Medical Alumni Reunion

Schedule of Events

Weekend attire recommendation: Resort casual

 

Friday, June 21
1-5 p.m.	Registration (Conference Room Foyer)
5-6:30 p.m.	Welcome Reception with Fredrick P. Whiddon College of Medicine Dean John V. Marymont, M.D., M.B.A. (Dragonfly Patio)
6:30 p.m.	Dinner on your own

 

Saturday, June 22
7:30-8:30 a.m.	Continental Breakfast (Conference Room Foyer)
8:30-9:30 a.m.	“Updates and Emerging Topics in Medical Education” with T.J. Hundley, M.D., '04 (Live Oak I, II and III)
9:30 a.m.	Break
9:45-10:45 a.m.	“Is Medicine Now Simply a ‘Business’?” with Mark S. Williams, M.D., M.B.A., J.D., C.P.E., '80 (Live Oak I, II and III)
10:45-11:45 a.m.	“Consequences of Sleep Disorders on Cardiovascular Disease” with Michael T. Ledet, M.D., '84 (Live Oak I, II and III)
12-1:30 p.m.	MAA Awards Luncheon and Annual Membership Meeting with a State of the College Update from Whiddon COM Dean John V. Marymont, M.D., M.B.A. (Gulfview Ballroom III)
6:30-9 p.m.	Buffet Dinner (Live Oak I, II and III)

 

Sunday, June 23
7:30-8:30 a.m.	Breakfast Buffet (Conference Room Foyer)
8-10 a.m.	“Safe Opioid Prescribing: Trends Affecting Use” with Elizabeth VandeWaa, Ph.D.  (Live Oak I, II and III)

 

Map of The Lodge

Click below to view a full-size PDF.

 

Michael Ledet, M.D.

Michael Ledet, M.D., is CEO of Sleep & CardioVascular Health in Daphne, Alabama, and is board certified in family medicine, sleep medicine, and lipidology. He also has served as medical director at Southeast Regional Center for Sleep/Wake Disorders at Springhill Medical Center in Mobile since its inception in the early 1990s. His focus is evaluating and treating all types of sleep and cholesterol disorders. Sleep disorders represent one of the most common medical problems in our society. Treating sleep disorders and encouraging proper sleep quantity and quality helps the 24-hour cycle of life; a better night makes a better day and vice versa. Evaluating and treating cholesterol problems, along with modifying other cardiovascular risk factors, help prevent cardiovascular disease, the most common cause of death in the United States. Dr. Ledet participates as primary investigator for research trials with Coastal Clinical Research, now AMR-Daphne. He lives in Montrose with his wife, Toni, and he has three children who reside in Baldwin County.

 

Elizabeth VandeWaa, Ph.D.

Elizabeth VandeWaa is a professor at the College of Nursing at USA. Her area of expertise is pharmacology; she received her Ph.D. in pharmacology from Michigan State University. At the College of Nursing, Dr. VandeWaa provides pharmacology education to all levels of nursing students, including BSN, NP and DNP. Her areas of research interest include drugs of abuse, particularly drug trafficking and risks associated with nonpharmaceutical drugs. In addition, she participates in research examining healthcare worker attitudes toward stigmatized patient populations, including patients with mental health issues, homelessness, or those with substance-use disorders. She has presented on these topics and others, including polypharmacy, geriatric safe medication use, and current topics and trends in pharmacology, to healthcare professionals including NPs, physicians, and allied health professionals.

 

T.J. Hundley, M.D.

T.J. Hundley, M.D., '04, completed a residency in internal medicine at USA Health. Upon joining the faculty in 2007, Dr. Hundley served as the clerkship director and the associate residency program director for the Department of Internal Medicine. He has served in his current role as associate dean since 2019. Dr. Hundley oversees the Division of Medical Education and medical education program. His interests include curriculum design, evaluation and assessment. He is a fellow in the American College of Physicians and also serves as the faculty advisor for the USA chapter of the Gold Humanism Honor Society.

 

 

Mark Williams, M.D., M.B.A., J.D., C.P.E.

