the pursuit of parkinson's - The University of Alabama at Birmingham

Volker Hall News
By Dawn Mesa
After a thorough and lengthy process, the
renovation of Volker Hall, the primary teaching
site for the UASOM, was completed in
July 2003. The $40-million project created
learning and teaching facilities that reflect the
current philosophy of teaching students in
small groups, the use of interactive computer
models, incorporating simulated patients for
teaching, and appropriate study areas.
It may have been hard to imagine what
the finished renovations ultimately would
look like when construction began more
than two years ago. One of the first things
that is apparent is the fact that Volker Hall
now has a front door and atrium area, something
that it previously never had. In addition,
there are now two floors, the fourth
and fifth, that were designed and renovated
specifically with students in mind.
Gone are the large lecture halls, and in
their place are small group rooms on the
fourth and fifth floors. Lockers are provided
for every student, and general spaces and
lounge areas were created with student comfort
in mind. The facilities are left open for
students to study at their convenience day or
night, says Dennis W. Boulware, M.D., associate
dean of medical education. “This is
their home field, and we bring the learning
to them.” In any one of the numerous small
group rooms, students can work on various
subjects being studied. There are also larger
rooms for groups to join together and discuss
their findings or study. There are six
large rooms and two more that can be split
and divided off into separate spaces in each
of the two student floors.
The third floor houses the skilled-facility
area—incidentally, where the Objective
Structured Clinical Exam (OSCE) is held—as
well as faculty space, and a group hall where
lectures and simulations are held regularly.
The skilled-facility area consists of a clinical
area with 20 exam rooms, each containing all
of the equipment and accoutrements of a typical
exam room but with cameras and microphones
to assist in observing the patient interactions
of the OCSE and Introduction to
Clinical Medicine Program.
The first floor, also known as the plaza
level, houses the medical-student services
offices, including admissions, financial aid,
the registrar, minority programs, and career
support. In addition, some administrative
offices are housed on this floor. The space on
each floor is used to its best capacity and
reflects the very latest in learning and technological
innovation. Always looking to the
future, the UASOM made sure to leave
space in the building for future developments
and additions.
With marble hallways and art-decorated
walls on the first floor, as well as state-of-theart
facilities—including high-performance
Internet access—for students and faculty on
the floors above, there is no doubt that
Volker Hall will continue to improve the
quality of medicine in Alabama and around
the nation and world. Says Boulware, “This
space was designed for the students; we hope
that they will feel like part of the student
‘community’ and enjoy their educational
experience here at the UASOM.”
The newly renovated Volker Hall reflects the UASOM’s commitment to providing the best medical education.
Above (L), a student takes a break in the main hallway; (R) a close-up view of the UASOM seal in the hallway.
Funding from Ernest G. DeBakey
Charitable Foundation Helps Rural Medical Scholars
By Dawn Mesa
Given his lengthy medical career, Ernest G.
DeBakey, M.D., has served in many roles: practitioner,
scholar, and mentor, to name just a few. In 1977, as
part of his long-standing commitment to helping others,
DeBakey founded the Ernest G. DeBakey
Charitable Foundation to benefit medical education
and research.
As part of the foundation’s commitment to rural
health care in Alabama, it generously funds students
from several rural southern Alabama counties as part
of the DeBakey Foundation Rural Medical Scholars
award. In addition to the honor that accompanies this
award, there is also a financial benefit to students
selected. DeBakey Foundation Rural Medical Scholars
receive $9,000 for their senior (prematriculation) year
of undergraduate school at the University of Alabama,
followed by $27,000 per year for the four years of
medical school at the UASOM. These funds cover
tuition and fees, room and board, and books and supplies,
as well as other school-related expenses.
Recently, Kenneth “Brad” Guy was named the 2003
DeBakey Foundation Rural Medical Scholar. He is the
third recipient of the award to date. The first recipient,
in 1999, was Emily Dolbare, UASOM class of 2003,
who is currently completing her residency in internal
medicine at Wake Forest University.
The second recipient of the award, Emily S. Barnes,
the 2001 DeBakey Foundation Rural Medical Scholar,
hails from Monroe County, Alabama, and is currently in
her third year at the UASOM. She has known from a
young age that she wanted to be a physician and plans
to return to Monroeville and practice family medicine
upon completion of her medical education. “As the
child of a single-parent household, I’ve been blessed in
so many ways in terms of the many doors that have
opened for me and receiving the DeBakey scholarship. I
feel like I’ve truly been called to medicine, and everything
else has happened to reinforce that. I look forward
to returning to my hometown and taking care of the
people who took care of me; it’ll be an honor,” she says.
To qualify as a DeBakey Foundation Rural Medical
Scholar, students must hail from Clark, Monroe,
Washington, or Wilcox Counties in Alabama, maintain
a 3.2 grade-point average (GPA) during their prematriculation
year and a 3.0 GPA while in medical
school, and agree to practice medicine for at least five
years in a rural community after completion of their
medical education. This last point is not legally binding,
nor enforced, but it is hoped that DeBakey
Foundation Rural Medical Scholars will return to a
rural Alabama community to practice medicine.
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