Graduate programs at USF Health had promising gains in this year’s rankings from U.S. News & World Report (U.S. News), with some programs breaking into the top 50 of their rankings.

In the U.S. News 2024 Best Graduate Schools list released on April 25, USF Health’s physician assistant, nursing and public health programs ranked among the best in the country.

The rankings released April 25 did not include medical schools or law schools; those rankings were released by U.S. News May 11.

Among the notable advancements this year are the two graduate programs from the USF Health College of Nursing, each of which had major gains, and the Physician Assistant Program in the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, which made the ranking list for the first time in its young history after receiving its inaugural full accreditation needed to qualify.

“Our nursing school is clearly garnering attention on the national stage as both its master’s and doctoral programs are making incredible gains in the rankings, and proving to be the best in Florida,” said Charles J. Lockwood, MD, MHCM, executive vice president of USF Health and dean of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. “And the first-time ranking for our physician assistant program marks a significant milestone. While this USF Health program is still young, its inaugural ranking is among the top third of PA programs across the country. We anticipate further rankings gains as our program continues to develop.”

According to U.S. News, its methodology uses data from expert opinions and statistical indicators when measuring a program’s ranking, examining qualities students and faculty bring to the educational experience and graduates’ achievements linked to their degrees, such as job placement and research impact.

The posted results for USF Health this year include:

• #46 in Medical Schools for Primary Care: The USF Health Morsani College of Medicine improved significantly for U.S. medical schools for primary care, going from #56 last year to #46 this year, and breaking into the top 50 for the first time.
• #50 in Medical Schools for Research: The Morsani College of Medicine continues to rank well among U.S. medical schools for research, ranking at #50 this year.
• #65 in Health Doctoral Programs – Physician Assistant: The Morsani College of Medicine’s Physician Assistant program ranked for the first time, ranked at #65 this year, placing it in the top third of the more than 200 PA programs in the rankings.
• #31 in Nursing for Master’s: The USF Health College of Nursing jumped 11 spots, going from #42 last year to #31 this year, making it the top-ranked public nursing master’s program in Florida.
• #33 in Nursing for DNP: The College of Nursing also continues to improve in its DNP program ranking and skyrocketed into the top 50 for doctoral programs in the country with its 34-spot jump from #67 last year to #33 this year, making it the top-ranked public or private DNP program in Florida.
• #22 in Public Health: The USF Health College of Public Health remains the top-ranked public health program in Florida, with its rank at #22 this year.

U.S. News does not provide new rankings for all graduate programs each year, so the USF Health Taneja College of Pharmacy maintains its rank of #68, and the School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences maintains its rank of #49.

More on rankings for other USF graduate programs…

Faculty and clinical staff from both USF Health and Tampa General Hospital learned the nuances and best practices of ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) at a special course held on the TGH campus last month.

The recent ECMO course provided the newest information associated with the life-saving procedure and was led by Kapil Patel, MD, associate professor and director of the USF Health Center for Advanced Lung Disease in the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and director of the TGH Lung Transplant Program, and M Raheel Qureshi, MD, assistant professor and associate medical director of the ECMO program in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine in the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, and associate director of the Lung Transplant Program at Tampa General Hospital.

ECMO is used in critical care situations, when the heart and lungs need help as the patient heals. In ECMO, blood is pumped outside of the body to a heart-lung machine that removes carbon dioxide and sends oxygen-filled blood back to tissues in the body. Blood flows from the right side of the heart to the membrane oxygenator in the heart-lung machine, and then is rewarmed and sent back to the body.

This method allows the blood to “bypass” the heart and lungs, allowing these organs to rest and heal.

Many providers and hospitals around the world saw an uptick in patients needing ECMO as part of the COVID-19 care they received in intensive care units. Now, as COVID continues to subside, expanding training on ECMO better prepares health care teams and hospitals if another surge of COVID – or other related viruses – take hold.

Published studies show that hospitals and facilities with more ECMO experience have better outcomes. ECMO is complex in its execution, requiring trained staff and specialist equipment, making the USF Health/TGH training course a critical part of preparation for another COVID surge or pandemic.

