During the 30 years of the program’s history, it served as an experimental incubator
for new ideas in medical education and admission of medical students. Missionbased
admission practices mirrored the practices recommended by Dr. Jordan
Cohen, president of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).2 Early
instruction in clinical skills was coupled with early clinical experiences with community
physicians. The use of problem-based learning and the addition of behavioral
components to the clinical curriculum were linked with the introduction to common
medical problems. The 1961 study “The Ecology of Medical Care” published in
the New England Journal of Medicine,3 later reiterated in 2001 with another study,4
served as inspiration for PIMS practices
and underscores the importance of training students for medical practice in community
health care centers where most health care is delivered. At about the time
FSU began to talk seriously about developing a new model for medical education,
Dr. Cohen wrote that there was no time to waste in changing the way doctors are
educated, that changes in the culture and value systems in America’s medical schools
were needed.5 Because of the geographic and institutional separation of PIMS at
Florida State from its partner in medical education, the University of Florida College
of Medicine, the stage was set for a nontraditional approach to the reform of education
of medical students without the historical obstacles to reform faced in traditional
institutions.6
In 1993, a plan to expand PIMS to a community-based four-year track in
the University of Florida College of Medicine was proposed. This plan consisted
of two years of basic science training at FSU, with the clinical training years
occurring in Tallahassee, Gainesville, and Jacksonville. Though this plan was
not implemented, leaders at FSU—and later, leaders in the Florida legislature—
began to talk about building a new, nontraditional medical school on this model.
From 1998 through 2000, legislatively mandated studies regarding Florida’s
and the nation’s physician workforce needs, alternative clinical training models,
best practices in rural physician recruitment and retention, the use of information
technology in medical education, and other relevant topics were completed
by key FSU leaders and consultants. Consultants from medical schools that
had established best practices in pertinent areas of these topics were contacted,
schools were visited, and workshops conducted in Tallahassee. The recommendations
of these studies were codified in law during the 2000 session of the Florida
legislature.
BREAKING THE MOLD
In June 2000, the bill enacting the FSU College of Medicine, Chapter C2000-
303, Laws of Florida, was signed by Florida’s governor. The legislation gave a
basic blueprint for the founding of the first new allopathic medical school to be
established in the United States since 1982. The FSU College of Medicine was to
use community-based clinical training for the education of medical students. A
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