College of Medicine

A new class entered the College of Medicine this week, undergoing a two-day orientation, classes and a rural learning experience. Getting to this point was not easy. There were more than 6,200 applicants, and only 150 offers – the fewest in FSU’s history for a full class.

The Class of 2019 comes from a variety of backgrounds: 49 are Hispanic, 11 are black and 13 entered through the college’s Bridge program. First-year students Andrew Kropp, Stephanie Rolon Rodriguez and Zedenna Fisher described their journeys toward a career in medicine.

“You can’t imagine doing anything else, and that’s what it boils down to,” said Kropp (pictured above), a former SSTRIDE mentor and third-generation M.D. student from St. Petersburg.

 Rolon Rodriguez (pictured left), who moved from Puerto Rico to Florida at age 9,  made the choice gradually: “I went on church mission trips a lot, and I always  wanted  to be that healing hand. Then, I started wanting to do something in the  medical field.  One day, I thought, ‘Maybe I can do four years of medical school.’”

 There were also family-related issues that led Rolon Rodriguez, one of nine Puerto  Ricans in the class, to pursue an M.D. at Florida State.

 “There was a time when I didn’t have insurance,” the recent Bridge graduate said.  “There were some experiences with my dad not being able to understand English  and not receiving proper primary care, because there was a language barrier. From there, I started thinking it would be great to work with minority communities, and it shaped my path into medicine. I came to FSU because I love the mission. It’s what I want to do in the future, and I wanted to go to an institution that follows my values and virtues.”

Similarly, it was family that led Fisher (pictured right), also a Bridge graduate, to move from Brooklyn to Ocala after high school and later to FSU for medicine: “I was
a primary caregiver for my great-grandaunt when she was elderly. I saw firsthand what she went through, and I helped her until she passed away. It stuck, and that’s what brought me to Florida State. I am really passionate about elderly care, and I want to go into rural care.”

Kropp explained that while his dad and grandfather played a role in his desire to become a doctor, it wasn’t until he got more involved that he knew medicine and FSU were for him: “The more I found out about it, the more I liked it. The more I interacted with patients, the more I liked it. It was just a snowball effect where I got more and more immersed in activities that led down this path. I came to FSU because I enjoyed the patient-centered approach to medicine and the really warm feeling at the college.”

Fisher, who turned down D.O. opportunities to attend her No. 1 choice, shared advice for prospective medical students, with Kropp and Rolon Rodriguez in agreement: “Make sure you’re going into it for the right reasons. You have to really care about other people, and not just people that you know. You have to care about humanity.”

Below is additional demographic information on the Class of 2019:

• 33 came from Florida’s Panhandle (27.5 percent).
• 12 came from a rural area (10 percent).
• 57 are female (47.5 percent).
• 63 are male (52.5 percent).