2025 ANNUAL REPORT / DEAN’ S MESSAGE 3
We work hard to adhere to our mission of producing physicians, physician assistants and other health care professionals with a commitment to primary care medicine and patient-centered care. We can have the best curriculum there is, but if we do not start at the beginning— the selection of the right students— we would not be successful.
In 2025, we admitted our 25th M. D. class— the Class of 2029. We selected these talented students based on their many outstanding attributes and interests including GPA and test scores, interest in primary care specialties and working with all groups of patients. The numbers speak for themselves. Of the 120 students admitted, more than 53 % are from a rural or an economically disadvantaged area. We have found that many of our alumni with similar backgrounds return to those communities to provide much needed care. The same holds true for our Physician Assistant program. Of our 314 PA alumni, 78 % practice in Florida and more than a third of all PA alumni practice primary care or psychiatry.
We are equally proud of students in our doctoral program in Biomedical Sciences and the 94 alumni from that program. Our Ph. D. program trains students so that they are prepared to contribute to any facet of basic, clinical or translational science. Our students have gone on to traditional post-doc training and academic careers, positions in pharmaceutical and biotech companies, government agencies, and even careers in science writing, translating the remarkable advances in medical research into terms everyone can understand.
Without question, our alumni are making a positive impact in the communities in which they live and work. And the same can be said for our faculty. In addition to our outstanding medical education program and clinical practices through the Florida Medical Practice Plan, the research enterprise at the FSU College of Medicine continues to grow. Researchers in a variety of disciplines such as pediatric rare diseases, health and nutrition, liver disease, behavioral health and autism, to name just a few, are directly addressing some of humankind’ s most vexing problems.
The three-legged stool of medical education, research and clinical practice come together at Florida State University, and, clearly, the College of Medicine is a major driver. The strength we have at the college, coupled with the power of a major research university, bode well for the continued growth and positive impact of FSU Health. A bold initiative of the university, FSU Health brings together researchers, educators, clinicians and community clinical partners under one umbrella to transform health and health care in Florida.
FSU Health’ s partnership with Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare continues to take shape in substantive ways. We look forward to the opening of the FSU Health Academic Health Center in Tallahassee this coming summer. The 140,000-square-foot building will house residency programs, outpatient clinical and educational spaces, a simulation center, laboratories and clinical research space. This state-of-the-art health center was made possible with a $ 125 million appropriation from the Florida Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Additionally, a new FSU Health acute care hospital is under construction in Panama City Beach. When complete, it will join an existing medical office building. FSU received 16.5 acres of land donated by The St. Joe Company for the hospital’ s site. The first phase can accommodate up to 180 beds and will offer a broad range of health care services, including general medicine, emergency medicine, general surgery and diagnostic imaging. Later, specialized services are planned, such as cardiac care, neurology and orthopedics.
In the following pages you’ ll see how the college is making a positive impact throughout the state of Florida and the nation. Rest assured, as we continue to grow, we will not lose sight of our mission.
Alma B. Littles, M. D. Dean, FSU College of Medicine
2024-25