The new USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and Heart Institute, shown here under construction in June 2018, will open late 2019.

Emails are coming in about biotech start-ups, applications are pouring in from high-caliber students, powerhouse researchers are inquiring about opportunities, research funding has gone up, property values are on the upswing, and condos and apartments are rising across the urban core.

These are tangible upticks attesting that something big is happening in Tampa – even while that something is still under construction.

The USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and Heart Institute is building a new facility in the heart of burgeoning downtown Tampa and will be a primary anchor in the $3 billion real estate development – Water Street Tampa – by Strategic Property Partners, the joint venture between Jeff Vinik and Cascade Investment, LLC.

From left, USF System President Judy Genshaft, Frank and Carol Morsani, and Dr. Charles Lockwood, senior vice president for USF Health and dean of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, were among those who recently toured the construction site for USF in Water Street Tampa.

When the project kicked off several years ago, talk was hot about the potential a medical school and cardiovascular research institute in the urban core would have on the entire region. Biotechnology, pharmaceutical, biomedical engineering, translational research, biomanufacturing – these are among the forward-thinking buzzwords that painted the vision.

But today, talk has shifted from potential to more tangible, offering stronger hints of the true ripple effect expected.

University and community leaders shared their insights on some early indicators of success, giving us all a glimpse of the economic impact ahead.

“What they’re saying …

Craig J. Richard, president and CEO, Tampa Hillsborough
Economic Development Corporation:

“I’m happy to say that, with the announcement that USF is building a medical school in downtown, it has certainly helped us in promoting Tampa’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. When I arrived on the scene a couple of years ago, there was already some buzz. Now the buzz has accelerated. It makes it easier for us as an organization and for our employers to attract top talent. Spin offs that could result from entrepreneurial collaborations at the medical school would have a beneficial effect on our life sciences, health care and technology industries.”

Judy Genshaft, USF System president:

“We are creating a world-class learning, research and training environment. We already know how much this exciting future appeals to the best and the brightest. Since this project was first announced in 2014, applications to our College of Medicine are up by 60 percent. And our incoming students have achieved the highest MCAT scores of all Florida universities. And our Heart Institute is attracting world-class experts. In addition to the outstanding research that will take place there, the Heart Institute is going to have a major economic impact – we expect it to drive between $66 and $73 million in local economic activity annually.”

Charles J. Lockwood, MD, MHCM, senior vice president of
USF Health and dean of the Morsani College of Medicine:

“We’ve almost doubled the total research grant dollars that the medical school received since I arrived four years ago. Our national rankings have dramatically improved. I also get a sense of the excitement just from the emails I’ve been getting from folks who are very interested in this project, interested in relocating here … It’s really drawing attention nationally … The payoff of this project probably won’t be fully realized for a decade, but the immediate impact is significant. Every $1 of National Institutes of Health funding we can bring to the Heart Institute will generate about $2.60 in local economic activity. That will happen almost immediately. We’re talking about $72 million a year within the next five years being generated in the Tampa Bay area just from the research brought into the heart institute. But that doesn’t begin to measure the impact when we think about the creation of patents, licensing fees, biotech companies, whether we start them or they come in to be part of this project. With that, we’re talking about hopefully hundreds of millions of dollars of economic impact.”

Samuel Wickline, MD, director, USF Health Heart Institute:

“We are already attracting very qualified individuals who are doing very exciting things in many different areas in cardiac research … I’ve been talking to a number of individuals who are interested in getting ideas out of the bench and into clinical practice. It’s fairly early in the game right now.  Tampa hasn’t had those sorts of investment opportunities … I’ve been talking to a large swath of individuals who might be interested in providing those types of funds for biotech start-ups. The heart institute was meant to be that kind of an attractor.”

Bob Buckhorn, mayor, City of Tampa:

“I don’t have to sell often and hard because people now are talking about us. Tampa has become that place that everyone is talking about. Inevitably, when I go tell the story, they come to me and say ‘Hey, what’s going on down there?’ … People are like, ‘What in the heck are you people doing there, because all we hear about is Tampa?’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, we are good. Come on down and see it.’ ”

Carol and Frank Morsani, for whom the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine is named, ride a golf cart en route to a construction site tour of USF in Water Street Tampa.

The new state-of-the-art facility housing the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and Heart Institute is rising out of the ground at the corner of Meridian Avenue and Channelside Drive in downtown Tampa.

Frank Morsani in the emerging building, with downtown Tampa’s skyline in the background.

The new USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and Heart Institute will be a primary anchor for Strategic Property Partners’ $3 billion Water Street Tampa development.

Learn more about USF in Water Street Tampa by visiting usf.edu/waterstreet.

-Drone aerial photo by Sandra C. Roa and Ryan Noone, USF Communications and Marketing
-Construction site photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications and Marketing 

For Bianca Arboleda, who was born in Florida and raised in Puerto Rico, getting into medical school was quite the journey.

Arboleda, who wants to become an obstetrics and gynecology doctor, faced many cultural and language barriers before coming to USF. But, she never gave up.

“I always knew I wanted to become a doctor,” Arboleda said. “So, I am beyond grateful to be an MD student at USF. Every obstacle I encountered along the way, gave me the courage to do better and study harder to make my dream a reality.”

Bianca Arboleda receives her white coat.

Arboleda was one of 173 medical students to take the oath of commitment and receive the coveted white coat in front of families, friends, guests and USF Health leaders – marking the beginning of a remarkable journey into the MD program at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine (MCOM).

Charles J. Lockwood, MD, MHCM, senior vice president for USF Health and dean of the Morsani College of Medicine, poses with a group of students from Class of 2021.

The White Coat Ceremony, held this year on Sept. 1 at the Tampa Convention Center, is an annual event that welcomes students to the prestigious MD program at USF Health MCOM.

“This is a surreal experience, I’m in medical school,” said Cannon Nelson, who came to USF from Salt Lake City, Utah, and wants to become a pediatric neurosurgeon. “To us, the white coat is the symbol of transition, responsibility and commitment to a greater cause that’s bigger than any of us. It took a lot of work to get here, so being a part of this event today makes it all worth it.”