Health care providers across the country learned very quickly during the pandemic that ECMO could save lives and it was used largely in patients with COVID-19 with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Published studies show importance of carefully selecting patients for a critical care treatment requiring intense staffing, specialized equipment and advanced expertise.

The USF Health/TGH training sessions mean that more providers are prepared to treat patients sooner with ECMO and improve outcomes.

Photos by Freddie Coleman and Ryan Rossy, USF Health Communications

The IPE Day Cup is presented to the winners of the IPE Day student competition.

The best in technology can be leveraged to change all aspects of health care including education, training, and practice to improve patient outcomes.

That was the takeaway at the 5th Annual Interprofessional Education Day 2022 Nov. 16 at the USF Health Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation.  This year’s theme “The Future of Healthcare: The Transformative Role of Emerging Technology in Interprofessional Practice” brought together expert health care providers and entrepreneurs to discuss the latest in technology advances and what on the horizon to help enhance training and education, and patient outcomes.

Participants tuned in virtually to hear health care experts highlight their experiences and opinions of how technology can be used across the health care industry.

Featured speakers and topics:

Daniel Kraft, founder of Digital Health and NextMed Health and chair of XPRIZE Pandemic and Health Alliance, presented “The Future of Healthcare” to the virtual audience.  His presentation highlighted how modern technology is being used to help create better patient outcomes and emphasized the importance of leveraging technology to improve health care globally.  Additionally, he introduced listeners to some up-and-coming technologies and applications that are being created that can offer accurate and faster results at a fraction of the cost to patients.

Roger Daglius Dias, MD, PhD, MBA, Harvard Medical School associate professor of emergency medicine and STRATUS Center for Medical Simulation director of Research and Innovation.  His presentation “The Use of Technology to Enhance Interprofessional Communication in Healthcare” provided examples of how technology, including artificial and augmented reality, is leveraged to allow interprofessional teams to more effectively and efficiently communicate to enhance training, education and patient outcomes.

Matthew Mullarkey, PhD, USF Muma College of Business director of the Doctorate of Business Administration Program and executive director of the TGH-USF People Development Institute, presented “Reimagining the Innovation Adoption Curve in Healthcare: A Case for the Binary Adoption Curve.”  His presentation challenged the idea that digital transformation must happen to allow for more and better patient outcomes.

The morning session ended with an interprofessional panel discussion about “Integrating Emerging Technology to Enable True Patient Centered Healthcare.”  Expert panelists offered opinions and personal examples of how technology has helped enhance the efficiency of their practice, their teams, and how they educate and treat patients. Kevin Sneed, PharmD, USF Health Taneja College of Pharmacy dean, USF Health senior associate vice president, and IPE Day 2022 co-chair, served as moderator to an expert group of panelists.

• Peter Chang, MD, Tampa General Hospital vice president of Healthcare Design
• Richard Munassi, MD, MBA, Tampa Bay WAVE managing director
• Christopher Fowler, PhD, James A Haley Veterans’ Hospital and Clinics health science specialist.

The afternoon session began with a presentation from Laura Marsden, digital health lead and strategic planner for Jabil.  Her presentation “Breaking Barriers to Healthcare Transformation: The Power of Interprofessional Practice” focused on her personal experiences of physicians struggling to identify a chronic illness in her child and how digital health platforms helped identify and monitor his progress.  She highlighted the importance of interventional opportunities as they pertain to positive long-term patient health and outcomes.

USF Health student competition:

Shelby Rountree, USF Health Morsani College of Medicine Physician Assistant Program, led her team in developing their concept during the student competition.

In keeping with tradition of IPE Day, teams of USF Health students were given a scenario in which they had to find a technological solution for a simulated patient who suffered from multiple illnesses including hypertension, diabetes and glaucoma.  The solution had to be user friendly to the patient, provide short-term and long-term interdisciplinary care solutions.

The top four teams to survive the first round of judging presented their solution to the entire IPE Day cohort in the finals. They had an additional 10 minutes to prepare their final pitch before giving their final presentations.  The winner was determined in an American Idol text-to-vote style judging, and it was team 4, as they were labeled for the finals, that took home the IPE Day Cup.

