In Pursuit of Precision - University of Alabama at Birmingham

Feature Stories
According to Morgan, one of the greatest
benefits of the program is its support system.
She says that many students from rural areas
feel out of place in the large university environment.
They wonder if others will know what it
feels like to be from a small town. “I developed
a great group of colleagues and friends in the
program,” she says. “I found other people with
similar backgrounds and interests.” Also vital
were the mentoring relationships developed in
the program. “It really helps to have mentors
who are in primary care and who work especially
in rural areas,” she says.
QUALITY CARE
AND COMMUNITY PRIDE
The need for quality medical care in rural
areas is as vital now as when the program was
first conceived, says Linda Jackson. “Rural
health needs in Alabama have grown to crisis
proportions while rural education, economics,
and social conditions have been depressed.”
Thanks to the RMSP, many rural areas now
have qualified medical practitioners with a
true love of rural communities. “The communities
where our graduates live and practice
feel blessed by their presence,” she adds.
Graduate Drake Lavender believes the program
will have a lasting impact on medical care
throughout the state of Alabama. Having
grown up in a small community, he knows
from personal experience the importance of
rural practitioners. “Medical care can affect
every facet of life in a rural community,” he
says. “Local medical care is key to the overall
health of a community, because people often
have no access to transportation. Economically,
a doctor in town can mean a great influx of
money and jobs into the community, both
directly—through doctor’s offices, pharmacies,
and hospitals—and indirectly, through companies
that will only enter the area if adequate
medical care is available. Socially, some studies
have shown that having adequate medical care
increases the residents’ pride in a community.”
Taking their knowledge to rural areas, graduates
of the program will help to create a
much-needed service and build a new sense of
community pride. That, says everyone
involved, is at the heart of the Rural Medical
Scholars Program.
A Handful
of Memories
George Hand’s
Retirement: A
Reason to Reminisce
By Roger Shuler
At a skit night a few years ago,
UASOM students created a character
called “Minutia George.” They even
wrote a song about him. Out in the audience,
George S. Hand, Jr., Ph.D., knew
immediately whom the students were
referring to, and he could not help but
join in the laughter.
After all, the skit was a sign that Hand
had done his job well. For most of his
career at the UASOM, Hand taught the first-year course in medical histology. “It’s the
study of the human body at the microscopic level,” he says. “Medical students have to
learn the normal microstructure of the body before they can understand pathology.
Medical histology complements the gross anatomy course: In gross anatomy, you dissect
with the hands; in medical histology, you dissect with the eyes.” Hand has taught every
student at the UASOM since 1974.
Hand grew up in Perryville, Missouri, but he looks back fondly on his career
in Birmingham. “I’ve gone to national meetings and had people poke fun at my
now-Southern accent,” he says. “But when people look at your name badge and
see ‘University of Alabama School of Medicine,’ you get instant respect. No one
pokes fun at that.”
Hand retired last September, after 32 years at the UASOM. He helped form the
UASOM Committee on Admissions in 1979, and he served as associate director of
admissions in from 1985 to 1988, director of admissions from 1988 to 1996, and assistant
dean from 1996 until his retirement in 2001. He continues to serve as an admissions
consultant, and he still teaches a medical cell and tissue biology course.
“It’s a joy to work with medical students,” Hand says. “I’ve worked with some of the
finest and brightest young men and women in the country, and it’s a joy to be an instrument
in their learning.”
The George Hand Scholarship Fund
To honor the contributions of George S. Hand, Jr., Ph.D., alumni of UASOM
and friends and colleagues have have created an endowed scholarship to
encourage and assist medical students from rural, underrepresented areas.
The scholarship will award about $500 to one student per year, to be applied
to the student’s tuition and fees. The first scholarship is expected to be
offered in 2002. To contribute to the fund, or for more information, contact
John Lankford at (205) 975-7341.
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