Class of 2026 to receive white coats June 14

Class of 2026

Each year, the USA Medical Alumni Association sponsors the White Coat Ceremony and Gold Humanism Honor Society Induction Ceremony. The Class of 2026 White Coat Ceremony is set for Friday, June 14, at 2 p.m. at the USA Mitchell Center.

During the ceremony, rising third-year medical students are cloaked with white coats, the traditional dress of physicians for more than 100 years. Afterward, students take the Medical Student Oath, a promise to uphold the human aspects of medicine, such as sensitivity, compassion and respect for patients.

Also at the event, select rising seniors, as well as residents and faculty, are inducted into the Gold Humanism Honor Society. Inductees are selected for practicing patient-centered medical care with integrity, compassion and altruism. Election to this organization is by vote of medical students.

The USA Medical Alumni Association requests notes of encouragement and advice to ensure every student receives a personal message in their white coat. Submit a note by June 7 to medalum@southalabama.edu. 

Family Medicine OB fellowship starts partnership with Andalusia Health

Andalusia Health is a partner hospital for the Family Medicine Obstetrics Fellowship.

With a dual goal of providing much-needed prenatal care to patients and more experience to physicians early in their careers, USA Health’s Family Medicine Obstetrics Fellowship has launched a partnership with Andalusia Health in Covington County in south central Alabama. The move comes after the closure of the Monroe County Hospital labor and delivery unit in November 2023.

The Family Medicine Obstetrics Fellowship is a one-year program that provides care to residents in rural and urban areas in Alabama where prenatal care is often nonexistent.

Andalusia Health, an 88-bed acute care facility, has served south Alabama since 1966 and offers a wide range of diagnostic, therapeutic, emergency and surgical services.

Vickie Demers, M.B.A., M.H.A., chief executive officer of Andalusia Health, is eager to partner with the USA Health Family Medicine Obstetrics Fellowship to help fill the growing need of physicians who provide care in rural areas.

“Rural settings require physicians to be able to take care of a wide range of patients, typically having less sub-specialists to work with and refer patients to,” she said. “This program trains physicians to take care of all ages of patients — from newborns through geriatrics — and we’re glad to be able to assist in preparing the future generation of doctors.”    

Compared to the rest of the country, Alabama struggles with high infant and maternal mortality rates. But a program like this could make a significant impact.

“Students interested in rural medicine will have an opportunity to receive the training closer to home, and they will have the opportunity to help patients in the region,” said Allen Perkins, M.D., M.P.H., a family medicine physician at USA Health and professor of family medicine at the Whiddon College of Medicine. “The patients will benefit the most. This program is bringing virtual access to patients who need high-risk maternity care, who may not have reliable transportation to get to Mobile. Hopefully, it will help to reduce both maternal and infant mortality in lower Alabama.”

Fellows receive instruction on obstetric ultrasounds, Cesarean sections, prenatal care including high-risk pregnancies, gynecological procedures, and telehealth. It is funded by the federal government through the Health Resources and Services Administration.

Two fellows are accepted each year from nationally accredited residency programs in family medicine.  

Carson Klein, M.D., a family medicine physician in Andalusia who is serving as site coordinator for the program, completed a family practice/obstetrics program herself, so she knows firsthand the benefit of the USA Health partnership and the need.

"Family medicine-obstetrics physicians have a unique opportunity to help in the ever-growing shortage of both primary care and obstetrics care in rural Alabama and rural America,” she said. “To me, it speaks volumes to the healthcare community we are building at Andalusia Health that USA selected our community and hospital for these fellows' rural experience.”

While thoroughly patient-centered, the fellowship provides a rich context of academic medicine. 

At Andalusia Health, fellows will be working with local providers in the clinic setting and in the obstetrics department of the hospital. In addition to the Birthing Center, the hospital offers a wide range of services, including orthopaedics, stroke care, heart care, diagnostic imaging, physical therapy, urology, digestive health, lung care, and more.

Other program highlights include: 

• Affiliations with Children’s & Women’s Hospital, with 3,500 deliveries per year, and Andalusia Health, a rural hospital with a labor unit and approximately 225 deliveries per year. 
• Community-based collaboration with Evergreen Family Medical, a branch of Franklin Primary Health Center, to deliver prenatal care to residents of Conecuh County.
• Dedicated family medicine and OB-GYN faculty who are accessible and committed to education, providing both clinical supervision and expertise, plus rewarding mentorship.

Whiddon COM alumnus joins USA Health

Aaron D. Seims, M.D.

Pediatric surgeon Aaron D. Seims, M.D., FACS, a graduate of the Whiddon College of Medicine, has joined USA Health. 

Seims comes from the Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children in Orlando, Florida, where he served as a pediatric surgeon and teaching faculty member. In his new role, he will have joint faculty appointments as an associate professor of surgery and associate professor of pediatrics. 

“We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Seims, who has extensive training in pediatric surgery, especially in minimally invasive surgery techniques,” said William O. Richards, M.D., FACS, professor and chair of surgery at the Whiddon College of Medicine. “USA Health continues to build a strong complement of pediatric surgeons who provide excellent care for sick children in our region.” 

