Two years ago – on May 17, 2018 – the College of Medicine, FSU President John Thrasher and community leaders broke ground on a new primary-health clinic to be built in a medically underserved community in southwest Tallahassee.

Today, FSU PrimaryHealth™ is a thriving community medical center with nearly 9,000 patients – most of those being individuals who previously had limited options for receiving health care.

FSU PrimaryHealth™ opened its doors on May 13, 2019, and quickly became an essential part of the neighborhood.

“Many of these patients have never had a medical home or a primary-care physician before,” said College of Medicine Dean John P. Fogarty. “Many of them actually live within walking distance of PrimaryHealth, a key aspect that helps to address the need for better health-care access.”

In a message to faculty, students and staff celebrating FSU PrimaryHealth’s success, Fogarty also noted:

• Multidisciplinary, interdepartmental and multi-institutional care
  • Faculty clinicians who work at PrimaryHealth come from the Departments of Behavioral Sciences and Social Medicine, Clinical Sciences, Family Medicine and Rural Health, Geriatrics, and the School of PA Practice.
  • Recent partnership with the FAMU College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences brings PharmD consultation services to patients.
  • Integration of these departments and services means many patients with complex psychosocial and pharmacological needs have been able to get them addressed through a single access point within an interdisciplinary team approach.

• Essential community partnerships have been formed
  • Medical care as a core partner with nearby Sabal Palm Elementary as the only Community Partnership School in the region.
  • A community advisory board made up of members of the surrounding neighborhoods that meets monthly to help better understand and meet community needs.

• Teaching person-centered, evidence-based, interdisciplinary care
  • Medical students and PA students from across every year of training have had rotations at PrimaryHealth.
  • Graduate students from the FSU College of Nursing and FAMU Department of Social Work have rotated as well.  FAMU PharmD students will start soon.

• Pre-professional development
  • Although sad to see them go, it is worth celebrating that (so far) seven Medical Assistant staff have started or will soon start medical or PA school. Their experience here as medical assistants provided great service to the community and a wonderful lesson for future practice.

• Stepping up to meet health care needs in the pandemic
  • Did not miss a day of care due to the pandemic.
  • Made telehealth options available for patients.
  • Continue to provide COVID vaccines and testing.

 “This has been an extraordinary year and FSU PrimaryHealth truly stepped up to provide quality care in the midst of the pandemic, in person or by telehealth, did COVID testing and immunizations and did not miss a day caring for their patients,” Fogarty said. “The staff and faculty of FSU PrimaryHealth deserve our praise and gratitude for this notable anniversary of service and commitment to their community.  I couldn’t be prouder of what they’ve accomplished.”

While FSU PrimaryHealth™ celebrates its two-year anniversary, Florida Medical Practice Plan, Inc. (FMPP), the not-for-profit organization that administers the clinical practices of the College of Medicine, also has a number of other endeavors underway.  These include:

FSU SeniorHealth™

• The College of Medicine’s first practice – established as a pilot program in 2012
• Primary care outpatient services provided to the 65+ population by board-certified geriatricians
• Outpatient clinic on Meandering Way (in leased space on the campus of Westminster Oaks) and on Roberts Avenue (within FSU PrimaryHealth™)
• Inpatient services in skilled nursing facilities
• House calls for independent and assisted living seniors
• Medical directorships in hospice, life plan, and assisted living communities
• Comprehensive geriatric assessments at Capital Health Plan

FSU BehavioralHealth™ at Apalachee Center

• The College of Medicine’s newest practice – opened in July 2020 in a clinic on Lee Avenue (next door to Whole Child Leon)
• Staffed by FSU clinical faculty from the colleges of Psychology, Social Work, Nursing, and Medicine
• Have offered over 300 patient services to-date for psychiatric assessments, medication management, and psychotherapy
• Specializing in treating anxiety and mood disorders in children and adults
• All back-office support managed in partnership with Apalachee Center  

Also, in 2021 FMPP launched a COVID-testing clinic for FSU guests.  The clinic is managed through the university’s testing services at the Tucker Center and offered for a nominal fee to patients who are not faculty, staff, or students of the university. 

In addition, FMPP currently has in development two other clinical services: a neuromodulation clinic at Innovation Park, with specialty services for treatment-resistant depression, and the launch of a feasibility assessment phase for a substance-use clinic in the future.

Two weeks after graduating 119 new physicians, the College of Medicine will welcome 120 new students as the Class of 2025. The students arrive June 1.

Many of them will need an introduction, but their path to medical school is a familiar one. For many others, the college is already something of a second home.

Thirteen have been at the medical school for the past year as part of the Bridge to Clinical Medicine master’s program. Those students graduated alongside the M.D. class on Sunday, now they’ll begin pursuing their own medical doctorate.

Others in the class have been at Florida State as part of the Honors Medical Scholars program, while some were earning a degree in Interdisciplinary Medical Sciences, involving seven FSU colleges and based at the medical school.

In all, nearly 8,200 applicants sought admission with the Class of ’25 – part of a dramatic increase in medical school applications over the past year that many attribute to greater interest in medicine during the coronavirus pandemic.

The class will be diverse, reflecting the college’s mission-based admissions philosophy: Sixteen percent (19 students) are Black; sixteen percent (19 students) are Spanish, Hispanic or Latino. Thirty-six percent of the class are considered to be underrepresented minorities – from racial and ethnic populations that are underrepresented in the medical profession relative to their numbers in the general population.

Forty members of the class are from counties in the Florida Panhandle, seven of those considered to be rural – part of the effort to bring in students more likely to one day serve Panhandle communities in need of more physicians.

And once again, women will outnumber men (66-54), continuing a national trend of more women becoming physicians.