College of Medicine

The FSU College of Medicine celebrated the Class of 2021 White Coat Ceremony and Class of 2018 Gold Humanism Honor Society Induction on Friday, August 11, 2017 at Ruby Diamond Auditorium in Tallahassee.

One PIMS and one College of Medicine graduate were honored during the White Coat Ceremony as a reminder to our newest students that the reputation this medical school has developed was built on the hard work and sacrifice of so many who came before them.

Like the College of Medicine, PIMS was student-centered, patient-focused and built on collaboration rather than competition – and it reached out to students who had a spirit for serving the underserved, including students from Florida’s small towns. One of those students was C. David Smith.

Dr. C. David Smith (pictured right) was honored as our PIMS Distinguished Alumni Award recipient. He earned his degree in biology at Florida State and then completed FSU’s Program in Medical Sciences in 1996, the precursor to the FSU College of Medicine.

After graduating from the UF College of Medicine, halfway through his residency training at the University of South Alabama in Mobile. Then he found out that the hospital back home in Jay was in danger of closing – unless it could find a doctor fast. So that’s where he went, and he’s been practicing in Jay ever since.

In addition, Smith has served as an outstanding teacher and even better role model for our students as one of the first faculty members for our Pensacola Regional Campus.

Smith’s nominator wrote: “Dave represents everything that the PIMS program and now the COM are challenged to do: develop physicians to serve the rural medically underserved areas of Florida. I cannot think of anyone more deserving of receiving the Distinguished Alumni Award.”

His positive impact on patients in Jay (and beyond) serves as a wonderful example for our students as they consider their future practice decisions.

Our College of Medicine recipient Dr. Christie Alexander (pictured left) attended Florida State University for both her bachelors and medical school degrees. She completed her residency training in family medicine across town at Tallahassee Memorial and has practiced here in Tallahassee and in rural Perry.

Alexander was the first College of Medicine graduate to return as a full-time faculty member.

Her vision of health care extends far beyond just this campus. Ever since she was a medical student, she also has given her time and energy to the organizations that keep the medical profession running smoothly. For example, she’s served on the Board of Directors for the Florida Academy of Family since 2006.

She’s also served on the Big Bend Hospice Ethics Committee, Capital Medical Society, the Florida Medical Association, the American Academy of Family Physicians, and more.

Dr. Alexander is one of the faculty advisors for FSUCares, a student-run organization that provides medical services to underserved communities from Tallahassee to Nicaragua. She also was instrumental in establishing the Chapman Community Health Program. In addition to that, she’s a past chair and serves on the Executive Committee of the FSU Medical Alumni Board.

Nominations for the 2018 Distinguished Alumni Award will open in February 2018.