Team 4 Participants: 

– Lauren Adams (faculty preceptor) – Physician Assistant Program

– Kayla Foran – School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitative Sciences

– Paula Hernandez – College of Public Health

– Victoria Huffman – College of Public Health

– Pauline Nagac –  School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitative Sciences

– Shelby Rountree – Physician Assistant Program

– Emily Small – Physician Assistant Program

– Tristan Stitt – Athletic Training Program

– Alex Thompson – Taneja College of Pharmacy 

USF Health leaders on IPE Day 2022:

“New technologies, from gene sequencing to A.I. and V.R., are helping health care advance so quickly that it’s hard to keep pace. But, we must keep pace to realize their potential to transform health care.  We are part of a health care revolution that offers tremendous promise.”

Charles Lockwood, MD, MHCM, USF Health executive vice president and Morsani College of Medicine dean

“Especially after COVID-19, we’ve seen such an acceleration in the use of technology in education, patient care and training. Yet, we don’t really have an opportunity to teach this and let our students really understand the principles around it, where it’s going, and some of the challenges.  This is why this was the topic for the day.”

Haru Okuda, MD, FACEP, FSSH, executive director of the USF Health Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation, and associate vice president for USF Health Interprofessional Education and Practice

“The real winners today are going to be the patients in our communities.  I think we are at the forefront of being able to bring that technology experience to our students.”

Kevin Sneed, PharmD, USF Health Taneja College of Pharmacy dean and professor, USF Health senior associate vice president, IPE Day 2022 co-chair

More photos from IPE Day 2022:

The 5th Annual Interprofessional Education Day 2022 was held at the USF Health Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation Nov. 16.

The 5th Annual Interprofessional Education Day 2022 was held at the USF Health Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation Nov. 16.

The 5th Annual Interprofessional Education Day 2022 was held at the USF Health Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation Nov. 16.

The 5th Annual Interprofessional Education Day 2022 was held at the USF Health Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation Nov. 16.

The 5th Annual Interprofessional Education Day 2022 was held at the USF Health Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation Nov. 16.

Story and photos by Freddie Coleman, USF Health Communications and Marketing

USF Connect – Student Innovation Incubator Orientation.

Two students in the USF Health Taneja College of Pharmacy (TCOP) launched a company that may have the newest innovation in diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease, and their work opened the way for acceptance to USF Connect, the university’s premier technology and design incubator.  

TCOP pharmaceutical doctoral students Siegrid Pregartner and Laura Borgerding founded Janus AI (Artificial Intelligence), which designed a tool that aims to aid in the early detection of Alzheimer’s using AI technology.

The goal of their company is to give patients with Alzheimer’s disease the opportunity to take control of their lives and make the best healthcare decisions they can before the disease progresses too far.

“There are treatments coming out every single month for Alzheimer’s disease and the amount of money for research increases every single year but, we still do not have a way to know who does and who does not have the disease before symptom onset. Our tool will be able to diagnose patients for when more effective treatments come out to give people extra years to their lives when they are comfortable and in control,” said Pregartner.

USF Connect – The Business Incubator Program.

Recently, their health care startup company won first place and $15,000 at the Florida Blue Health Innovative Challenge, and has been accepted into USF Connects cohort.

“Winning the challenge will not only help us to develop our business but, also it made us realize that this could be a genuine business that could change lives,” Pregartner said.

Students who join a cohort through the USF Connect Incubator will be able to gain access to an abundance of resources such as business experts, legal, and investors. That will assist them in growing their business, concept, and product.

“USF Connect is going to help build a cohesive model and connect us with mentors that will help us with the implementation of our prototype and how to move forward as a business,” Borgerding said.

By utilizing their artificial intelligence tool, they could also contribute to further research and prove that certain drugs have a preventative effect on Alzheimer’s.

“Having the dean and our professors support us from the start at The USF Health Taneja College of Pharmacy, has been more than them just doing their job… that is them caring about our future and I think that has been the most important factor in our success,” Borgerding said.

