The Departments of Nutrition Sciences and Medicine offer a two-year Fellowship in Clinical Nutrition for physicians who have completed medical training and are board-eligible or board-certified in Internal Medicine or Family Medicine.
Department of Nutrition Sciences clinical faculty members include physicians trained in internal medicine and clinical nutrition, and Registered Dietitians. Many basic scientists also comprise the Department's faculty (see www.uab.edu/nutrition).
The UAB Hospital and V.A. Medical Center Nutrition Support Services consist of the physicians on our staff, a Registered Dietitian, one or two medical residents, and at times a fourth-year medical student. The team performs consultations throughout the University Medical Center. The Nutrition Clinic, an integral part of the Kirklin Clinic at UAB, is staffed by Nutrition Sciences physicians and dietitians who see patients on referral from other physicians or self-referred. We treat a wide variety of nutrition-related inpatient medical problems including short bowel syndrome, gastrointestinal problems requiring enteral and parenteral nutritional support, critical illness, hepatic and renal failure, hematologic disorders, and cancer. We also operate the UAB Home Parenteral Nutrition Service, for which the Fellows have primary responsibility.
Additional clinical nutrition services include the comprehensive UAB EatRight Weight Management Program and the UAB Osteoporosis Prevention and Treatment Clinic Fellows Rotate through the various nutrition clinics throughout their fellowship.
Fellows usually take several courses, mainly during their first year, to provide a more solid background in nutrition and in research than most M.D.s have. Among these are Nutritional Biochemistry, Nutrition and Cancer, and Nutritional Epidemiology. Other teaching occurs through clinics, bedside activities of the Nutrition Support Service and weekly departmental conferences and special seminars.
In addition to clinical and didactic experiences, Fellows become involved in a research project, to be actively pursued during the second year. The details of the research project are worked out during the first year with assistance from the medical center-wide course, Vocabulary of Clinical Research, a curriculum that provides training in the methods of clinical research. There is a variety of projects in the Department of Nutrition Sciences that support research on a clinical community, biochemical, physiological, and animal levels.
UAB’s National Cancer Institute-funded Cancer Prevention and Control Training Program is used to support our Fellows. This provides an excellent opportunity to gain experience in a high-priority NIH program. Because of the cancer prevention focus of this grant, Fellows often take one or two additional public health-related courses, e.g., epidemiology and health behavior, and they must have a secondary mentor in a discipline other than nutrition and focus their research on some aspect of nutrition and cancer prevention. We interpret “cancer-related” broadly (e.g., obesity and physical inactivity are cancer risk factors), and several Department faculty members are involved in studies that are directly or indirectly cancer-related. The NIH restricts training grant support to U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Applications from foreign physicians may be considered if they have independent financial support and can be licensed to practice medicine in the State of Alabama.
We were also involved in leading the Intersociety Professional Nutrition Education Consortium, which aimed to achieve national consensus on the identity, training, and certification of Physician Nutrition Specialists. IPNEC founded a new board entitled the American Board of Physician Nutrition Specialists (ABPNS), which offered its first Certification Examination for Physician Nutrition Specialists on November 17, 2001. Our fellowship is designed to meet the requirements for clinical nutrition training outlined by ABPNS, which are detailed at www.abpns.net. All fellows take the American Board of Physician Nutrition Specialists certification examination developed by ABPNS.
I hope the information in this document gives you an adequate overview of our program. I invite you to call me at 205-934-3235 if you have questions. If you wish to apply for the Fellowship, please send the following materials to the address at the bottom of the page.
1. A completed application form (nearby on this website), with a recent photograph and, if necessary, documentation of your permanent U.S. residency approval.
2. A complete curriculum vitae.
3. A statement describing your interest in nutrition and your current thoughts regarding career goals; your response to the possibility of cancer prevention-related research should be addressed.
4. A diploma and transcript from your medical school (copies sufficient).
5. Three letters of reference from persons who have been directly involved in your medical training or practice.
Sincerely,
Sarah L. Morgan, MD,RD,FADA,FACP,CCD
Professor and Fellowship Director
UAB Department of Nutrition Sciences
1714 9th Avenue South, LRC 354B
Birmingham, AL 35294-1270
E-mail: slmorgan@uab.edu
Web Page: www.uab.edu/Morgan
Telephone: (205) 934-3235
Fax: (205) 996-2072