowed for residents in good standing.
Recent and upcoming trips include:
  • Central America (2007) – Drs. Cockrum and Burgess
  • Egypt (3/08) – Dr. Waits
  • Ghana (6/08) – Dr. Ulzen
  • Kenya (9/08) – Drs. Alexander and Marsh
  • Egypt (3/09) – Dr. Waits
  • Cuba (TBA ’09) – Dr. Waits