Cannon Nelson, student in the Class of 2021, is excited to celebrate the big day with his entire family, who flew in from Salt Lake City, Utah.

The Class of 2021 brought in the most selective medical student cohort in the history of the program — with an average MCAT score of 514 — placing it among the top 25 of all medical schools in the country.

This group of students was selected among more than 6,400 applicants – also a record number — giving them a less than three percent chance of getting into the program.

“It feels absolutely amazing to be among such a talented group of students,” said Katie Reming, student from the class of 2021, who wants to go into internal medicine. “No matter how challenging the road ahead may be, I feel so incredibly grateful for this opportunity and to be surrounded by such supportive faculty, staff and fellow students.”

During the event, Charles J. Lockwood, MD, MHCM, senior vice president for USF Health and dean of the Morsani College of Medicine, welcomed the students to the MD program with an inspirational speech about the future of health care and the challenges the field faces ahead.

Dr. Lockwood speaks to students, families and guests. 

“The future of our nation’s health care belongs to those who are unafraid to challenge the status quo, unafraid to think deeply about problems and unafraid to embrace change,” Dr. Lockwood said. “Decades from now, when people look back on this time in health care, my hope is it will be said of all of you that you were the forward-thinking generation of physicians who did not postpone addressing these great challenges – you embraced them. Your generation leveraged tools such as precision medicine, the mining of ‘big data’, cutting edge tissue imaging, and telehealth to improve health while lowering costs.”

This year, the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine Scholarship Fund –the beneficiary of funds raised to sponsor the white coats — was the most successful and largest white coat sponsorship program of all medical schools in the U.S., raising more than $100,000 towards the Class of 2021 scholarships.

“I’d like to thank our faculty, staff, alumni and members of the MCOM Alumni Society Board for their unwavering support in sponsoring white coats for this year’s class,” Dr. Lockwood said. “We are committed to increasing scholarship funding and I’m deeply grateful to all of you who have donated to our White Coat Scholarship fund – you are supporting an amazing group of students.”

Offering the keynote address was Sion “Bill” Carter, MD ’87, chair of the MCOM Alumni Society, who told the new students “The white coat you receive today welcomes you into the community of medicine and signifies your commitment to the long road of training ahead. But most importantly, this ceremony is meant to emphasize the humanistic side of medicine at a time when headwinds can dehumanize its practice.”

Sion “Bill” Carter, MD ’87, chair of the MCOM Alumni Society, gave the keynote address at the event.

City of Tampa Mayor, Bob Buckhorn spoke to the new students during the ceremony and welcomed them to the city of Tampa.

City of Tampa Mayor, Bob Buckhorn.

“This is an exciting time for USF, an exciting time for Tampa and an exciting time for all these young people,” Mayor Buckhorn told the crowd. “This is a city that’s risen from the worst recession since the Great Depression. This is the city of hope, the city of destiny and a city where young people are flocking to. For those of you who will spend four years with us, you are in the midst and part of an amazing renaissance American city. We want you to make Tampa your home when you complete this journey. I promise you this that you’re going to learn to love this place.”

Rose Tillis, a current fourth-year medical student and president of the MCOM student council, spoke to the new students about humanism in medicine and the responsibility of wearing the white coat.

“All of you have a gift,” Tillis said. “It’s a gift of intellect, compassion, motivation and determination, and a decent amount of stubbornness. That’s how you got here. But that gift comes with the responsibility to give back. And that’s what you’ll learn while you’re here. You have the ability to change the trajectory of your patients’ lives, just by walking with them in the hallway. That’s what this white coat represents, and that is the responsibility that comes with it.”

The Class of 2021 also received a copy of “On Doctoring,” a compilation of poems, fiction and essays edited by John Stone, a physician writer, and USF Health’s Lois Nixon, MPH, PhD, professor in the Division of Medical Ethics and Humanities. The books are provided by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation.

To conclude the special evening, the new students recited the Oath of Commitment — a promise they make to the health care profession and their patients.

“This is an important milestone in the journey of becoming a physician,” Reming said. “In some ways it’s celebratory, recognizing that all of the hard work involved in getting to this point has paid off. At the same time, I think it also symbolizes a transition from living life as a regular member of society, to becoming part of the health care profession, which necessitates a higher standard of behavioral expectations, has ethical implications and includes social responsibilities.”

Ameyo Jereen, student from the Class of 2021, is excited to finally wear her white coat.

“This is a celebration of the start of a difficult but rewarding journey in which we will learn intricate details about our bodies, our minds and our society,” said Ameyo Jereen, student from the Class of 2021, who wants to go into neuroscience. “I am very excited and honored to partake in this ceremony to mark the start of this wonderful journey.”

Arboleda celebrates this important milestone with her parents and siblings.

Among the Class of 2021 medical students receiving a white coat was Madeline Carney, shown here as a baby held by her mother Nancy Murphy at Murphy’s USF College of Medicine graduation ceremony in 1996. As she was walking off stage with her new white coat, the now young adult Carney shared a hug with Associate Vice President and MCOM Obstetrics and Gynecology Professor Dr. Catherine Lynch. “I haven’t seen you in a while, I delivered you,” Lynch told her.

Story by Vjollca Hysenlika and photos by Eric Younghans, Sandra C. Roa and Frederick Coleman, USF Health Communications and Marketing

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Click here for Match Day 2017 results.

Click here for more photos in Flickr

Clear skies, the Hillsborough River and the downtown Tampa skyline helped set the stage for this year’s USF Match Day, held March 17. The open grass yard behind the local restaurant Ulele was filled with senior medical students from the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine (MCOM) as they gathered for Match Day, the annual ritual of finding out where they will spend their residency training after graduating from medical school next month.

