medical education were replaced. A core group of the college’s leaders who had
been involved from the earliest stages of its development served to stabilize the
college and keep its planning on track. A member of this core group was immediately
appointed dean and has continued to serve as dean to the present.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Almost 100 full-time basic science and clinical faculty, and 600 part-time
community clinical faculty were recruited between late 2000 and mid-2005.
Five departments, including three interdisciplinary units—Biomedical Sciences,
Medical Humanities and Social Sciences, and Clinical Science—as well as departments
of family medicine and geriatrics were established. An innovative fouryear
curriculum leading to the MD degree was developed and implemented. The
LCME accreditation standards were met and the college received full accreditation
in the spring of 2005.
A 60,000-square-foot existing facility, to serve as the college’s temporary home
until the new college buildings were constructed, was renovated and occupied
in 2002. The $60,000,000 state-of-the-art Jacobean style college of medicine
complex—consisting of 300,000 square feet in education, administration, and
research space on FSU’s main campus—was designed, built, and occupied by the
end of 2004. Cutting-edge information technology tools were used to construct
wireless facilities, equip students, faculty and staff for education and evaluation,
construct one of the world’s first predominantly electronic medical libraries (over
90% of the holdings are electronic), and connect the distributed clinical training
sites. Four clinical campuses—in Orlando, Pensacola, Sarasota and Tallahassee—
were established for the clinical training of students in years 3 and 4. Creating
these campuses included building affiliations with all major health care providers
in these communities and the renovation or construction of the college of medicine
regional clinical campus facility in each of these locations.
The class size was increased from 30 in 2001 to 80 in 2005. Rural outreach
programs in Okaloosa, Madison, and Gadsden Counties were added for longterm
development of the rural applicant pool. And, the fifth medical class, the
Class of 2009, was admitted in June 2005, bringing the number of students in
the four current classes (2006 –2009) to 224. The first five classes of the college
of medicine reflect the ethnic diversity of Florida, with minority representation
ranging between 35% and 51%.
All members of the college’s first class of graduates have passed Steps 1 and
2 of the United States Medical Licensing Examination, both the knowledge and
clinical skills examinations. All members of the Class of 2005 matched with residency
programs and began their graduate medical education in the summer
of 2005. Feedback from FSU clerkship faculty and elective faculty from other
120 | Breaking the Mold