• The College of Medicine had an economic impact of more than $1 billion
in Florida through 2010 despite coming of age during a difficult
economic period. In the five years through 2015 the college generated an
additional $826 million in statewide economic impact.
• A unique, community-based approach to medical education – which
puts medical students in the locations where the vast majority of patients
receive health care – also distributes the college’s economic impact. For
state taxpayers, the annual return on investment amounted to nearly 473
percent (through 2015), exclusively in terms of economic benefit – up
from the estimated 410 percent in 2010.
• At the same time, the College of Medicine is outperforming its state
and national peers on most measures related to primary care, elder
care and attention to the needs of medically underserved populations.
Additionally, the college’s 2015 enrollment data showed it to be the most
diverse medical school in the U.S., as the only institution in the top six
nationally for enrollment of both black and Hispanic students. Diversity
supports the likelihood of producing more physicians who will choose to
practice in medically underserved communities in Florida.
• 56 percent of College of Medicine graduates have pursued primary care
specialties, compared with just 41 percent nationally.
• 55 percent of College of Medicine alumni who have completed residency
and/or fellowship training are in practice in Florida – a retention rate
that is highest among the state’s medical schools and 30 percent greater
than the national average.
• Nearly a quarter of the alumni physicians in Florida are practicing in the
Panhandle region, meeting critical needs for doctors in rural communities
as intended….
• 56 percent of the alumni practicing in Florida are in primary care specialties.
That percentage jumps to 72 when looking at the physicians in
Panhandle communities.
• The college’s research program grew its grant funding by more than 700
percent between inception (2002) and 2010. Eighty-eight percent of the
funding is from federal or private sources and approximately 80 percent
of each grant goes toward personnel costs. That means job creation. In
Tallahassee alone, the College of Medicine created more than 600 jobs
over a 10-year period, including faculty, research and support staff positions.
The college’s research award dollars increased by an additional 128
percent … through 2015.
• The report also noted that the college has affiliation agreements statewide
with more than 100 hospitals, county health departments, clinics, surgery
centers and similar organizations; has received strong support from
all the communities where its programs train students; has opened four
new graduate medical education programs; and is on track to accept the
first students in its new physician assistant program in August.
124 | Breaking the Mold