Compassion. Innovation. Integrity. Service.
Hospital Training Ground
Whitfield Regional Hospital
Essential to ASHS’ mission to prepare Alabama’s next generation of healthcare leaders is our partnership with Whitfield Regional Hospital. Right at their front door, students will have a unique opportunity to learn about healthcare not only from textbooks and classrooms, but from within, to experience first-hand how medicine can change lives of both patients and practitioners.
ASHS’ strategic location on 10 acres adjacent to Whitfield will be one of its greatest strengths. As a proud affiliate of the UAB Health System, Whitfield will bring advanced technology and imbue best practices for patient care and a culture of clinical excellence into an ASHS education.
Building Bridges
To further enhance access, plans are underway for a walking bridge that will directly connect ASHS and the hospital. This unique feature will allow seamless movement between campus and clinical spaces, ensuring that students can fully immerse themselves in hands-on learning.
From the very start of their 11th-grade year, students will engage in guided clinical training at Whitfield across a wide variety of medical disciplines. Opportunities include:
• Emergency & Critical Care: Training exposure in a Level III Trauma Center, regional stroke center, and intensive care unit connected to UAB through advanced telehealth technology.
• Specialized Services: Insights into cancer care, robotics-assisted surgery, obstetrics, prenatal care, and a diversity of surgical specialties.
• Primary & Family Care: Experience with family medicine, preventative care, and wellness-focused services anchored in our community.
• Telemedicine Innovation: An introduction to technologies that are transforming rural healthcare, connecting patients to specialists across Alabama through a strong telehealth network.
• Structured, shadowing rotations in operating rooms, medical-surgical units, emergency departments, and rural clinics allowing exposure to patient care, non-patient-facing and administrative roles.
• Elective concentrations in diagnostic services, therapeutic services, and health informatics.
Once final career pathways at ASHS are approved, they will be aligned with appropriate educational opportunities at Whitfield, shaped with input from Whitfield’s Directors of Patient Experience and Nursing Administration and other department directors, guaranteeing students a deep and relevant understanding of modern healthcare delivery.