University of Florida (College of Medicine)

The College of Medicine, the largest of six colleges at the University of Florida Health Science Center, opened in 1956 with a mission to increase Florida's supply of highly qualified physicians, provide advanced health-care services to Florida residents, and foster discovery in health research. Since graduating its first medical students in 1960, the college has graduated more than 3,700 physicians. The college also offers other graduate degree programs, including medical science, biomedical engineering, physician assistant studies, and the Interdisciplinary Program in Biomedical Sciences.

The College's Gainesville campus is comprised of 24 clinical and basic science departments staffed by more than 800 faculty members. The Jacksonville campus, located 75 miles to the northeast, is home to more than 200 physicians and scientists delivering medical care in an urban setting, performing research and educating medical students and residents.

A patient care setting is provided to College of Medicine faculty and students by the University of Florida Physicians Group Practice, a close collaboration with UF&Shands Hospital, the Malcom Randall Veterans Affairs Medical Center, as well as several community healthcare sites and other affiliated hospitals in Florida. First-rate medical facilities and well-trained physicians and physicians-in-training are partnered to provide the highest quality of patient care.

The College of Medicine is dedicated to achieving the following missions:

* To educate medical students, physician assistant students, and physicians in the humanistic, scientific and practical principles of medicine to become, and remain, exemplary practitioners, academicians and leaders.
* To educate and train scientists for careers in research, teaching or industry.
* To provide compassionate, skilled and innovative healthcare of the highest quality.
* To foster discovery in science, medicine and healthcare.
* To promote health and prevent disease, and to educate the public in this regard.
* To provide leadership in assessing healthcare needs of the public; and to design, develop and manage innovative approaches to meeting these needs.
* To promote professional and personal growth, productivity and collaboration of faculty and staff.

The University of Florida College of Medicine engages in a broad spectrum of activities, from health-care delivery to biomedical research. However, our founding mission and the reason for the college's continued existence is education. Our fundamental purpose is to prepare tomorrow's doctors and physician assistants as well as to train those who are pursuing graduate degrees in the sciences or gaining further experience through residencies and postdoctoral fellowships.

We take pride in both the quality and scope of the programs supporting our educational mission. When the Liaison Committee on Medical Education reviewed us in 2000 for renewal of our accreditation, the college received full accreditation for seven years. The LCME review board commended the college for a curriculum that "has well-articulated, robust educational objectives, is grounded in clinical presentations and is competency-based."

The UF College of Medicine also is known for innovations in teaching. For example, in the Harrell Professional Development and Assessment Center, medical students learn skills in patient communication and diagnosing health problems by working with "standardized patients"-actors who are trained to act out symptoms of illness. The program has served as a model for development of a patient contact component of the U.S. Medical Licensing Exam.

We recognize that medical practitioners of the new millennium must be more than compassionate, competent and on the cutting-edge. They must also be prepared to work with professionals across disciplines and become accustomed to treating complicated and unusual diseases.

To that end, students accepted into our program will spend time on the Jacksonville campus of the University of Florida Health Science Center. This rotation rounds out the student clinical experience launched in Gainesville. In Jacksonville, students come in daily contact with patients from diverse ethnic and sociologic backgrounds that manifest an equally diverse array of critical care problems.

At the heart of this comprehensive student preparation is the UF College of Medicine faculty, that numbers more than 1000 individuals. They are scientific and clinical innovators, bringing the benefits of discovery to both the classroom and to the clinical setting. Their efforts have resulted in a vibrant academic environment that has yielded impressive gains for the University of Florida in grant awards as well as scholarship.

Our success ultimately rests in the long-term accomplishments of our medical graduates. The UF College of Medicine is dedicated to training doctors and physician assistants who will be among the best in health care. Our commitment to that charge will continue to flourish in the 21st century.

The College of Medicine Office of Educational Affairs which is lead by the Senior Associate Dean for Educational Affairs, Robert T. Watson, MD., oversees and provides administrative support for all education activities at the College.

The College offers a variety of educational opportunities including a curriculum leading to a medical degree, a medical science program referred to as the Interdisciplinary Program in Biomedical Sciences leading to a Ph.D. or a M.S. degree, and joint degree programs for both M.D. and Ph.D. degrees. Also part of the College of Medicine is the Physician's Assistant Program.

In addition to educating medical and graduate students, the College plays an important role in the continuing education of resident physicians and fellows through its collaboration with the UF Faculty Group Practice Clinics and UF&Shands Hospitals. The College offers residencies in 56 medical specialties and sub-specialties as well as clinical and research fellowships. Continuing education and development of practicing physicians is offered by the Continuing Medical Education (CME) Office overseen by Associate Dean, Marvin A. Dewar, M.D., JD.

Further supporting the education mission of the College, the Office for Program Evaluation and Faculty Development promotes the strengthening of faculty's instructional and evaluative skills as well as the College's educational programs themselves and fostering the highest scholarship standards at both levels.

