February 14, 2012
Florida State University Internal Medicine Residency Program at Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare names first director
TALLAHASSEE – Gregory Todd, M.D., will be the first program director for the proposed Florida State University Internal Medicine Residency Program at Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare, administrators at both institutions who were part of the selection committee announced Tuesday.
Todd currently is senior associate program director of the Department of Medicine & Internal Medicine Residency Program with Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. The medical center is a teaching affiliate of the State University of New York School of Medicine-Downstate and currently trains 96 residents in its internal medicine residency program.
“The selection of Dr. Todd is a significant step forward in the establishment of the program,” said Mark O’Bryant, president & CEO, Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare. “It has been a pleasure to get to know him during the selection process. I am confident that our prospective residents will enjoy working with him as they further their medical education. We look forward to Dr. Todd’s leadership in the development of a program that will bring significant benefits to our patients and our region.”
“I am very pleased that Dr. Todd will be joining us as our director,” said John P. Fogarty, M.D., dean of the FSU College of Medicine. “His background and experience both in law and academic medicine will be a significant help to us in navigating the regulatory rules for developing this new program. He is very excited for the unique opportunity to build this collaborative program from the ground up and we feel fortunate to have recruited such an outstanding physician.”
Todd’s medical academic appointments have also included the Mount Sinai School of Medicine as assistant professor from 2005 to 2008. He currently holds the title of adjunct clinical assistant professor of medicine with New York College of Osteopathic Medicine. Also, since 2005 he has been an assistant professor in the Department of Medicine with SUNY Downstate College of Medicine.
As he begins to organize the staff and faculty for the program, Todd said he keeps in mind one overriding vision: “I want the residents to treat the patient, not the disease,” he said. “In the hospital, this process of caring for the patient starts at the patient’s bedside. So, we will learn at the bedside because that is where medicine is best taught.”
He said he also believes the TMH/FSU alliance for learning has its advantages. “There is a marriage of strengths that is valuable. I have seen through its programs for patients that TMH is creative and innovative. The FSU College of Medicine provides an excellent environment for learning,” said Todd. “Bringing those attributes together is a foundation for transformational learning. In this new program we want residents to be innovative and to practice 21st Century medicine, not 20th Century medicine.”
Todd’s early career focus was in corporate and securities law. He graduated from the University of Dayton School of Law in 1981. In 1997 he discovered an interest in medicine and applied to Ross University School of Medicine in Portsmouth, Dominica. He has been with Maimonides Medical Center since 2001, initially as a resident in internal medicine and then as chief resident in 2004.
Though Todd will finish his obligations in his current position and will start full time here in May, he will assist with the residency program’s development prior to that time.
Todd replaces Dean Watson, M.D., vice president and chief medical officer of Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare, who was the interim program director during the start-up phase of the program.