In January 2003, Dr. J. Ocie Harris replaced Scherger as dean. As the first
M.D. faculty member hired by the College of Medicine in 2000, Harris brought
continuity and stability.
Harris was the early architect of the medical education program, while former
PIMS director Myra Hurt, serving as associate dean for student affairs, oversaw
student life along with the college’s admissions and outreach programs. She
also chaired the building committee. Widely regarded as the “mother” or “godmother”
of the College of Medicine, Hurt also had served as acting dean in the
college’s earliest days and played a vital role in the accreditation process.
The medical school’s model called for regional campuses where students
would receive their clinical training at the experienced hands of community
physicians around the state. The first three campuses were to be in Orlando,
Pensacola and Tallahassee. Setting up each campus involved establishing hospital
affiliations, hiring faculty and staff, and developing a facility.
Many of these details fell to Mollie Hill, director of community clinical relations.
One of the school’s first hires, Hill rarely unpacked her suitcase for more
than a week at a time. She was involved in everything from interviewing candidates
for faculty and staff positions to working with contractors and picking
out the wallpaper and light fixtures for the campus facilities. The three campuses
received third-year students simultaneously in July 2003.
As the regional campuses were taking shape, so were the medical school’s
main campus facilities. In April 2002, the school’s headquarters moved out of
the nursing school and the “annex” (oft-used euphemism for the faculty double-wide)
and into a former K-12 school on the FSU campus. Although the
aging buildings had been renovated for the medical school’s use and were more
than adequate, some areas were plagued by minor flooding problems, antiquated
air-conditioning units and leaking roofs. Adding to these inconveniences were
occasional water outages and noise from the construction.
“The back wall in Room 704 used to vibrate so loudly from the construction
outside that it was hard to hear the professor,” said student Rosemarie Garcia.
“Sometimes it felt like a wrecking ball was about to fly through it.”
The long-awaited medical school complex opened for business in October 2004.
In February 2005, the LCME voted in favor of granting the medical school full
accreditation. With tears welling, Hurt told reporters gathered outside the new building
complex, “Failure was never an option.” •
70 | Breaking the Mold