At a Grand Rounds presentation Oct. 1, 2009, former Florida State
University President Sandy D’Alemberte (January 1994-January
2003) reminisced about the uphill but ultimately satisfying battle to
gain accreditation for the first U.S. medical school in about 20 years.
(Photographer: Colin Hackley)
‘WHO THE HELL ARE THEIR LAWYERS?’
POLITICS, THE LCME AND THE BIRTH OF
FSU’S COLLEGE OF MEDICINE
I
need to confess first of all that I became president of Florida State University
with the idea that we ought to have a medical school. When I became president
of Florida State University – indeed, in the search process [in 1993]
– I began to talk about Florida State University having a medical school. Myra
Hurt reminded me this morning that I was talking about the wrong things. I
wanted a medical school for Florida State University because I wanted us to be
able to attract students who had an interest in science, and all the data I had seen
indicated that students who had a strong interest in science were more likely to
attend a university that had a medical school. It’s not entirely logical, but it’s just
the way that students react. So I thought we would build our science programs
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