(Left to right): Siegrid Pregartner and Laura Borgerding

Story and photos by Ryan Rossy, USF Health Communications and Marketing 

With virtual and augmented reality becoming more prominent, the USF Health Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation (CAMLS) is expanding its research efforts to explore the use of virtual and augmented reality in medical simulation training. 

“Traditionally, health care simulation has been actors, task-trainers, and mannequins. Virtual reality allows us to be fully immersed in an alternate world and that world can be an operating room, an outpatient clinic, or an ambulance, and be changed quickly. You will really feel like you’re there, which is challenging to do in a simulation center.” said Yasuharu “Haru” Okuda, MD, FACEP, FSSH, executive director for USF Health CAMLS and associate vice president for USF Health Interprofessional Education and Practice.

As the research mission at CAMLS develops, the goal is to easily export its virtual medical simulation trainings to different parts of the world so other medical professionals can take advantage of the research expertise there.

“You can connect to VR training scenarios from anywhere. You will be able to bring it to your home, bring it to your classroom, and conduct a training within only a headset that is just as powerful as anything in person,” Dr. Okuda said.

Shannon Bailey, PhD, Sr. Human Factors Scientist for USF Health CAMLS and assistant professor for the Department of Medical Education at the Morsani College of Medicine.

To help expand its research efforts, CAMLS hired a PhD, tenure-track researcher, Shannon Bailey. She has over 10 years of experience designing and testing extended reality (XR) training simulations and educational games. In her research, she explores how augmented, virtual, and extended reality technology can be used to inspire effective student learning through adaptive training and natural user interfaces.

Before coming to CAMLS, Dr. Bailey worked for the Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division (NAWCTSD). After gaining extensive experience in military simulation training, she transitioned to the field of medical simulation training as a researcher director for a technology company called Immertec, which develops medical simulation training to impact how medical professionals learn.

“This research is important because it is moving the field forward by systematically testing different ways to approach simulation training and finding ways to optimize the training for both the learner and the medical professionals, which could lead to better outcomes for patients,” said Dr. Shannon Bailey, assistant professor for the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine.

“VR at CAMLS will not replace real-world mannequin-based training,” Dr. Okuda said, but offering a resource to those who lack access to high-fidelity simulation centers allows them to experience the same level of training and experience in a virtual environment. 

“We are thrilled to have Dr. Shannon Bailey as our first PhD tenure-track researcher at CAMLS. What she brings to CAMLS is the ability for us to really lean into this area of extended reality and then apply it into a health care academic setting,” said Dr. Okuda. 

Story and video by Ryan Rossy, USF Health Communications and Marketing

Scientific research is often a low-key exercise, with fastidious people peering into microscopes and working under the radar. Seldom are they described as rising stars, but Jiajia Yang may have broken the mold.

This month, Dr. Yang became the first person to earn a PhD from USF through a new degree program within the newly opened USF Health Heart Institute.

The 30-year-old earned her degree in medical sciences from the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, with a focus on heart disease, specifically genetic arrhythmia and cardiomyopathy gene mutations within a family.

The Heart Institute is housed within the new Morsani College of Medicine + Heart Institute building in the Water Street Tampa district of downtown Tampa. The facility, which also includes the MD degree program, opened in January 2020.

“You can’t imagine how excited I am,’’ Dr. Yang said of her degree and new career. “The most exciting part for me is that our research is really translational for patients. This isn’t just bedside to bench, but bench to bedside.’’

Originally from a small village in rural China, Dr. Yang attended medical school in Shanghai, then won a scholarship in 2015 at Descartes University in Paris. While there, she earned her Masters and learned to speak French ─ adding to her verbal portfolio of Chinese and English.

Dr. Thomas McDonald with Dr. Jiajia Yang.

After a year, she accepted a position as a research assistant at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and quickly showed promise as a fast and inquisitive learner, said Thomas McDonald, MD, professor in the Department of Molecular Pharmacology & Physiology. He would later work with Dr. Yang on a variety of heart-related research projects, including the role of patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cells.

“This is all technically difficult and she overcame so many obstacles,’’ Dr. McDonald said. “She really laid the ground work to help this take off.’’