The celebratory vibe had a glimmer of green this year – spring green, USF green and St. Patrick’s Day green – with students and family members also wearing specially designed shirts that helped raise $2,500 toward MCOM scholarships. Working with USF’s creative design team, the medical students designed this year’s shirt to reflect St. Patrick’s Day, using the phrase Luck o’ the Match!

The USF MCOM Class of 2017 includes 162 students who matched with residency programs. On Match Day, senior medical students across the country learn where they will spend their residencies, the next step in their medical education, which can last from three to seven years depending upon the specialty pursued. The big reveal follows several months of applying for and interviewing at residency programs and ranking their picks within a formal match through the National Residency Match Program (NRMP).

It is on Match Day that all U.S. medical students find out which programs chose them. The news is available at the same time across the country – at high noon on the east coast and at 6:00 a.m. in Hawaii.  This year, the NRMP’s main match was the largest on record.

At Ulele, the festivities began with a surprise visit by City of Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn, offering encouraging words to the senior medical students.

“All of us are very proud of what you have done and how you have gotten to this point,” Mayor Buckhorn said. “But more importantly, what I want you to know is that, whether you match at USF or whether you go on to some other great university or medical school in this country, I want you to do one thing for me: I want you to come back to Tampa when you’re done. I think you’ve seen we’re building an amazing city for you. This is that place in America where the best and the brightest want to be. We want you to come home here. We want you to become part of our community. You are part of us. Good luck to all of you. Go Bulls! and Go Tampa!”

Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn joined the Match Day festivities with Dr. Charles Lockwood and Dr. Kira Zwygart.

Taking the stage next was Charles J. Lockwood, MD, MHCM, senior vice president for USF Health and dean of the Morsani College of Medicine.

“I want to thank our mayor, probably the biggest supporter of this medical school and its relocation downtown on the waterfront with the Heart Institute,” Dr. Lockwood said.

“And I especially want to thank the support system of our graduates, the family members here, and a big hand for all of them.

“If you are feeling the same level of nervous energy that I did – I won’t mention how many years ago – I can only imagine what’s going through your minds,” he continued. “You’re going to be great doctors. Just keep in mind to put the patient first every day, and you’ll have a successful career and outstanding professional life.”

At noon, Mayor Buckhorn announced the first match and presented an envelope to Jewel Brown, who matched to an obstetrics and gynecology residency at USF.

First envelope for USF Match Day goes to Jewel Brown, who will be doing her residency in obstetrics and gynecology at USF Health Morsani College of Medicine.

Each medical school has its own tradition for releasing the match information: some simply hand out envelopes and students open them en masse. The USF Health Morsani College of Medicine has a long-standing tradition for handing out envelopes one at a time, in random order, and allowing each student to open and announce to their classmates where he or she is headed. The additional attention to each student and the additional time for sharing their news creates a festive atmosphere that, over the years, has offered generations of USF students an opportunity to savor the moment that defines their future.

This year’s group includes 50 students in the SELECT MD program at MCOM, who spent the past two years in clinical rotations in Allentown, PA. Ten of the 50 returned to Tampa to open their envelopes at Ulele.

USF Health SELECT students in Allentown, PA. Photo courtesy of LVHN.

The Class of 2017 also includes seven students matching through the U.S. military, the largest group in MCOM’s history. As happens in military matches, these students already learned where they’re conducting their residencies, but join their classmates at Match Day as part of the Class of 2017.

Although the lawn of Ulele was full of students and their friends and family, anyone who couldn’t make it to the venue could catch all the action via the live UStream, giving access across the world as each student learns where they will spend the next few years of their medical training as physician residents.

Names continued to be announced by Kira Zwygart, MD, associate dean for MCOM Office of Student Affairs. One by one, senior students came forward to accept an envelope, open it, and discover their futures.

As MCOM tradition goes, each student places a dollar into a box – this year a ‘pot-o-gold’ to stay with the St. Patrick’s Day theme – and, because the student names are called in random order, the final envelope holder gets the cash. This year that winning student was Jennifer Carrion who matched in ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­family medicine residency at Florida State University Lee Memorial in Fort Myers, FL.

Jennifer Carrion collects her prize — the Match Pot-o-Gold filled with cash — with help from family and friends.

Then the crowd of newly matched students gathered together for what might be their last photo as a class. Everyone cheered in unison, thrilled to have matched.

Stats: From the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine: 162 students matched; 37 students (23%) are staying at USF; 70 (43%) are staying in Florida; and 56 students (35%) chose primary care as their specialty (internal medicine, family medicine, and pediatrics). Click here for more details about the nationwide Match from the National Residency Match Program.

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For many students, Match Day is a defining moment

Student narratives by Rachel Pleasant

They find out where they will launch their careers. For some, Match Day continues paths of determination. Here are some of their stories.

***

For Mayssan Muftah, becoming a doctor means being able to help rebuild her patients’ health — while also breaking traditions and stereotypes.

“I had a patient tell me once that I had totally changed his ideas of what Muslims are like,” said Muftah, 23, a Syrian-American who lives in Tampa. “I like breaking down people’s ideas of what a woman in a head scarf should be doing.”

Muftah, a third-generation physician, will specialize in gastroenterology, just like her father and grandfather, but in many other ways, she is forging her own path.

“In the Arab culture, not very many women become doctors. They might go to medical school — my grandmother did — but they rarely go into practice,” Muftah said.

Muftah is intent on having a career and a family. This spring, she will marry her finance, Ammar Nassri, an internal medicine resident who starts his fellowship this summer. Because of their impending nuptials, Nassri was unable to attend Match Day. Muftah chose to open her envelope privately a few moments before the match ceremony commenced, so that she could share the news with Nassri via a FaceTime call.

While her fiancé finishes his gastroenterology fellowship, Mayssan will be doing her internal medicine residency. Her future plans include finding a balance between her career and being a mother. She wants to show young Muslim women that they can pursue their dreams and not to give into stereotypes.

Mayssan Muftah shares the good news of her residency match in internal medicine at Emory University School of Medicine with her fiance via FaceTime.

