Orlando Health Donates $500,000 to FSU College of Medicine
On Dec. 9, Orlando Health announced a $500,000 donation to support the Florida State University College of Medicine’s Orlando program. The contribution reinforces the organization’s long-term commitment to medical education and to working with the university.
“Medical education is critically important in the training of
tomorrow’s physicians,” said Jamal Hakim, MD, chief operating officer for
Orlando Health. “Teaching medical school students and residents who have already
graduated from medical school has been, and will continue to be, one of our core
missions. We are proud to have partnered with FSU in this mission since
2002.”
“Orlando Health has been an incredible partner with a superb teaching
environment,” said John Thrasher, president, Florida State University. “This
gift will be invested locally to support the kind of medical education that
leads many of our students to become practicing physicians caring for patients
throughout the Orlando community and, in many cases, to work for Orlando Health
as part of its next generation of physicians.”
Since FSU College of Medicine’s first graduating class in 2005 to the
present, more FSU College of Medicine graduates have chosen to do their
residency training at Orlando Health than at any other teaching institution in
the nation. Currently, nearly 50 FSU College of Medicine alumni physicians
practice in the Orlando area. Twelve serve as medical education faculty with FSU
and nine are practicing physicians who care for patients at Orlando Health
facilities.
The FSU College of Medicine opened in 2000 with a unique model.
Instead of building its own teaching hospital, FSU medical students were sent
into communities across the state for their clinical education during the third
and fourth years of medical school. An increasing number of medical schools are
now recognizing the benefits of this community-based education model, which
enables students to learn at facilities in communities where the majority of
patients receive their health care.
Orlando Health has been committed to medical education for 90 of its
nearly 100 years. In 1926, Orange Memorial – the predecessor to Orlando Health –
accepted its first intern. In 1951 the organization was designated a statutory
teaching hospital in the State of Florida, making it one of the first in the
state. Since then, Orlando Health has graduated thousands of residents and
provided clinicals for hundreds of third- and fourth-year medical school
students.