During her time at USF, Dr. Yang published five research papers in peer-reviewed journals, including new findings on using patient-specific stem cells to study disease in human tissue.

“That had not been on the map at USF until now,’’ Dr. McDonald said. “Jiajia’s papers were the first.’’

Dr. Yang wasn’t shy about sharing her love for discovery.

“I don’t think I’ve ever run across anyone as enthusiastic about her work,’’ Dr. McDonald added. “She was literally jumping up and down in the hallways screaming (about the stem cells) ‘They’re beating! They’re beating!’ Her enthusiasm was contagious.’’

Armed with her degree, Dr. Yang accepted a job as resident physician in internal medicine at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine in Albuquerque. She expects to be there at least three years, but could stay longer if needed: Heart disease is the leading cause of death in New Mexico, according to the state’s Department of Health. When not working, Dr. Yang will devote time to her other passions: cooking, hiking and biking, tennis, and working out at the gym.

Dr. McDonald expects big things from his former colleague, and has no reservations about asking her to return to Tampa: “I’d like to see her career blossom and recruit her to come back to USF.’’

For more on the USF Heart Institute, visit: https://health.usf.edu/medicine/heart-institute

Written by Kurt Loft

The USF Health Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation (CAMLS) first opened 10 years ago in March 2012, where leaders from the community, education, industry, and simulation partners from around the world met for the grand opening in downtown Tampa.

Under one roof, the 90,000 square-foot, three-story facility houses the latest simulation technology and experiences to train the full spectrum of health care professionals as one of the nation’s top medical simulation facilities.

Part of the mosaic of USF Health’s expanded presence in downtown Tampa, CAMLS, is within walking distance of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and Heart Institute in the Water Street Tampa urban development district.

CAMLS Grand Opening

“The goal was to build almost a Disney World for clinical providers who could travel from around the world to CAMLS to train with the best technology using simulation, incredible bio skills, fully realistic labs so that they can improve their procedural and clinical skills and then go back to their work and give the best practices both from USF Health experts but also utilizing the latest and greatest technology,” said Dr. Yasuharu “Haru” Okuda, MD, FACEP, FSSH, executive director for USF Health CAMLS and associate vice president for USF Health Interprofessional Education and Practice.

Until recently, CAMLS focused solely on training biomedical businesses and health care professionals. However, that initiative has expanded over the years to offer hands-on simulation training to USF Health students and faculty dedicated to advancing their clinical skills and improving patient safety and quality of care in Tampa Bay, Florida, the U.S., and the world.

“In the beginning, this advanced medical learning simulation was really focused around businesses and training and teaching health care professionals. But over the years, we’ve really evolved into a place where we conduct research in even more advanced training and education, like in virtual reality and augmented reality. We also now impact our future health care professionals by training students from our College of Medicine and College of Nursing both separately and as part of interprofessional teams,” Dr. Okuda said.

Dr. Charles Lockwood and USF President Rhea Law.

USF President Rhea H. Law and Charles Lockwood, MD, MHCM, senior vice president for USF Health and dean of the Morsani College of Medicine (MCOM), have been active participants and contributed greatly to the success of CAMLS. President Law has been on the board of directors over the years and has continued to support the organization. Meanwhile, Dr. Lockwood has helped support the efforts of CAMLS around education, research, and innovation.

EMS instructors participated in a training class hosted by the USF Health CAMLS at the Pinellas County EMS Training Center.

Recently, CAMLS has been working on a new community outreach program called “CAMLS Without Walls.” The program was developed so the facility could go out into the community and deliver training through simulation-based education.

“The future of CAMLS is really bright,” Dr. Okuda said. “We have some incredible partnerships with startup companies in Tampa, where we’re building on our business relationships to innovate in areas such as virtual reality and augmented reality. We are also building our research teams to identify new technologies for training and education, and we’re publishing articles on that research. Now we are building a mobile training program called “CAMLS Without Walls,” so we are not bound by training only within CAMLS but can now go out into our community and deliver the training in hospitals in our rural environments and bring USF Health Expertise to places that need it the most.”

