Yes, Florida State University’s College of Medicine is in Tallahassee, but it’s also here in Pensacola,
along with Fort Pierce, Orlando, Daytona Beach and Sarasota. Each of these cities (as well as
Tallahassee itself) has a regional campus.
Don’t look for a giant academic medical center, though. During their clinical third and fourth years
of medical school, our students go out into the community and learn directly from some of the
hundreds of physicians on our clerkship faculty. These one-on-one apprenticeships take place in
real-world settings — such as your doctor’s office.
As a result, by the time our students graduate, they have a distinct advantage over graduates from
most other medical schools: They’re already comfortable working with patients, and they’ve already
delivered babies, been the first assistant in surgery and acquired an abundance of other hands-on
experience. Plus, they’ve become familiar with how a community medical practice works.
The required rotations during Years 3 and 4 are emergency medicine, family medicine, advanced
family medicine, geriatrics, internal medicine, advanced internal medicine, obstetrics-gynecology,
pediatrics, psychiatry and surgery. After our students complete those rotations, they’re ready to make
a smooth transition into residency training.
And with each passing year, an increasing number of our alumni — even some who’ve left the state
for residency — are returning to communities surrounding Pensacola and our other regional
campuses to put down roots and practice medicine.
ABOUT THIS REGIONAL CAMPUS (as of June 2017)
- Third-year students now at Pensacola campus: 13
- Fourth-year students now at Pensacola campus: 19
- Students who’ve trained at Pensacola campus: 241
- College of Medicine partner institutions/organizations in Pensacola area: 10
- Physicians in Pensacola area serving as College of Medicine clerkship faculty: 270
ABOUT COLLEGE OF MEDICINE ALUMNI (as of June 2017)
- Total alumni since 2000: 1,147
- Completed residency training and practicing: 562
- Practicing in Florida: 298
- Practicing in Pensacola, Crestview, Panama City and elsewhere in Northwest Florida: 22
- Of those 22, practicing primary care: 14
- Of those 22, seeing primarily rural patients: 2
ABOUT THE COLLEGE OF MEDICINE IN GENERAL
- Our principal focus is on meeting the primary-care needs of Florida, with a particular emphasis on rural, minority, elderly and other underserved populations.
- We strive for a student body as diverse as the patients these future physicians will serve. For example, years before it’s time to apply, we reach out to promising Florida students who are minorities or belong to other groups underrepresented in medical schools.
- We take great care in choosing our students. Grades and test scores are important, but so are
other factors. If you’re trying to develop physicians who will serve in rural areas, for example, it makes sense to seek students who are more likely to want to live in rural areas — which often means students who grew up there.
- Course content reflects the college’s mission. The curriculum is comprehensive, preparing students for any medical specialty and setting.
- Problem-based and small-group learning experiences help students develop their clinical acumen and learn to work as a team.
- The clinical training program in Years 3 and 4 extends into more than 100 hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, managed-care organizations, private clinics and other outpatient settings across the state.
- Besides the six regional campuses, there are also rural training sites in Marianna and Immokalee.
