The USF Health Morsani College of Medicine Physician Assistant Program has a new address,
\n a new set of neighbors and a new home in the heart of downtown Tampa.<\/p>\n
On May 11, the PA program officially opened its doors in the USF Health Downtown building,
\n welcoming its first incoming class to begin training in the new location.<\/p>\n
The move relocates the program from the USF main campus in North Tampa to a facility
\n designed specifically for modern health education. In its new home, PA students will
\n train alongside medical and pharmacy students, creating more opportunities for interprofessional
\n learning and collaboration.<\/p>\n
The downtown location also brings the program closer to USF Health clinical sites
\n and the expanding Tampa Medical & Research District, a life sciences epicenter enhancing
\n access to cutting-edge education and research while driving regional growth and innovation.
\n \u00a0<\/p>\n
The transition was both strategic and carefully timed, said Todd Wills, MD, associate
\n dean and program director.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was not something that we just decided a year ago,\u201d Wills said. \u201cWhen we looked
\n at the flow of our program, its needs and the cadence of how we deliver things, we
\n decided that this would be the best time to make this full transition.\u201d<\/p>\n
The move was five years in the making and planned with medical education in mind.
\n Classrooms are surrounded by small-group spaces for problem-based sessions, advising
\n and peer study. PA students also have access to a simulation and procedural skills
\n lab.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe building has been designed to really foster didactic education and small-group
\n education in a very highly functional way,\u201d Wills said.<\/p>\n
For Gigi Jamison, a second-year PA student, the shift is already tangible. While her
\n first year on the Tampa campus drew her cohort close, the new building provides something
\n different.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow we get to connect with med students, with pharmacy students,\u201d she said. \u201cThere\u2019s
\n no better place to be than here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joelle Hugney is among the first PA students to begin the program at the downtown
\n location. She relocated from the Washington, D.C., area and said the building made
\n an impression before orientation was finished.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you take your first couple of steps inside, you are just in awe,\u201d Hugney said.
\n \u201cIt makes you want to work hard.\u201d<\/p>\n
She added that training alongside other health professions students before entering
\n clinical rotations adds a layer of preparation that distinguishes the program.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really unique to know that we are already going to have those experiences of
\n working with other professions before graduating,\u201d Hugney said.<\/p>\n
The program welcomed its 10th incoming class this spring, marking the milestone in
\n a downtown home designed to support the next phase of its growth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The USF Health Morsani College of Medicine Physician Assistant Program has a new address, a new set of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":277672,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":["post-277671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=277671"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277671\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/277672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=277671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=277671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=277671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}