“If you want something, you have to go for it,” she said. “You can’t let anyone stop you. You can be everything — and it’s worth it,” she said.

Unlike her father and grandfather who work in private practice, Muftah plans to practice in an academic setting. There, she will encounter patients from all walks of life, and in all likelihood, certain prejudices, too. Muftah is undeterred.

“I can break down misconceptions about the Muslim faith,” she said, “and change ideas about what someone like me should be like.”

Muftah matched in internal medicine at Emory University in Atlanta.

***

Like most children, SeQuoya Killebrew and her two siblings made frequent visits to their pediatrician’s office as they were growing up, and with every runny nose and fever, she became more certain that one day, she too would become a doctor.

“I really admired my pediatrician,” said Killebrew, 26. “My parents trusted her wholeheartedly to care for their children, to help them and to look out for their best interests.”

The goal of becoming a pediatrician sustained Killebrew for years, throughout high school, undergraduate studies at Florida A&M University, where she earned a degree in biology, and her first two years of medical school.

SeQuoya Killebrew announces that she will be doing her residency in internal medicine at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville.

In her third year, her first clinical rotation just happened to be in internal medicine, and soon, Killebrew was rethinking her professional aspirations.

“I realized I really like internal medicine. It’s a challenging field. You have to study all the time. You can’t be complacent,” Killebrew said.

Later that year, during her pediatrics rotation, Killebrew made her decision. She would become a hospital-based internist rather than a pediatrician.

“I realized that kids aren’t fun when they’re sick, and when they’re better and more fun, it’s time to send them home,” she said. “I like the dynamic of working with adult patients.”

Killebrew aims to work in a hospital setting because of the impact she’ll be able to make on patients when they’re at their sickest.

“When your patients are in the hospital, there is something seriously wrong. I’ll be able to be their advocate, to sit down with them, hear their stories, coordinate their tests, make sure everything gets done, and then send them home healthier and with the tools to live a better life,” she said.

Though she will be treating adults rather than children, Killebrew will still strive to emulate the compassionate care her pediatrician delivered each time she and her brother and sister had a stomachache or needed an immunization.

“People trust you wholeheartedly to take care of them. You’re a counselor and a confidant, as well as a doctor,” she said.

Killebrew hopes to be matched with the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville. And she did, in internal medicine.

***

As the son of a beloved USF Health faculty member, one might think Sam Slone is merely following his father’s footsteps into medicine.

Not so, said Slone, who like his father, Frederick Slone, MD, will specialize in gastroenterology.

“I was always good in math and science. I wanted to use that to help people at the same time. By the time I was in middle school, I had decided that I would become a doctor, too,” said Slone, 26.

In fact, it wasn’t until his son was applying to college that he heard him say he wanted to become a physician, Dr. Slone said.

Dr. Fred Slone and son Sam Slone, who will be staying at USF for an internal medicine residency.  Sam plans to specialize in gastroenterology.

During his clinical rotations, Slone explored a variety of specialties, but gastroenterology “just felt right.”

“You have to do something you like. With gastroenterology, I’ll see inpatients and outpatients. I can specialize, but also provide a wide range of services. It’s the area in which I feel I can have the biggest impact for patients,” Slone said.

During medical school, Slone participated in research involving the use of fecal microbiota transplants to treat autism, taught Basic Life Support to members of the public and volunteered with Tampa Bay Street Medicine, an organization that serves Tampa’s homeless population.

All the while, Slone felt his confidence as a medical provider growing.

“At the beginning of medical school, you think, ‘There is no possible way I can learn everything I need to,’ but little by little, you do, and then you realize, ‘I can do this,’ ” he said.

After he graduated from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in 1978, Dr. Slone matched to the University of South Florida for his residency. Like the vast majority of medical school residents, Tampa is where he stayed after his graduate education, building a life in tandem with his practice.

The younger Slone was born and raised in Tampa, graduating from Jesuit High School. He completed his undergraduate degree in biochemistry at the University of Florida — to have the away-from-home college experience — but after graduating in 2013, came right back to Tampa for medical school. This is where he hopes to stay; he ranked USF as his top residency location.

Regardless of where his career takes him, Slone is eager to begin his life’s work — and his dad is eager to watch his son make a name for himself.

“This is one of the proudest moments of my life, to see him achieve this goal,” Dr. Slone said. “Whatever he sets his mind on doing, he will do the work it takes to not only do it, but to excel.”

Slone fulfilled his hopes – he is staying in Tampa in an internal medicine residency at USF.

***

He won’t be there to cheer them on as they open their envelopes.

He can’t wrap them in congratulatory hugs after they cross the stage.

But somehow, Sean and Shaara Argo hope, their dad will be watching this Match Day, and he’ll be proud.

“I’m sure he will be,” said Shaara, 26, of Don Argo, who died of cancer in 2008.

“He always held us to very high expectations.”

Added Sean, 30: “He always said that if you weren’t using your head, you might as well have two rear ends.”

Siblings Sean and Shaara Argo will specialize in emergency medicine and pediatrics, respectively. Sean is headed to Florida Atlantic University Schmidt College of Medicine in Boca Raton, while Shaara will stay at USF for her residency.

Though he won’t be there to celebrate with them, their accomplishments, Sean and Shaara agreed, have everything to do with their dad, as well as their mom, Kathy, who lives in Rockledge.

Don taught calculus at what is now Eastern Florida State College. Some of his courses were broadcasted on public access television, earning him the nickname, “Math Man.”

“People would just come up to us and say, ‘Hey, it’s the Math Man,’” Shaara said.

Ever the “Math Man,” Don had his children doing linear algebra by the time they were 5 and calculus by middle school.

“We couldn’t go out to dinner without the napkins and placemats being covered in math problems,” Sean said.

Meanwhile, their mother, a former software engineer turned stay-at-home-mom, was the nurturer, the one who instilled in them the importance of doing for others.

“She is just that type of person,” Shaara said. “She taught us empathy and compassion.”

