Meet Dr. Carter Capra, Alabamian, cancer physician, and proud UMMC alumnus. Here, Dr. Capra shares his path to UMMC, memories from training, and what he’s up to now.
First, tell us about you and your time at UMMC.
I’m originally from the Birmingham area. I came to UMMC by way of Auburn (War Eagle!) and then American University of the Caribbean. I’m now back in Birmingham with my wonderful wife, Sarah, and our 4 beautiful kiddos. Duff is Mississippi born from my senior year of fellowship, now 5. Ian is 3.5 and my twins, Colette and Sybil, are now 20 months.
I had never spent a night in Mississippi prior to my residency interview in 2012. But from the moment I arrived on campus for that interview, I knew it was where I wanted to be. Vince Herrin told me he’d never hired an Auburn fan, and coming off a disastrous 2012 football campaign, I promised him I was better than my team. I still think that conversation sealed the deal. My first attending was Stephanie Elkins on inpatient Heme, and after the first week with her I knew this would be my life (had a very strong inclination beforehand, but a great boss and mentor solidified it). I did briefly toy with the idea of Cardiology after Barr Biglane’s noon conference interspersed with Freddie Mercury trivia, and then getting to float a swan with John Saxon. I even flirted with ICU after a month with Derek Hansen, Andy Wilhelm and Demondes Haynes. But I had the great fortune to spend a month with Carolyn Bigelow and Clark Henegan and then never looked back. Sarah and I got engaged at the end of intern year, but she was back in Birmingham for the duration of residency. We got married right at the end of senior year and then decided to stay at UMMC for Heme/Onc fellowship in 2016. In addition to the established staff, I was in great hands with my fellowship chiefs who were none other than the perpetual trainee, Yohan Hsu (who I think was a PGY-10 by the end of it), and then Fellow of the Year Doris Hansen. I had the honor of serving as Fellowship Chief during my senior year, having learned to love teaching from my predecessors. I do miss teaching. But by then I had my first born and home was calling. My time in Mississippi came to an end after finishing fellowship in 2019. I’m forever grateful to Carter and Matt Milner for allowing me to crash in their guest room for the final 6 weeks. I tried to moonlight as much as possible then to stay out of their hair, but that’s a long time for any house-guest.
Where are you now and what are you doing?
Now, I’m back in Birmingham as a partner with Alabama Oncology. We’re the largest private group in the city with 17 MedOnc, 2 GynOnc, and 3 SurgOnc/HBP physicians. We’re in each of the private hospitals in the greater Birmingham area, though I’m exclusively at our St. Vincent’s location. I’ve been the Cancer Liaison Physician to the Commission on Cancer and the Chair of the St Vincent’s Multidisciplinary Tumor Board for two years. Outside of work, it’s raising the circus that is 4 kids 5 and under. Fortunately for me, my better half does the majority of that hard work.
What do you miss most about UMMC?
What I miss most about UMMC has to be the people. Medical training is a bizarre thing, and you get close to the people next to you during that time. Far too many people to name here. I miss table rounds at Cups, Bow-Tie Thursday, Sunday morning Whataburger biscuit rounds with Bigelow, night shift Forensic Files in the lounge with whomever the other unfortunate souls were also sharing the night duty. I miss Fondren’s First Thursday, Walt Whitman quotes at The Library, brunch at the Fairview, Aladdin’s and Keifer’s. I miss recruiting to UMMC. I really loved my experience there, and I’m glad I convinced Vince to take a chance on me.
Progress Notes 