Series 8a University of Florida, College of Medicine, Series 8 PIMS Program in Medical Sciences; 1975-2000
Program in Medical Sciences (PIMS)
Physical Description: 2.5 linear feet (6 boxes)
Arrangement note: This is an ongoing series divided into subseries
Agency note: The College of Medicine opened its doors to students in 1956, under the administration of Dr. George T. Harrell. Dr. Harrell was a visionary who had a sense of history and the past of medical education, as well as goals for future developments.
The Program in Medical Sciences was established in 1971 by Dean Emanuel Suter and supported through a Special Projects Grant under the Health Professions Educational Improvement Program. The concept for this program was innovative. It proposed an inter-institutional approach to medical education, rather than the establishment of a new medical school. The original proposal was written by Dean Suter and Paul R. Elliott, Ph.D., who became the first Director of the PIMS. The inter-institutional approach was possible because the material presented during the first year of medical school could be learned in a College of Arts and Sciences, and required no physician faculty. The program was also made possible because at the time of its initiation, the University of Florida College of Medicine in Gainesville had a unique curriculum, the Phase A, B, and C curriculum. In this curriculum, students took an abbreviated version of all basic science courses during Phase A, which occurred during approximately the first year of medical school. They then entered the clinical clerkships during their second year in what was called Phase B, and then their last two years were a mixture of basic science and clinical electives called Phase C. Students admitted to the PIMS started their first year in May, rather than September, and transferred to the University of Florida College of Medicine in Gainesville for their last three years of medical school. When the Phase A, B, and C curriculum was replaced with a more traditional curriculum, the University of Florida and Florida State made the necessary changes to keep the PIMS a viable initiative.
Eventually the program was structured such that the first year of basic medical science courses was spent at FSU and the remaining three years were completed at the University of Florida College of Medicine. The students selected for PIMS began their first year of medical education in May in a program that attempted to attract students interested in primary health care who might be interested in practicing in underserved Florida communities. PIMS involved an early application process open to outstanding students at FSU, FAMU and the University of West Florida, who were Florida residents. Applicants were expected to show a commitment to community service.
The original PIMS was an inter-institutional program between the Universities of Florida, Florida State, and Florida A & M. Later in its existence, the University of West Florida was included, and students were accepted from other universities, predominantly the University of Florida in Gainesville. The hoped for goals were to attract qualified students from rural communities, more minority students, and to produce primary care physicians who would practice in rural Florida. The first class of 5 students started in 1971 and transferred to the University of Florida College of Medicine in 1972. Over the years the program grew to 30 students each year. The PIMS was an innovative program, one that could be judged as highly successful, undoubtedly the best inter-institutional educational program in the history of the State of Florida. It ended in 2001 with the establishment of a new medical school at Florida State University.
Folder Listing:
Box 1
1970s
1990-1994
Box 2
1994-1998
Box 3
1998-1999
Box 4
1999
Box 5
1999-2000
Box 6
2000
PIMS Miscellaneous
Correspondence from UF PIMS 1977-1982
Publication: Funding a Second Year of Medical School at the Program in Medical Sciences at Florida State University, Marc