With these two perfectly balanced influences in their lives, Shaara and Sean grew. Shaara gravitated toward medicine early in life. She recalls a photo taken when she and her brother were 3 and 6. They each held stethoscopes to the other’s chest.

“She was very serious about it,” said Sean.

Shaara earned a bachelor’s degree in biomedical sciences and a master’s degree in medical sciences from the University of South Florida before enrolling in medical school.

Sean, on the other hand, began his higher education as a physics major at USF, but changed his mind during the last years of his father’s life.

“He was in and out of the hospital,” Sean said. “He would schedule his surgeries for over his winter breaks from school, so we had Christmas in the hospital many times. Sometimes he had really good doctors, and sometimes he had doctors who lacked that human element.”

Those experiences led Sean to change his major. He also earned a bachelor’s in biomedical sciences and master’s degree in medical sciences. Afterward, he went to work for a Florida Department of Health laboratory. There, he tested blood samples for diseases, day in and day out, day after day.

“The same things happened at the same time every day. I realized it wasn’t for me,” Sean said.

“I had these skills, and the experiences we went through with my dad being sick. That’s when I decided medical school was the best fit for me.”

Shaara had headed straight into medical school, which is how she and Sean, four years apart in age, ended up in the same graduating class.

“We’ve answered the same three questions ever since: Are we twins? No. Do we live together? No. Do we study together? No,” Sean said.

Although, his last answer isn’t completely true.

“I taught you how to make flash cards in med school,” Shaara said to Sean one warm afternoon a few days prior to Match Day. “I remember. It was amino acids.”

As they progressed in their studies, Sean and Shaara each chose specialties that perfectly reflect their personalities.

Shaara, the organized, flashcard-making sibling, has chosen pediatrics.

“She is the one with the calendar. There are timetables for immunizations and developmental milestones. She’ll be the one to make sure that every kid is progressing on time,” Sean said.

Sean, who so detested the predictability of the laboratory, will specialize in emergency medicine.

“He is very spur-of-the-moment and spontaneous. He will definitely be able to jump from task to task in a way that makes sense to him,” Shaara said.

Shaara is hoping to match at USF, while Sean is crossing his fingers for the University of Florida or Florida Atlantic University.

Wherever their careers take them, Sean and Shaara will be carrying their parents with them.

“I want them to know that everything they did for us our entire lives, all the sacrifices they made, it made this easier,” Shaara said. “They had such a perfect balance. We hope to embody them both as physicians.”

Both got their preferred matches! Shaara matched in pediatrics at USF. And Sean matched in emergency medicine at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton.

***

He knows how it feels to be a stranger in a foreign land.

He can still recall the heartbreak of his parents’ divorce.

He’s watched his home burn down, and he’s spent his summers counseling children battling for their lives. Now, Ariel Peñaranda is ready to put these and many other experiences to work for others.

“I have an understanding of what it’s like to go through these things. I know the struggle, and I know that if someone is there for you and there to listen to you, it can get better,” said Peñaranda, 27, who entered the USF Morsani College of Medicine through SELECT, a leadership track that prepares students to take active roles in changes to our health care system.

A native of Colombia who immigrated to Miami when he was 11, Peñaranda first considered becoming a medical doctor when he was in middle school, but that was mostly because both his parents are lawyers and he wanted to take a different path in life.

Ariel Peñaranda, who entered Morsani College of Medicine through the SELECT MD program, was glad to match in psychiatry at Montefiore Medical Center in Bronx, NY. He plans to pursue a child psychiatry fellowship after residency.

During his undergraduate years at the University of Miami, he veered away from medicine, earning a bachelor’s degree in motion pictures and psychology. As he progressed in his studies, however, he found that he was more inspired by the time he’d spent volunteering at an Orlando camp for children diagnosed with cancer, heart disease and other life-threatening conditions than the prospect of editing movies behind a computer screen all day.

“Medicine was a way to combine my love of people and science,” he said.

His undergraduate degree, unusual as it may seem for a future doctor, actually represents what he aims to achieve in his medical career.

“I like listening to people’s stories,” he said.

Peñaranda, the oldest of four siblings and a slew of cousins, has always loved children, and long planned to specialize in pediatrics, but changed his mind after his psychiatric rotations.

By specializing in psychiatry, Peñaranda will be able to spend his days doing what he likes best — listening — in order to devise a course of care that incorporates individual and group therapy, role modeling, and other patient-centered interventions. After his residency, he plans to pursue a child psychiatry fellowship.

“When I walk into the room, I’m not going to be asking for the chief complaint and then writing a prescription,” he said.

In all of his patient interactions, Peñaranda will dig deep, using his personal experiences to relate to those under his care. He gave the experience of being displaced from his Allentown apartment after a fire late last year.

“People have been so kind and have helped me through that,” he said. “I’ve been through that and now I can help others going through the same things.”

Peñaranda added he is especially interested in working with children whose behavioral and emotional issues are affecting their academic performance. He hoped to be matched with Montefiore Medical Center in Bronx, N.Y. And he was.

***

Communications team supporting Match Day 2017: Anne DeLotto Baier, Grace Beck, Freddie Coleman, Vjollca Hysenlika, Mark Leaning, Tina Meketa, Ryan Noone, Elizabeth Peacock, Rachel Pleasant, Sandra Roa, Ashley Rodriguez, Emily Wingate, Sarah Worth, Eric Younghans. Technical support by Andy Campbell.

The MCOM Class of 2017.

USF Health hosted a panel of leaders discussing the impact of the Affordable Care Act on communities and their health care organizations.

Question: How do you build an integrated health system to stem the unsustainable rise in health care costs that provides access to affordable, high-quality care at all stages of life, while optimizing preventive care to help avoid disease and promote well being in individuals and communities?

Answer(s): It’s complicated

The complexities inherent in fixing a fragmented health system were discussed when USF Health hosted a panel discussion April 20 at its Center for Advanced Medical Simulation and Learning (CAMLS).

