The Department of Family and Community Medicine's Comprehensive Urban Underserved and Rural Experience program (CU²RE) at UAB has received a supplemental award from the Health Resources and Services Administration for $5.2 million.

The CU²RE program is designed to enhance the recruitment, training and retention of medical students dedicated to serving as family medicine physicians in the medically underserved urban and rural areas of Alabama. HRSA provided the initial funding for the program in 2020.

This $5.2 million supplemental funding will be used to increase educational activities for medical students, redesign family medicine curriculum across all UAB regional campuses, provide CU²RE students with stipends to offset medical education costs, and implement new faculty, staff and student development initiatives.

Selected students in the School of Medicine will receive mentoring from family medicine physicians, early access to clinical hours, a 10-patient panel to work with over four years, leadership and interprofessional education, and more.