Story and video by Ryan Rossy, USF Health Communications and Marketing

Faculty, professional, educators and health care experts came together recently to learn more about how to improve and promote the well-being of performing artists, as part of the annual USF-Performing Arts Medicine Conference, held March 25 to 27 at the Barness Recital Hall in the USF School of Music.

“The USF-PAMC is an interprofessional group, all self-guided, probably the only such organization at the University with the area professionals in the community,” said Dr. Sang-Hie Lee, director of USF-Performing Arts Medicine Collaborative and professor of music, piano, and pedagogy in the USF School of Music.

This year’s event included three interprofessional panels, 10 presentations, five workshops, two masterclasses, a yoga session, and Noraxon demonstration.

One keynote speaker at the conference was Alan Lockwood, MD, FAAN, FANA, Emeritus Professor of Neurology and Nuclear Medicine at the University at Buffalo. In his keynote titled “Health and Performing Arts: Legacy,” Dr. Lockwood gave an overview of the origins of the integration of performing arts into the medical field.

Dr. Alan Lockwood.

“The session about mindfulness is all about getting you away from the biomechanics of how you use your fingers to play the note that you want to be played, to looking deeper inside of your body and your experience, and how what you are doing is affecting the creative aspects of making music,” Dr. Lockwood said.

City-based pianist Madeline Bruser hosted the interprofessional panel “Unleashing Musical Potential Through Mindfulness” providing insight into how mindfulness helps musicians release physical and mental tension to transform their performing and expressive capacities. Bruser has taught musicians from six continents, both in-person and online.

Madeline Bruser.

On Sunday, March 27, a luncheon for attendees, campus and community thought leaders, decision-makers, and stakeholders was held, along with a panel that included USF President Rhea H. Law, as well as multiple deans supportive of the Performing Arts Medicine Collective initiative. Top researchers and contributors from across the country discussed the importance of the well-being of performing artists and shared their experiences with the audience and each other.

“This conference is an opportunity to learn from each other, get the advantage of the experience of other people who are working in this field,” Dr. Lockwood said.

“What we really would like to do here is look at how to build a more sustainable performing arts medicine center here at USF, that has this overlap between the arts and between health, and serves the student population, serves beyond those walls, serves the community,” said Merry Lynn Morris MFA, PhD, assistant director for USF’s Dance Program. “My vision is to see more people mentally and physically healthy as artists. The healthier we can make our training, the healthier we can make our mental and physical approaches to those trainings, to create healthy behaviors in young artists.”

Merry Lynn Morris, Rhea Law, and Sang-Hie Lee.

Story, photos and video by Ryan Rossy, USF Health Communications and Marketing

TAMPA, Fla (April 8, 2022) – The board of directors for the USF Tampa General Physicians has named Mark G. Moseley, MD, MHA, FACEP, the first president of the newly formed academic medical group.  Dr. Moseley will assume the new position April 11, 2022.

“Dr. Moseley is the perfect person to serve as the president of USF Tampa General Physicians. With his deep familiarity of the faculty practice plan and decades of experience in academic health and clinical operations, Dr. Moseley will bring immense value to the role at this critical juncture,” said Charles Lockwood, MD, senior vice president of USF Health and dean of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. “As USF Tampa General Physicians grows, Dr. Moseley’s vision and exemplary leadership will be needed to further our mission of providing unparalleled patient care to our region.”

“Dr. Moseley is the natural choice to become the inaugural leader of our new organization, one of the state’s largest academic medical groups,” said John Couris, president and CEO of Tampa General Hospital. “Under Dr. Moseley’s leadership, our physician groups will be more strategically aligned, allowing for enhanced collaboration between our organizations as well as our private practice physicians. Together, we will be able to increase access, improve quality and decrease costs for our patients, ultimately benefiting the Tampa Bay community, the state and beyond.”

Launched in January 2022, USF Tampa General Physicians is a new organization providing management and support services for the physicians of both USF Health and TGMG. The creation of the organization follows nearly two years of transition planning since announcing the broadened affiliation in July 2020.

Moseley joins USF Tampa General Physicians after having served at USF Health for over five years, most recently as the chief clinical officer for USF Health, associate vice president for USF Health, and vice dean for Clinical Affairs in the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. He will retain his academic titles and teaching roles at USF Health.