Representing academia, government and business and industry, the panel was moderated by Jay Wolfson, DrPH, JD, associate vice president for health law, policy and safety at USF Health.  The panelists were Charles Lockwood, MD, senior vice president of USF Health and dean, Morsani College of Medicine; Mayor Bob Buckhorn, City of Tampa; Meredith Rosenthal, PhD, associate dean for diversity and professor of health economics at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; Mark Anderson, DSc, senior vice president of ambulatory services, Tampa General Hospital; and Jessica Cooper, executive vice president and director of sustainability for Delos Solutions, a real estate firm that has pioneered designing buildings to promote the health of occupants.

Topics touched on ranged from the Affordable Care Act, the evolution of health care payments from fee-for-service to capitated payments, and clinically integrated networks to telehealth and community wellness districts.

While they brought different perspectives to the table, all the panelists could agree on one thing. Transitioning to a system that balances optimal health outcomes while keeping costs affordable requires strong leadership, new and meaningful collaborations and evidence-based policies.

Dr. Rosenthal, who has advised federal and state policy makers in health payment policy and implementation, was in Tampa as the 2016 Alpha Omega Alpha Visiting Professor, hosted by the Morsani College of Medicine’s chapter of AOA, a premier national medical honor society.

“The United States spends more per capita on health care than any other nation, and it’s at the expense of other public and personal spending,” Dr. Rosenthal said. “Yet, research shows that things we can put in place to help solve the affordability problem, like reallocating some funds from acute care to various types of prevention, can also improve health outcomes. If the goal is to improve health within a budget constraint, we need to think more holistically and employ other tools of care within the community, not just the medical system.”

The following is an edited sampling of the just some of the panelists’ comments:

“The bottomline is that by 2020, 20 percent of the gross national domestic product will be involved in health care and that (growth in healthcare spending) is unsustainable. More importantly, 50 to 60 percent of the health care costs are borne by our companies, which puts them at a competitive disadvantage with other industrialized nations… And that’s driving the move to consumer-based health care, high deductibles, private exchanges and so forth, all of which will impact the medical school’s clinical revenue…”

 “So, we have to teach our medical students to live in a world that will drive down the cost of health care… They have to be efficient in every way in providing care. They have to focus on value. They have to improve outcomes – and that means evidence-based care, patient satisfaction, patient safety and reduced costs.”

“Five percent of patients account for 50 percent of health care costs. Some of (the cost) is end-of-life care, some of it is ICU care. A lot is that, on average, this 5 percent of high-cost patients has five disease states, including diabetes, hypertension and heart disease. We have to be able to provide care for this group in a much more rationale, comprehensive way than we currently do…. to help guide them among all the specialists.”

– Dr. Charles Lockwood, MD, USF Health senior vice president and dean, Morsani College of Medicine

.

“You have to be able to make the economic case to employers as to why this makes sense. Taxpayers and those who have insurance are the ones paying for the uninsured…. I think it’s an easy argument to make, notwithstanding the complexities of execution. People understand that for folks who don’t have access to health care, who walk into Tampa General’s emergency room, we pay that burden as a community and as someone who pays for insurance.”

– Mayor Bob Buckhorn, City of Tampa

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“Complex systems require systemic solutions. That’s where health reform is moving –thinking more about the entire continuum of care and how all the pieces fit together to get to the higher value solution. It’s going to be challenging… I imagine we’ll see strategic initiatives about consolidation, including partnerships with industry where that’s feasible, although conflicts of interest may arise… But, I understand that in order to fund underfunded activities that are an important part of your mission, academic medicine will have to leverage that in some way.”

“I hope what we’re talking about in health reform is taking money out of low-value health care services and investing it in health…. There is not a roadmap for a lot of this. There are some successful initiatives that can be adopted, but it’s hard work and requires up front investment for long-run payoffs. That’s a real political challenge.“

-Meredith Rosenthal, PhD, health economist, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

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“We know that we need to do prevention and wellness programs. We know that we need to align with partners in the primary care arena… We’re having a huge shift into the outpatient arena, and it’s driving us more and more toward trying to identify the ambulatory programs that will serve the needs of our patients and their families out in the community.”

– Mark Anderson, DSc, senior vice president of ambulatory services, Tampa General Hospital

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 “There is public health and design research showing that building and spaces can teach. Our architecture and building infrastructure, the real estate, is more than just four walls and a roof, more than the streets you walk around on. They provide environmental cues that enable and encourage us to make healthier decisions… and potentially also impact our ultimate habits and behavior. So, that’s an exciting prospect when we consider a more systemic change, a sea change really, in the way we think about preventative health.”

– Jessica Cooper,  executive vice president, Delos Solutions

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“An important component that will shape the future of our health care system in the home, in the hospital, in the community and in the training environment has to do with health care technologies, ranging from the health information we want to collect from patients at the point of care to virtual technologies associated with patient care like robotics from a distance and other virtual patient encounters.”

– Jay Wolfson, DrPH, JD, USF Health associate vice president for health law, policy and safety

During the audience question-and-answer session, hospitalist Deborah DeWaay, associate dean for undergraduate medical education at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, raised the issue of physician end-of-life care conversations with families of patients.

Catherine Lynch, MD, associate vice president of women’s health and faculty development at USF Health and professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Morsani College of Medicine, hosted and helped convene the panel.

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Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications

Tampa, FL (April 6, 2016) — Meredith Rosenthal, PhD, professor of health economics and policy and associate dean for diversity at Harvard School of Public Health, will lead a panel discussion about the impact of the Affordable Care Act on communities and their health care organizations at 8 a.m. Wednesday, April 20, at the USF Health Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation (CAMLS), 124 S. Franklin St., Tampa, FL 33602.

Dr. Rosenthal will engage in the discussion with health care and policy experts from USF Health and the community. The event is free and open to the public.

