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September 16, 2002

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Dr. Eugene Trowers has been named assistant dean of the Florida State University Regional Medical School Campus -- Tallahassee.

Trowers will be responsible for directing the clinical education program for those FSU medical students assigned to Tallahassee for the third and fourth years of medical school. He comes to FSU from Texas Tech Health Sciences Center, where he served as the assistant program director for the gastroenterology fellowship program. 

“Dr. Trowers has just the right combination of academic and clinical experience to guide this new program,” said Dr. J. Ocie Harris, associate dean for clinical education at the FSU College of Medicine. “Also, he comes from a community-based medical school, so he understands the model FSU is using.”

A graduate of New York University School of Medicine, Trowers completed a residency in internal medicine at Harlem Hospital and earned a master’s in public health from the University of Texas in Houston. He practiced internal medicine and gastroenterology in San Antonio for 10 years and was on the medical faculty of the University of Texas system from 1985 until joining FSU in August. 

He served as a National Institutes of Health extramural clinical research fellow at the University of Washington in Seattle, specializing in endoscopic ultrasound and device development, and has worked as principal investigator on several research projects. 

Dr. Alma Littles, chair of the department of family medicine and rural health, headed the search committee that selected Trowers and said his ability to relate to practicing physicians was one of his strengths. Dr. Avon Doll, the Capital Medical Society representative on the advisory board for the Regional Medical School Campus -- Tallahassee, said he expects Trowers to be well received by the medical community.

“Dr. Trowers had a very successful practice in San Antonio and was well respected by his peers,” Doll said. “I think he’ll do an excellent job of working with local physicians who will become part-time teachers for the FSU College of Medicine.”  

Trowers said the opportunity to work for a new medical school that is using innovative teaching methods was appealing, as was the school’s community-based model.

“Because of the fact that we’re a community-based medical school, we are very much interested in working with the community physicians and hospitals for the training of our students,” Trowers said. “While there are many educational advantages to teaching medical students locally in community settings, it also works toward the betterment of health for Tallahassee and the surrounding region.” 

The Regional Medical School Campus -- Tallahassee is one of three campuses where third- and fourth-year medical students from FSU will complete their clinical education. The other regional campuses are in Orlando and Pensacola. In July 2003, the medical school’s inaugural class will be divided into three groups, each of which will be assigned to one of the three campuses for the remaining two years of their medical education.