Through coordinated services, USF Tampa General Physicians will help drive growth, improve quality, and increase access to world-class, academic medical care across the community, as well as serve as a recruiting tool for leading academic physicians from across the country. The new organization will further elevate the national reputation of both USF Health and TGH, which will help attract additional research dollars and support the economic engines of Tampa Bay’s health market.

“I am humbled by the opportunity to be a part of this first chapter of USF Tampa General Physicians,” Moseley said. “Our team members will help to power our physician practices, and provide high reliability, world-class services to our physicians, providers, and patients. USF Tampa General Physicians is the tangible manifestation of the power of TGH and USF Health working together in unison, aligned and united in advancing academic medicine and its benefits for Tampa Bay.”

In his new role at the helm of USF Tampa General Physicians, Moseley will lead the approximately 1,400 team members who have joined USF Tampa General Physicians and serve and support physicians employed by USF Health and TGMG, providing practice infrastructure, clinical management, and related operational and administrative support services. Moseley will also work with private practice physicians on staff at Tampa General to offer purchased services and management services through the new organization.

Moseley joined USF Health in January 2017 to oversee the clinical operations of the faculty practice group and all clinical care that takes place at USF Health, build strategic hospital partnerships, and lead other key areas, including quality, safety, risk, and patient experience. He is also a professor in the Division of Emergency Medicine in the Department of Internal Medicine of the Morsani College of Medicine and holds a courtesy appointment as professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management within the USF Health College of Public Health.  He also is a member of the medical staff at Tampa General.

An Ohio native and alumni of the Ohio State University College of Medicine and College of Public Health, Moseley is the first graduate of OSU’s combined five-year MD/Master of Health Administration dual degree program. He completed a residency in emergency medicine at Christiana Care Health System in Wilmington, Del., serving as chief resident in his final year of training. Moseley came to USF from the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus, Ohio, where he served in numerous leadership capacities for 12 years.  Moseley was a core academic faculty member, medical director of the Emergency Department, and vice chairman for Clinical Affairs in OSU’s Department of Emergency Medicine.  His senior leadership roles at OSU were as assistant chief operating officer, medical director for Patient Flow Management, and medical director for Utilization Management.

Graduate programs at USF Health had significant gains in this year’s rankings from U.S. News & World Report (U.S. News), strong improvements that highlight the advances USF Health continues to experience on the national stage.

In the U.S. News 2023 Best Graduate Schools list released March 29, the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, College of Nursing, and the College of Public Health all had programs that moved up in rank.

• #46 in Medical Schools for Research: The USF Health Morsani College of Medicine remains in the top 50 for U.S. medical schools for research, moving up two spots from last year, from #48 to #46.
• #56 in Medical Schools for Primary Care: The Morsani College of Medicine also improved for U.S. medical schools for primary care, going from #69 to #56.
• #42 in Nursing—Master’s: The USF Health College of Nursing jumped an incredible 14 spots, going from #56 last year to #42 this year, making it the top-ranked public nursing master’s program in Florida.
• #16 in Public Health: The USF Health College of Public Health remains in the top 20 and rose four spots this year to rank #16 up from #20 last year, making it the top-ranked public health program in Florida, public or private universities.

U.S. News does not provide new rankings for all graduate programs each year, so the USF Health Taneja College of Pharmacy maintains its rank of #68, and the School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences maintains its rank of #49.

“Programs across USF Health continue to rise in national rankings, providing a spotlight on our commitment to building high-quality graduate curricula filled with outstanding graduate student experiences,” said Charles Lockwood, MD, MHCM, senior vice president for USF Health and dean of the Morsani College of Medicine. “These new rankings demonstrate the incredible work of our faculty in elevating our programs through world-class health education, ground-breaking research and excellent clinical care.”

According to U.S. News, its methodology uses data from expert opinions and statistical indicators when measuring a program’s ranking, examining qualities students and faculty bring to the educational experience and graduates’ achievements linked to their degrees, such as job placement and research impact.

More on ranks for USF graduate programs…