Mark Williams, M.D., M.B.A., J.D., C.P.E., '80, recently rejoined UAB as an associate professor in anesthesiology after serving as the chief physician officer for Bozeman Health in Bozeman, Montana, from 2019-2023. Prior to that role, Dr. Williams served as both the chief clinical officer and chief academic officer for the Prisma Health System and the University of South Carolina in Columbia, South Carolina.  From 2014 to 2017, he was the chief physician executive for Tenet’s Brookwood Baptist System in Birmingham, Alabama. He is a past president of the Southern Medical Association. From 2008 to 2014, he served as the chief medical officer of the North Mississippi Health System in Tupelo, Mississippi — the largest rural healthcare system in the United States and the recipient of the 2006 and 2012 National Malcolm Baldrige Award for Organizational Performance. He is a 1980 graduate of the Whiddon College of Medicine and, after an internship in general surgery and a residency in internal medicine, completed his post-graduate training in anesthesiology. Dr. Williams joined the UAB Department of Anesthesiology after his training and practiced anesthesia and critical care medicine at Carraway Methodist Medical Center, a 617-bed Level I Trauma and teaching hospital, for over 20 years. He is a former member of the governor's Medicaid redesign committee and the Healthcare Workforce committee in Mississippi, a past board chairman of the Alabama Quality Assurance Foundation, and served as chief of staff of Carraway Methodist Medical Center from 2004 to 2006. From 2006 to 2008, he was the chief medical officer for the Ascension St. Vincent's system in Birmingham, Alabama, and chairman of Ascension Health's Physician Informatics Committee and the Task Force on Disclosure of Unanticipated Outcomes. Dr. Williams is a 2001 graduate of the Alabama School of Law and a member of the Alabama State Bar. He completed the M.B.A. program at Samford University in 1995 and is a former medical director for Alabama Power Company. In 2016, he was honored as a distinguished alumnus of the University of South Alabama. His family enjoys white water rafting and hiking in the wilds of Idaho and Montana. He and his wife, Sandi, have four children and four grandchildren, who reside in Montana, Washington, and Alabama.

S. Lane Rutledge, MD, '81

2024 Distinguished Medical Alumni Memorial Award

S. Lane Rutledge, M.D., was a pediatric neurologist and geneticist and has been listed in the Best Doctors in America since 1994 and was a staunch advocate for her patients. Lane was a professor of Clinical Genetics at both Children’s of Alabama and UAB. She was medical director of UAB Biochemical Genetics Laboratory, director of Clinical Services for Genetics, and advisor to the Newborn Screening Program with the Alabama Department of Public Health. Lane was the physician for Camp Winnataska, a place near and dear to her heart, and she volunteered her time there every summer. She was a beloved mother, sister, aunt, friend and physician.

The Distinguished Medical Alumni Memorial Award recognizes an alum whose career illustrated a commitment to leadership within the medical field, either in academics, business, government, or other unique positions. Such careers are usually distinguished by major leadership positions or respected national reputations.

 

Daniel C. Potts, M.D., F.A.A.N., '93

2024 Distinguished Medical Alumni Award

Daniel C. Potts, M.D., F.A.A.N., '93, attending neurologist at the Tuscaloosa VA Medical Center and adjunct faculty at the Whiddon College of Medicine, UAB Heersink SOM, and the University of Alabama, has been designated an Architect of Change by Maria Shriver for his advocacy for persons living with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias and their care partners. Selected by the American Academy of Neurology as the 2008 Donald M. Palatucci Advocate of the Year, he also was chosen by the University of Alabama Medical Alumni Association as the 2016 recipient of the Martha Myers Role Model Award, which honors physicians whose lives epitomize the ideal of service to their communities. Awarded Physician of the Year by the Association of the U.S. Army, West Alabama Chapter in 2020, he also was selected as a 2024 recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award from Birmingham-Southern College. Inspired by his father’s transformation from saw miller to watercolor artist in the throes of dementia through person-centered care and the expressive arts, Potts seeks to make these therapies more widely available through his foundation, Cognitive Dynamics. Additionally, he is passionate about promoting self-preservation and dignity for all persons with cognitive impairment. He and his wife, Ellen W. Potts, M.B.A. (USA '93), have two daughters, Julie and Maria, and reside in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

The Distinguished Medical Alumni Award recognizes an alum whose career has illustrated a commitment to leadership within the medical field, either in academics, business, government, or other unique positions. Such careers are usually distinguished by major leadership positions or respected national reputations.

 

Robert W. Chagrasulis, M.D., '81

2024 Medical Alumni Humanitarian Award

Dr. Robert “Bob” Chagrasulis came to the Whiddon College of Medicine in July 1973 following graduation from Northeastern University (chemical engineering) to work in the new Department of Physiology. He left for a year at the University of Southern California (physiology) and returned to USA, entering in 1977 with the Class of 1981. Dr. Chagrasulis completed a postgraduate residency in general surgery at the Maine Medical Center (Tufts) and fellowship at Vanderbilt University in trauma/surgical critical care. His career was spent primarily in rural hospitals in Maine; since stepping out of the operating room, he has continued in the practice of MAT/addiction medicine. For 30 years, Dr. Chagrasulis has led medical and Rotary work teams to Haiti and the Dominican Republic with the current "Cross Cultural Medicine on Hispaniola" medical team of Whiddon College of Medicine 1981 classmates, in partnership with the Whiddon College of Medicine's Department of Emergency Medicine.

