Florida Senate Clears Way for 2 New Medical Schools

The Florida Senate has approved plans to establish two new state-supported medical schools, one at the Florida International University in Miami and one at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. The House is expected to pass the bill establishing the schools later this week.

Florida currently has four other schools of medicine. Some senators argued that it would be wiser to expand existing residency programs at those schools rather than to spend millions on establishing new institutions. Proponents of the schools, however, argued that new medical schools are a key element addressing the state's growing shortage of trained physicians.

The University of Central Florida hopes to be able to admit a first class of 40 M.D. students in 2008.

Source: "FIU Med School One of Two Approved," by Gary Fineout. The Miami Herald, May 2, 2006.