This April, the UF College of Medicine will host its inaugural AI4Health: Improving Health through Artificial Intelligence conference, designed to explore how AI-enabled discoveries will change clinical practice and improve patients’ health. The conference, which will provide continuing medical education, or CME, credit to qualifying attendees, will showcase the exceptional AI expertise at UF and attract clinicians from across the state and nation to discuss the application of AI research advances in the realm of patient care.

Held in Orlando at Disney’s Yacht Club Resort from April 20-22, the event will highlight some of the most accomplished researchers in AI and health. Over the course of three days, the conference will feature more than two dozen speakers, covering a wide range of topics pertinent to the application of big data and new technologies, including AI and the future of medicine, using AI improve to health outcomes and emerging ethical and legal frontiers.

“Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing the way we approach health care and we’re excited to bring experts in the field together with practicing clinicians at what we hope will become the nation’s foremost conference on health and AI,” said Azra Bihorac, M.D., M.S., the senior associate dean for research affairs and co-director of the Intelligent Critical Care Center at the UF College of Medicine. “This conference will be a unique opportunity for health care providers to learn about the latest advancements in AI and how they can be applied to improve patient outcomes.”

Since the early 1980s, community engagement has been a key tenet of the department of psychiatry. The late Richard C. Christensen, M.D., a beloved faculty member who championed medical ethics and health care access for underserved populations — particularly people experiencing mental illnesses and homelessness — led the department to provide free psychiatric care to community members through the Helping Hands Clinic and Equal Access Clinic Network.

Decades later, his legacy is carried on by the department’s faculty, staff and trainees, who serve the community through a growing number of educational and therapeutic outreach programs.

“Because mental health and psychiatric disorders are so stigmatized, it is critical that we as a department actively work to engage the community, decrease stigma and identify new ways to increase access to care and engage folks in seeking out and obtaining needed care,” said Carol Mathews, M.D., DLFAPA, chair of the department of psychiatry at UF. “Community engagement is a critical piece of what we do as professionals. It is an important part of our mission and keeps us anchored to why we went into medicine — to help the people around us.”

Although late-night studying and scrubbing up for clinical rotations might not appear romantic, several alumni at the UF College of Medicine found love during the years they spent training to become health care professionals.

From meeting at orientation or during a class in Communicore to bonding during a study session or finding the way to another’s heart through a home-cooked meal, couples at the college strengthened their connection through a mutual calling to care for patients.

Read about four UF Medicine alumni, including several current faculty members, who found love on campus.