Seims said he was drawn to surgery because of his experience growing up with a condition called pectus excavatum, a chest wall malformation. “I had this surgically repaired when I was in college and subsequently, as an undergraduate student, shadowed a pediatric surgeon,” he said. “Ultimately, I wanted to do for others what my surgeon was able to do for me.” 

Seims holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Florida, where he graduated summa cum laude. He completed a surgical internship at the University of Virginia and served as a surgical resident at Orlando Health. He also was a clinical research fellow at the Riley Hospital for Children at Indiana University Health in Indianapolis. 

Seims completed a fellowship in pediatric endosurgery at Children’s of Alabama/UAB Heersink School of Medicine in Birmingham, as well as a pediatric surgical oncology fellowship at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. He returned to the Riley Hospital for Children for a pediatric surgery fellowship. 

Seims developed an interest in minimally invasive surgery — in particular, single-incision surgery called “keyhole” surgery — during his pediatric endosurgery fellowship. “I was trained to do this type of surgery at UAB by its team of pediatric surgeons, who introduced me to the International Pediatric Endosurgery Group (IPEG),” he said. “Through this organization, I have been able to share my work and understand how complex surgical problems are handled by surgeons in countries with far fewer resources.” 

Because of his personal health history, Seims also has an interest in the correction of congenital malformations, he said. 

A fellow of the American College of Surgeons, Seims is a member of IPEG, the Children’s Oncology Group, and the American Pediatric Surgical Association. He is an author of multiple publications in academic journals and has presented research findings at national and international meetings. 

Five teens complete Project Inspire mentorship program at USA Health

Ashley Williams Hogue, M.D., assistant professor of surgery, speaks at the Project Inspire graduation ceremony.

Five local teens became the sixth class to complete Project Inspire, a hospital-based firearm injury prevention program designed to curb gun violence and recidivism among youth through intentional programming and mentorship in the Mobile community. 

The teens were selected to participate in the semester-long program at University Hospital through a partnership with the James T. Strickland Youth Center. Since it was founded in 2017, Project Inspire has helped 25 teens see themselves through a new lens of empowerment. 

“The first step to success is showing up, and this class went above and beyond to engage and truly get the full experience of Project Inspire. I’m so proud of each one of them,” said Project Inspire founder Ashley Williams Hogue, M.D., a trauma surgeon at USA Health University Hospital and an assistant professor of surgery at the Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine. “Our graduates have big shoes to fill, as those before them have done an excellent job of staying on the right track — the one that leads to success.” 

The program seeks to equip participants with the tools and resources they need to reach their full potential. With a focus on education, exposure and mentorship, students undergo a comprehensive curriculum comprising the pillars of confidence building, educational and professional development, financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and career-specific mentorship. All participants receive training and certification in Stop the Bleed and Basic Life Support, as well as assistance with resumé creation and practice job interviews. Additionally, each class participates in a community service project. 

“We want to expose them to as many fields as possible,” Williams Hogue said. 

At the recent graduation celebration, the teens heard from speakers Dwight Owens, who survived a car crash caused by a drunk driver, and Ishaunna Gully, who survived a domestic violence shooting. 

“Shame keeps us from being who we are meant to be,” said Owens, an educator turned motivational speaker who was paralyzed in the 2005 accident. “In life, we learn to turn our pain into purpose.” 

For more information about the program, visit the Project Inspire webpage. 

Whiddon College of Medicine part of NIH grant to propel clinical and translational science forward

Through its affiliation with the Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS), the Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine at the University of South Alabama joins institutional partners across the Deep South as part of collaborative efforts to advance clinical and translational science. 

The CCTS, based at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, has been awarded four grants, totaling $82 million over seven years, from the National Center for Advancing Translational Science, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). 

Since its establishment in 2008, the CCTS’s mission has sought to capitalize on the unique research expertise and capacity to enhance the translation of fundamental and clinical discoveries into improvements for human health and healthcare delivery.

In 2015, to nurture research more broadly, the CCTS expanded to create the CCTS Partner Network – which engages 11 academic health centers, research institutes and universities in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi through strategic partnerships – as the foundation of the center’s local and regional collaborative efforts. The University of South Alabama is a member of this collaborative Partner Network, working together to advance research and improve health outcomes across the region.

“As part of the CCTS Partner Network, the University of South Alabama is excited to contribute to this transformative initiative,” said Mark Gillespie, Ph.D, professor of pharmacology and site principal investigator at the Whiddon College of Medicine. “These grants will not only advance our research capabilities but also strengthen our commitment to addressing health disparities in our communities.”

The CCTS’s UM1 grant, which will award $9.9 million each year for seven years, serves as the cornerstone of the partner network’s mission. The funding supports their efforts by further developing a well-trained workforce in translational science, by developing a highly integrated digital ecosystem encompassing clinical and biomedical informatics, by involving our communities in engaged partnership to identify challenges and create approaches to solutions, and by nurturing a vibrant and efficient research ecosystem.

In conjunction with the UM1 grant, three NIH training grants will be funded for five years. 

These grants reinforce the CCTS and the Whiddon College of Medicine’s dedication to fostering the next generation of clinical and translational scientists, Gillespie said. Each program emphasizes a unique aspect of training – from nurturing early career researchers to integrating dissemination and implementation science – forming a comprehensive approach to addressing health disparities. 

Learn more about the Center for Clinical and Translational Science.