Rapid changes in science, technology, the economy and social environment are reshaping health care. The UF College of Medicine is responding to these changes through continuous curriculum renewal. The college is known for its programs in competency-based education, performance-based teaching, community and urban clinical training, interactive learning, and the clinical presentation model, which is a UF-developed list of approximately 120 ways patients can present illnesses to physicians. The model helps students identify the illness when the symptom is the only clue a patient can give.

In support of Medical Education, the College created the Harrell Professional Center guided by the vision of Dr. George T. Harrell, founding Dean of the College of Medicine. The Harrell center provides a realistic healthcare environment for students to acquire the skills necessary for successful evaluation and treatment of patients.

Medical faculty are among the scientists conducting breakthrough research at the Evelyn F. and William L. McKnight Brain Institute of UF, the UF Institute on Aging and the UF Genetics Institute. The UF Shands Cancer Center is establishing itself as a leading cancer program, coordinating multidisciplinary approaches to the development of treatment strategies directed toward providing quality patient care.

College of Medicine faculty have attained national leadership in patient care, research and education related to the brain and spine, cancer, diabetes, drug design, genetics and organ transplantation. With contributions from the College of Medicine faculty in the development of new health-related technologies and products, UF ranks among the top 10 U.S. universities in licensing income and averages more than 50 issued patents each year. Two of the most widely recognized products to come out of research at the College of Medicine are Gatorade, a popular sports beverage, and Trusopt, an eye drop developed to treat certain forms of glaucoma.

The College of Medicine's extramural research-based funding for fiscal year 2003-2004 reached a high of $176.6 million. The college's total extramural support for research and training accounted for more than 39 percent of the $454.5 million UF received in funding. Research funding in the College of Medicine has tripled in the last decade. With contributions from the College of Medicine faculty in the development of new health-related technologies and products, UF ranks among the top 10 U.S. universities in licensing income and averages more than 50 issued patents each year.

The college is an active partner in multidisciplinary campuswide programs which foster scientific synergy and collaboration and facilitate the "bench to bedside" transfer of therapies. The institutes that tap talent from the health sciences and many other disciplines include:

Scientists united under the umbrella of the UF Genetics Institute have been delving into the genetic codes of a host of living things.

UF researchers associated with the Powell Gene Therapy Center already are national leaders in studying how to use gene therapy -- replacing or altering defective genes with healthy genes to treat diseases such as cystic fibrosis, high blood pressure and Parkinson's disease.

The UF Institute on Aging serves as the major catalyst for developing models and synergisms in aging and geriatric medicine research, education and health care across all Colleges and Departments at the University of Florida. One of the major goals of geriatric medicine is the prevention and recovery of disabilities in the elderly. Causes of disability in older adults and their prevention and recovery are complex and involve social, economic, environmental, behavioral, genetic, metabolic, biological and co-morbid factors. The research findings of the Institute on Aging will bring better regional and national models of health care, with the aim to improve the health and quality of life of older adults.

The Evelyn F. and William L. McKnight Brain Institute of UF serves as the headquarters for campuswide brain and spinal cord-related research. The Brain Institute houses two of the world's most powerful magnets for imaging research. It also is home to the Surgical Research and Training Laboratory, which attracts neurosurgeons from around the world who come to learn the latest techniques for microscopic brain and spine surgery.

In establishing itself as a leading cancer research and treatment center, the UF Shands Cancer Center is coordinating multidisciplinary approaches to provide quality patient care and to develop improved cancer treatment strategies. UF researchers are known for improved diagnostic tests and therapies for cancers of the bone, breast, blood, colon, skin, prostate, bladder, the head and neck, and other malignancies, as well as for inventing the LINAC scalpel, which is used for targeting tightly focused beams of radiation to the site of brain tumors to destroy the malignant tissue.

College of Medicine faculty also are part of a Health Science Center team that is seeking to better define the causes of diabetes and how it progresses, with the aim of improving treatment and finding a cure. The Health Science Center's diabetes programs received a major grant in late 2000, which will establish a multidisciplinary center for expanded research into insulin-dependent diabetes.

The Health Science Center is home to the College of Medicine's federally funded Clinical Research Center, located at Shands at UF, where volunteer human patients take part in studies aimed at finding ways to treat or prevent disease. In addition, the UF Center for Clinical Trials Research coordinates and speeds the process by which new therapies are evaluated for potential application in patient care.

The College of Medicine, Research Administration and Compliance (RAC) is a service-oriented department offering assistance to faculty and staff in the College of Medicine regarding research-related matters. As part of the College of Medicine's research administration and compliance, RAC reviews and approves grant proposals to ensure compliance with University of Florida, UF Research Foundation, Health Science Center, College of Medicine, and sponsor agency rules and regulations.

In effort to improve research compliance in regards to the monitoring of clinical trials research, RAC coordinates activities related to clinical investigations for the University of Florida, College of Medicine. With a focus on training and education, RAC is involved in developing policies and procedures and implementing education programs for clinical trial MDs, administrators, and RN coordinators. RAC is also responsible for monitoring and conducting clinical investigations regarding reporting concerns; and conducting periodic compliance audit and reviews.

