Our Mission
Florida Blue Foundation grant to help transform health care for vulnerable populations
By Audrey Post FSU College of Medicine
The Florida Blue Foundation, the philanthropic affiliate of Florida Blue – the state’ s Blue Cross and Blue Shield plan – is providing a five-year, $ 500,000 grant to the FSU College of Medicine to support the Community Health Immersions Curriculum.
The Community Health Immersions Curriculum creates opportunities for students to see how social determinants of health, such as food insecurity, housing uncertainty, economic and educational limitations and health care access, can exacerbate chronic health issues in many populations.
“ The Florida Blue Foundation’ s generosity will allow us to expose our students even earlier in their educational journeys to the social determinants of health,” said Anthony Speights, M. D., senior associate dean for Interdisciplinary Medical Sciences and director of the Bridge to Clinical Medicine program.
The curriculum is presented throughout the College of Medicine’ s degree offerings: three undergraduate majors in Interdisciplinary Medical Sciences( clinical professions, community patient care, and health management, policy and information), master’ s degree programs in Physician Assistant Practice and Bridge to Clinical Medicine, and the doctorate in medicine, as well as university pre-health organizations and the Honors Medical Scholars.
Anthony Speights
health care providers who practice patient-centered health care, discover and advance knowledge and are responsive to community needs, especially through service to underserved populations, specifically those in Florida.
With parallel tracks to the same goal, Florida Blue Foundation and the College of Medicine have a long-standing partnership. The two have joined forces in the past, particularly with Florida Blue Foundation’ s support of the college’ s Rural Learning Experience( RuLE), an introduction to rural life and its limited access to health care that has been described as“ an eye-opening experience” for many students who weren’ t familiar with rural communities.
The curriculum aligns with the College of Medicine’ s mission to educate and develop exemplary
Florida State University College of Medicine
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A REPORT TO OUR COMMUNITY