UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA College Portrait

VISION

The University of Central Florida College of Medicine will be the nation's premier 21st century college of medicine—a national leader in education, research, and patient care, recognized for supporting and empowering its students and faculty to realize their passion for discovery, healing, health, and life, and for its ability to create partnerships to transform medical education and health care.

ABOUT US

The University of Central Florida College of Medicine is committed to building the premier academic medical college in the nation with an integrated approach to medical education, advanced technical capabilities, and focused biomedical research integrated with other cutting-edge research. By 2010, the college will be located at the UCF Health Sciences Campus at Lake Nona, a state-of-the-art complex for medical education, health sciences education, and biomedical research, located in southeast Orlando.

The UCF College of Medicine is a place where clinical practice and basic science are discussed in the same breath and the medical and biomedical curricula reflect that symbiotic relationship. The programs use innovative cutting-edge approaches to teach the physicians and researchers of tomorrow.

The UCF M.D. program prepares students for careers in every discipline of medicine and provides them with a focused individualized research experience. With a charter class of 40 students starting in 2009, the M.D. program will grow in each of the first four years of the program to eventually produce 120 medical graduates each year. The M.D. program learning experience at the University of Central Florida is a unique and exciting blend of state-of-the-art technology, virtual patients, clinical and laboratory experiences, research, facilitator-directed small group sessions, and interactive didactic lectures. The faculty members have developed innovative simulation and animation experiences explicitly for the study of medicine to integrate and reinforce the curriculum.

In addition to the new M.D. degree, the college offers a broad range of educational programs through its Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences, including undergraduate degrees in Molecular Biology and Microbiology (the second largest major at the university), Biotechnology, and Medical Laboratory Sciences, master’s degrees in Biotechnology and Molecular Biology and Microbiology, and an interdisciplinary doctor of philosophy degree in Biomedical Sciences.

Faculty in the college conduct biomedical and clinical research that spans the spectrum from bench to bedside, combining clinical practice with advanced research programs to drive the future of health care in Central Florida. The college is fully integrated with the community and thrives on its clinical and research partnerships. 

UCF’s addition of the College of Medicine and the college’s potential for expanding biomedical research complements UCF’s broad range of academic offerings and research capabilities and moves the university closer to being the nation’s leading metropolitan research university. This strategy fully supports the Central Florida city-state.

MAKING HISTORY

·         The University of Central Florida College of Medicine was established in 2006 by the Florida Legislature and the Florida Board of Governors to address the growing physician shortage nationwide and to provide economic benefits to Central Florida and the state.

·         The college is the first medical school in U.S. history to offer full four-year scholarships to an entire class.

·         The Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) noted that the developing knowledge management and assessment systems have the potential to become national models.

·         The college received 4,307 applicants for its 40 inaugural class seats—more applications than any other state medical school in Florida history.

 

MEDICAL CITY AT LAKE NONA

·         Lake Nona is a 7,000-acre master-planned community location within the Orlando city limits.

·         The 600-acre Lake Nona Science & Technology Park includes one million square feet for an open-air town center with retail and office space.

 

MEDICAL CITY WORLD-CLASS PARTNERS

The Life Sciences cluster includes:

·         UCF Health Sciences Campus at Lake Nona—home to the College of Medicine's Medical Education and Burnett Biomedical Sciences buildings

·         M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Orlando’s Cancer Research Institute (currently occupying the top floor of the Burnett Biomedical Sciences building)

·         Burnham Institute for Medical Research

·         Nemours Children’s Hospital

·         Orlando Veterans Affairs Medical Center

·         University of Florida research facility (pending)

 

COLLEGE OF MEDICINE AND MEDICAL CITY ECONOMIC IMPACT

According to a 2008 economic impact study,* the college, combined with the life sciences cluster, by year 2017 will create:

·         30,000 jobs

·         $460 million in annual tax revenue

·         $2.8 billion in annual wages

·         $7.6 billion in annual economic activity

·         $13.50 in economic activity for every government dollar spent (a 1,350% return on investment

*Source: Arduin, Laffer & Moore Econometrics