The College of Medicine provides both faculty and an environment for learning that ensures our students of receiving a comprehensive general professional education while learning the latest scientific and clinical advancements. Our commitment to education is great. For our faculty this commitment is both a criterion for employment and a measure of academic success. We encourage and facilitate educational, personal and social faculty-student interactions. We believe that recognition by students that our faculty are genuinely concerned about them as people is essential to a quality learning environment.

The College of Medicine’s curriculum is competency-based. Prior to graduation, a student must demonstrate competence in six areas of training to satisfy all education requirements. Student performances in courses and clerkships are formatively assessed and summatively evaluated by level of mastery demonstrated in assigned competencies.
Competency is the currency of the education program.
The College of Medicine’s primary goal is to graduate practicing physicians whose role is to be, in part, responsible for the health and well-being of people. This responsibility carries with it special requirements regarding the character, abilities (skills) and
knowledge of our graduates. The listing of Professional Behavior at the top of the competency categories should be informative about the way we view our student’s
development in the education program.

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College of Medicine Medical School Location

College of Medicine Courses

PRE-CLINICAL YEARS

Preclinical course work provides students with essential basic science and general clinical information necessary for clinical training. Faculty from both basic and clinical
science departments participate.
Students may elect the option of taking the preclinical basic science courses over three or four years. This option allows the M.D./Ph.D. candidates (joint degree), and other students, to begin research activities earlier and in more depth. It also lets these students
pursue additional course work as necessary.
This extended time track may be advantageous also to students with less intensive science backgrounds who would benefit from more moderately paced course work.
Contact hours per week for the standard two-year curriculum range from 20-25. In the three-year track, contact hours average about 17 per week.
A student’s request to participate in the three-year track must receive prior review and approval by the Associate Dean for Education and the Chairman of the Academic Status Committee.

During the first academic year, a student who is in good standing can choose to move into the three- or four-year program. To take advantage of the opportunities that the three- or four- year option offers, the decision should be made prior to beginning the first year but may be made not later than the first day of the second semester. Astudent who either fails any course work or meets the standards for dismissal, and is given the option of repeating an entire academic year, is not eligible to elect the three- or four- year option.

FIRST YEAR COURSES :

* Anatomy by Diagnostic Imaging
* Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of Disease
* Medical Cell and Tissue Biology
* Introduction to Clinical Practice
* Essentials of Patient Care I and II
* Human Behavior
* Medical Aspects of Human Genetics
* Medical Human Anatomy
* Medical Neuroscience
* Principles of Physiology

SECOND YEAR COURSES :

* Epidemiology and Public Health
* General Pathology
* Introduction to Clinical Radiology
* Medical Microbiology and Infectious Disease
* Oncology
* Pharmacology
* Physical Diagnosis and Clinical Diagnosis
* Ethical and Legal Issues in Medical Practice
* Systemic Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

CLINICAL CLERKSHIP

THIRD YEAR

The third year is devoted to clinical clerkships, in which student groups experience the major clinical services. The required clerkships include family medicine/geriatrics, medicine, neurology, pediatrics, psychiatry, obstetrics/gynecology and surgery. Students spend 10 to 12 weeks participating in
clerkships at UF HSC-Jacksonville. Housing will be provided during the Jacksonville clerkships. During these clinical clerkships, the student becomes an integral member of the medical team and has direct responsibility for assigned patients during rotation. Each clinical service conducts a variety of seminars and
conferences. These are considered to be part of the clerkship and attendance is expected.

FOURTH YEAR

The fourth year occupies the last 11 months of the curriculum. It includes seven elective periods and three required courses: anesthesiology, emergency medicine
and either senior medicine, community medicine or pediatrics. An eleventh period is available for accomplishing residency interviews.
During the fourth year, students are permitted considerable freedom in designing their programs. For students who have already chosen a speciality, fourth-year programs may be designed to provide experiences related to their career choice.

For students who have not yet chosen a specialty the curriculum permits exploration of interests in several different specialities or can provide a broad clinical experience that would be useful in many different specialities. In addition, the fourth-year elective program may help students with known weaknesses in clinical or basic science areas to strengthen their knowledge base prior to housestaff training.

All elective choices must be made in conjunction with the student’s faculty advisor.
Clinical electives are available in all of the major disciplines of medicine. In the clinical electives, students work as advanced clerks, assuming greater
responsibilities than permitted in the third year.
Elective courses in the basic sciences also are available. Additionally, independent study programs may be designed to allow study of areas in medicine not
represented by formal course offerings. Students ranked in the upper 2/3 of their class may take up to three electives at other institutions.

Students who wish to take more than three months of extramural rotations must obtain their advisor’s permission and approval of the Academic Status Committee. Students who rank in lower third of their class may take one extramural rotation and must have the approval of the Academic Status Committee before applying for any additional externships.
Each student must complete a minimum of 40 semester hours in the fourth year to be eligible for graduation. Students must remain enrolled and take course work up
until graduation.

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