WHEREAS, community-based medical education programs are significantly
less expensive than teaching-hospital-based medical education programs, do not
involve the financial risks associated with the operation of a hospital, and enable
the state to work with local hospitals, and
WHEREAS, a community-based medical education program relies on clinical
resources available in each community and requires support by hospitals, private
and public health clinics, and other health care organizations willing to enter
into affiliation agreements to provide clinical education as part of a medical education
program, and
WHEREAS, a number of hospitals, private and public health clinics, and other
health care organizations in the state have expressed an interest in affiliating with
a Florida State University community-based medical education program, and
WHEREAS, the Florida State University’s Tallahassee location is near the center
of the region of the state with the greatest current shortage of physicians, and
WHEREAS, the Florida State University has, since 1971, successfully operated
a first-year medical school program in concert with the University of Florida
College of Medicine and is noted for its success in attracting students who eventually
become primary care physicians, and
WHEREAS, the Florida State University has strong research programs in the
applied biomedical and behavioral sciences, autism, cancer, chronic diseases, and
geriatrics, and
WHEREAS, there has been no new medical school established in the United
States in two decades despite the large growth in the nation’s population, particularly
the elderly population, and
WHEREAS, there is now an unusual opportunity to design and operate an innovative
medical education program in our state, which takes advantage of the
advances in medical and communication technology,
NOW, THEREFORE, Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
Section 1. Florida State University College of Medicine.—
(1) CREATION.—There is hereby established a 4-year allopathic medical school
within the Florida State University, to be known as the Florida State University
College of Medicine, with a principal focus on recruiting and training medical
professionals to meet the primary health care needs of the state, especially the
needs of the state’s elderly, rural, minority, and other underserved citizens.
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