Meredith Rosenthal, PhD

Panelists will include Charles Lockwood, MD, senior vice president of USF Health and dean, Morsani College of Medicine; Mayor Bob Buckhorn, City of Tampa; Jessica Cooper, executive vice president, Delos Solutions; Mark Anderson, DSc, senior vice president of ambulatory services, Tampa General Hospital; and Jay Wolfson, DrPH, JD, associate vice president of health law, USF Health. Catherine Lynch, MD, associate vice president for women’s health, USF Health, will moderate.

Dr. Rosenthal’s research focuses on policies to help slow growth in health care spending while improving quality of care (value-based health care), including changes in payment incentives, benefits design and behavioral “nudges” to both patients and providers. She has advised federal and state policy makers in health care payment policy and implementation.

While in Tampa, Dr. Rosenthal will also meet with USF Health faculty and students as the 2016 Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) Visiting Professor, hosted by the Morsani College of Medicine’s chapter of AOA, a premier national medical honor society.

For more information, please contact Leslie Lowe at llowe1@health.usf.edu.

As the third-year of open enrollment kicked off  nationwide Nov. 1 for the federal Health Insurance Marketplace, attention was once again on USF, which for the second consecutive year attracted the largest Navigator grant in the country.  This time Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn and White House Special Assistant to the President Michael Smith toured the community outreach event hosted by USF Health navigators, observing firsthand students and families signing up for health care insurance.

Navigator Philip Conti of the Hillsborough County Division of Health Care Services speaks with Jodi Ray, Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn, and Michael Smith, special assistant to the President.

The “Nav-Lab” was set up in the USF Marshall Student Center and both Buckhorn and Smith were introduced to navigators and consumers by Jodi Ray, project director for the Florida Covering Kids & Families (FL-CKF) program at the Chiles Center for Healthy Mothers and Babies, USF College of Public Health.

The added attention stems from the fact that USF received a $5.9M 2016 Navigator grant, once again the country’s largest award, to help educate uninsured Floridians about the insurance plans that can best meet their health care and financial needs and assist those eligible with enrollment.  This year, the focus will be to help consumers understand how to get the most out of their coverage as well continue new enrollments and renewals, officials said.

After visiting the consumer Nav-Lab, Buckhorn and Smith joined other representatives from USF, Enroll America and a USF Health Morsani College of Medicine student, who is a local Marketplace consumer, for a press conference to talk about this year’s enrollment.

Michael Smith addresses local media at the USF Marshall Center.

Open Enrollment gives millions of uninsured Floridians the opportunity to enroll in health coverage for the calendar year of 2016. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), almost half of the remaining Marketplaces-eligible uninsured are between the ages of 18 and 34. Also, despite historic gains in coverage, Latinos and African Americans are still more likely to be uninsured than their white counterparts.

Because of these facts, this year’s push is keenly focused on that younger group and on minorities, Smith said.

“You could not talk about health care in this country without talking about serving what are some of our most vulnerable youth and communities,” Smith said.

“And we know that many uninsured and younger folks come from underserved communities. It’s going to be more challenging this year than it’s been in past years, with historic gains in coverage and an improving economy, there are just fewer uninsured to enroll. Ultimately, though, having fewer uninsured is a good problem to have, but means we’re going to have to work smarter and harder.”

In introductory remarks, Edmund Funai, MD, vice president and chief operating officer for USF Health, noted the parallels that today’s USF community event has with USF’s overall mission.

USF Health Chief Operating Officer Dr. Ed Funai.

“Our mission, as a large, public research institution serving one of America’s largest metropolitan areas, requires us to be an economic engine and a trusted resource for our region, our state, the nation, and the world,” Dr. Funai said. “The program we are here to highlight today is a perfect example of the way in which we carry out that mission at USF each day. We could not be prouder of the tremendous talent and dedication of the (USF Navigator) grant’s lead investigator Jodi Ray and her team at the USF Florida Covering Kids & Families program. They work with partners across the state to assist Floridians in making informed choices about the health care insurance coverage that best meets the needs of themselves and their families.”

Tampa Mayor Buckhorn congratulated USF on receiving the country’s largest Navigator grant and emphasized how well the Marketplace is working to reduce the number of uninsured citizens in Tampa and across Florida.

Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn.

“You have seen the amazing results from the last two enrollments,” Buckhorn said. “Over a 1.7 million Floridians have signed up to get access to health care. I can tell you as a mayor that there’s probably not anything more important than the citizens I represent having affordable access to health care. It makes such an amazing difference in the quality of their lives. In Hillsborough County, over 77,000 citizens – our friends, our neighbors – were able to acquire access to health care because of the Affordable Care Act.”

To help convey the real impact navigators have on helping Floridians find coverage, Jodi Ray put forth hard numbers.

USF Navigator Grant Principal Investigator Jodi Ray.

“More than 9.9 million consumers were enrolled nationwide during the second enrollment period and almost 1.6 million of those were Floridians – far surpassing projection numbers,” Ray said. “Nearly 200,000 individuals received one-on-one education and application assistance from USF Project Navigators and almost 700,000 consumers were reached through more than 3,600 community outreach activities across the state. Additionally, our combined marketing and communications effort throughout the year had a reach of nearly 58 million.”

Despite those numbers, there are still many who remain uninsured, said Raymond Paultre, executive director of Florida Enroll America.

Raymond Paultre, Florida State executive director of Enroll America.

“The good news is that the remaining uninsured still want insurance,” Paultre said. “According to recent polls, 7 out of 10 of remaining uninsured said it was important to them, but half of the remaining the uninsured still haven’t visited Get Covered America or Healthcare.gov . In addition to reaching out to the uninsured, we also be reaching out to the newly insured to check out the new options and to actively shop on the marketplace before they renew to make sure they’re getting the plan that best suits their financial needs and their family’s needs. HHS has recently reviewed some data showing that Floridians who changed plans when re-enrolling their coverage were saving close to $500 a year.”

Open Enrollment for health coverage began Nov. 1, 2015, and ends Jan. 31, 2016. This third enrollment period is also a chance for people to avoid paying a fine when they file their taxes. Those who do not enroll in a plan by the deadline of Jan. 31, 2016, could face a fine of $695 or 2.5 percent of yearly income, whichever is greater.