The Medical Alumni Humanitarian Award recognizes an alum who has made a significant impact on the medical care of the public, uniting medical service and public benefit on a local, national or international scale. 

 

Jonathan G. Scammell, Ph.D.

2024 Distinguished Service Award

Dr. Jonathan Scammell received his Ph.D. in Physiology from the University of Florida and post-doctoral training in Pharmacology at Yale School of Medicine. Since joining the faculty at the University of South Alabama in 1986, he served as course director of Medical Pharmacology for over 10 years and was responsible for building the Endocrine Reproduction Module when the “new” pre-clinical curriculum was instituted. Also, while enjoying a research career funded by the NIH, NSF, the American Heart Association, and other agencies, he chaired multiple medical school committees including Curriculum, Faculty Promotion and Tenure, Admissions, Chair Searches, among others. Since retiring last October, he is taking advantage of his Emeritus status to continue to serve on several committees for the college and participate in small group learning sessions with M3 and M4 students.

The Distinguished Service Award recognizes an alum or faculty/staff member who has made a significant contribution to improving the quality and reach of the Whiddon College of Medicine, as well as service that substantially benefits or enhances the reputation of the College.

 

Robert D. Lightfoot, M.D.

The de Juan, Chambers, Oppenheimer Healthcare Award

It was a calling from God placed on the hearts of Dr. Robert and Tami Lightfoot that directed them to transition from the general surgery room to open Victory Health Partners, a faith-based, non-profit medical practice serving low-income, uninsured adults over 20 years ago. From Victory's first day of serving 12 patients, under Dr. Lightfoot's leadership and the faithfulness of God, over 40,000 patients have received compassionate and comprehensive healthcare throughout the Gulf Coast. The continuum of care has expanded from internal medicine to now a multi-specialty practice providing a full spectrum of healthcare for uninsured adults, with over 175 partner physicians and specialists. He will share that the greatest blessing is in the testimonies of the patients he has the blessing of serving for over the last 20 years. 

The de Juan, Chambers, Oppenheimer Healthcare Award recognizes a Whiddon College of Medicine adjunct faculty or healthcare leader in our region who has shown a deep commitment to the health of our community and has made a significant contribution to the medical field or the education of our healthcare professionals.

 

Know an outstanding Whiddon College of Medicine alum or faculty member?

Submit your nominations today for the 2025 Medical Alumni Awards.

Dining at The Lodge

Perch at The Lodge
21196 East Beach Blvd.
Gulf Shores, AL 36542
251-540-6100

Hours of Operation:
Wednesday-Sunday, 5-11 p.m.

Proper attire is required; upscale casual preferred.

 

Foodcraft at The Lodge
21196 East Beach Blvd.
Gulf Shores, AL 36542
251-923-2950
foodcraftgsp.com 

Hours of Operation:
Breakfast buffet, 7-10:30 a.m.
A la carte, 7-11 a.m.
Lunch and Sunday brunch, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
Dinner, Monday-Tuesday, 4-9 p.m.
Dinner, Wednesday-Sunday, 4-8 p.m.

 

Roasted Oak at The Lodge
Coffee shop and wine bar located in the lobby of The Lodge

Hours of Operation:
Daily, 6 a.m.-9 p.m.

 

The Dragonfly at The Lodge
Casual dining and beverages by the pool at The Lodge
lodgeatgulfstatepark.com/dragonfly/ 

 

Off-Property Dining

OWA
101-N South OWA Blvd.
Foley, AL 36535
251-923-2111
visitowa.com

 

Red or White
4851 #D128 Wharf Parkway
Orange Beach, AL 36561
251-981-2851
www.redorwhitewine.com 

Wine Bar Hours of Operation:
Monday-Thursday, 3-8 p.m.
Friday-Saturday, 3-9 p.m.

 

Woodside Restaurant
20249 State Park Road
Gulf Shores, AL 36542
woodsideatgsp.com 

Hours of Operation:
Daily, 8 a.m.-8 p.m.
Breakfast, 8-11 a.m.
Lunch, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
Dinner, 4-8 p.m.

 

Zeke’s Restaurant
26619 Perdido Beach Blvd.
Orange Beach, AL 36561
251-322-7125
www.zekeslanding.com 

Hours of Operation:
Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m.
Friday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m.

 

Big Beach Brewing Company
300 E 24th Ave.
Gulf Shores, AL 36542
251-948-2337
www.bigbeachbrewing.com 

Hours of Operation:
Monday-Thursday, 2-10 p.m.
Friday-Saturday, 12-12 p.m.
Sunday, 12-10 p.m.

Special thanks to the 2023-2024 Medical Alumni Association Board of Directors