Though many of the 30 students in the Florida State University College of Medicine’s inaugural class come from small towns and rural areas, they dream big.  Those dreams came to fruition on Saturday as the school graduated its very first class of physicians.

In the five years since its creation by the Florida Legislature, the campus-wide state-of-the-art facilities have no doubt borne witness to sunrise study groups, sleepless nights before exams, and the inevitable gross anatomy jokes. Yet in addition to studying in the College of Medicine’s brand-new clinical learning centers, students also received hands-on clinical training by teaming up with some of the finest physicians in Tallahassee, Orlando and Pensacola.  Under their practiced wings, the students learned the science behind—and the art of—being an M.D.

The first new medical school to be established in the United States since 1982, the fully accredited FSU College of Medicine has a unique mission: to educate and graduate exemplary physicians who will focus on caring for Florida's elderly, rural, minority, and medically under-served residents for generations to come. The graduates will help to fill a crucial gap in service for these populations, providing a vision of health for all of Florida’s residents, regardless of income, geography, or socioeconomic status. 

As a state senator representing a large population of medically under-served constituents, I am particularly excited and hopeful to see 30 new physicians enter our workforce.  I am thrilled that 40 percent of them will begin residency programs in Primary Care, and that half of them plan to remain here in Florida. After touring on the front lines of health care delivery systems throughout the state, these students truly are prepared to serve any community across the state—rural, urban, or suburban. 

Both the Florida State College of Medicine and its inaugural class were developed with pioneering innovation, attention to detail, and compassion from the ground up.  The school and the students both enjoy solid foundations on which to grow, develop, and enrich the communities they serve. 

Congratulations, students.  You earned it.