For more information, visit Healthcare.gov or call (813) 803-0628 to speak with a USF navigator.

From left, Michael Smith, Jodi Ray and Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn.

From left, Dr. Ed Funai, Michael Smith, and Mayor Bob Buckhorn.

Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Office of Communications.

Proposal now advances to Florida Legislature and Governor

Tampa, FL (Feb. 19, 2015) — The Florida Board of Governors today approved the request by the University of South Florida to build its new USF Health medical school and heart institute in downtown Tampa.  The unanimous vote to fund the proposal – $17 million from the state this year as part of a $62-million multi-year request — is a key step in making the vision for a downtown Morsani College of Medicine-Heart Institute a reality.    For more information, visit: http://www.usf.edu/downtown/

The project still requires the approval of the Florida Legislature and Governor Rick Scott.  If it gains that support, the facility would become an anchor for the plan by Tampa Bay Lightning owner and USF partner Jeff Vinik to create an economically thriving downtown waterfront environment where people could live, work and play.

“We are so pleased,” said USF President Judy Genshaft, speaking to media following the vote. “We worked very hard. There’s a lot of academic merit as well as economic merit to moving the medical school and the heart institute downtown.”

“We are very grateful that the Florida Board of Governors recognizes the merits of this project to advance USF’s core academic and research missions, while at the same time supporting our community,” said Dr. Charles Lockwood, senior vice president for USF Health and dean of the Morsani College of Medicine.  “Now we look forward to building additional support with the Legislature and Governor Scott.”

In remarks to the Board before the vote, Dr. Lockwood emphasized that the proposed downtown facility would be built with a combination of state and private funding. “We are leveraging private support to gain a superior facility,” he said.

The new facility would be located at the corner of Meridian Avenue and Channelside Drive, on land donated to the university by Mr. Vinik.

The City of Tampa and Community Redevelopment Agency have committed funding to restore the surrounding street grid and make needed infrastructure improvements to support the area’s redevelopment.

Dr. Charles Lockwood, senior vice president for USF Health and dean of the Morsani College of Medicine, with the medical school leaders, l to r, Jessica Watson, Cathy Lee and Ed Woodward, who attended Thursday’s successful BOG meeting.

“We are thrilled with today’s news from Tallahassee and as a ‘partner’ with the University of South Florida on the project, we thank the Florida Board of Governors for their unanimous vote today,” Vinik said in a statement.  “We look forward to making the Morsani School of Medicine and the accompanying Heart Institute one of the major anchors in our development district.  We envision and embrace the vibrancy that USF and its students, faculty and staff will bring to downtown Tampa. This marks a great step forward.”

“Today, thanks to the support of the Florida Board of Governors, we can say with confidence that the University of South Florida Morsani School of Medicine and the USF Heart Institute will call downtown Tampa home,” Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn said in a statement.

“This is a big, bold collaboration. It takes imagination, public and private financial commitment, and tenacity to see a vision as dynamic as this through to fruition. And, it’s because of the University of South Florida’s continued commitment to academic excellence that building them a new facility with immediate access to Tampa General Hospital and our urban core is the right choice.”

After a delay in the vote by the BOG last month, leadership from USF and USF Health prepared a comprehensive business plan with detailed supporting materials. The plan documents how the proposed facility would maximize the state’s investment in USF’s core mission by leveraging the university’s ability to attract the best and brightest students, the most talented faculty and the country’s leading research scientists.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVEXl-wwOg0

Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik unveiled his vision for the redevelopment of Tampa’s waterfront district today – a vision that includes co-locating the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and USF Health Heart Institute on land he has offered to donate.

Leaders from across the Tampa Bay community, including from USF and USF Health, came together in a ballroom of the Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel for the announcement of the project, estimated to total $1 billion and take five to 10 years to fully build.  A contingent of USF medical students and faculty also attended the presentation.

Vinik told the overflow crowd that he envisions creating a walkable mixed use space stretching from the Tampa Convention Center to the Amalie Arena to the Florida Aquarium, a downtown waterfront district  where people can “live, work, play and stay.”  The project would encompass five main components: a medical education and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) district, residences, offices, hospitality, and retail and entertainment.

If approved by the Florida Board of Governors in January, USF Health would be among the major economic development anchors for Vinik’s proposed transformation of downtown Tampa.

Read USF President Judy Genshaft’s commentary on USF’s downtown plan.

What they said:

USF President Judy Genshaft:

• “The project not only elevates USF Health to new heights as an academic and medical research center, but it advances one of the most important missions we have: to create a healthier and more sustainable community.”
• “This downtown location is spectacular in that it opens the doors for USF Health to recruit and retain more world-class researchers and top students, who will want to be part of this exciting downtown atmosphere.”
• “The innovative ecosystem that will grow around health sciences will also allow start-up and spin-off companies from our inventive faculty and students to grow, and create even more opportunity for future generations.”
• “We look forward to building support for this plan at the Florida Board of Governors, with the Florida Legislature and with Governor Scott, because we know that above all, we are a state committed to empowering individuals through opportunity and building vibrant and health communities.”

Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik:

• “We’re doing everything we can to make the USF Health medical school and Heart Institute move downtown a reality.”

Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn:

• “This opportunity to move the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and Heart Institute downtown is singularly one of the most important things that will occur in our lifetime.”
• “We will look back on this as the day when Tampa started the journey… We are united in this effort; we’re a city moving forward.”

– Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications and Marketing
– Fly-through video courtesy of  Strategic Property Partners LLC

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Tampa, FL (Feb. 2, 2012) – USF Health’s Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation doesn’t officially open until Monday.

But on Thursday, USF Health hosted its first public event at CAMLS: a visit from U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, in Tampa to tout the benefits of the federal Affordable Care Act.  She was welcomed by USF President Judy Genshaft and City of Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn.

“This is an amazing university, and this facility will be on the map across the country and across the world,” Sebelius said of CAMLS. “I have no doubt of that.”