Academic Health Sciences Center Archives | �鶹ԭ�� News

New �鶹ԭ�� Mobile Health Clinic Increases Access to Care

Wendy Sarubbi — Wed, 03 Dec 2025 17:56:05 +0000

�鶹ԭ�� unveiled a new 38-foot �鶹ԭ�� Heath Mobile Health Clinic on Wednesday, designed to bring free, high-quality healthcare directly to communities that need it most.

The clinic also serves as a mobile classroom, preparing �鶹ԭ�� healthcare students in programs including medicine, nursing, physical therapy and speech-language pathology with hands-on experience delivering community-based care.

The clinic is the first interdisciplinary clinical care program offered by �鶹ԭ��’s Academic Health Sciences Center (AHSC). The center unites �鶹ԭ��’s colleges of Health Professions and Sciences, Medicine and Nursing to create more interprofessional health education, research and patient care efforts.

“This new mobile health clinic is expanding access to healthcare in our community,” says Deborah German, who as vice president for health affairs leads the AHSC and serves as College of Medicine dean. “Our goal is simple and powerful – when healthcare providers work together, the patient receives better care.”

The clinic is focused on low income, uninsured and underinsured populations in Orange and Osceola counties, helping patients who face transportation, mobility or financial barriers that restrict their access to healthcare.

Services include screenings for blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol and hearing, along with chronic disease monitoring, fall-risk assessments, medication reviews, audiology services and health education.

With two private exam rooms, diagnostic equipment, and point-of-care testing capabilities, the clinic is aiming to reduce preventable conditions and improve long-term health for the Central Florida region.

“The �鶹ԭ�� Health Mobile Health Clinic is designed to complement the incredible work being done by community health centers, federally qualified health centers and charitable clinics across Central Florida,” says Caridad Hernandez, chair of medical education at the College of Medicine, who has worked for years to make the mobile clinic a reality. “Our goal is to fill gaps and meet people where they are, working hand in hand with these organizations to amplify resources and create a seamless continuum of care.”

The clinic is the first interdisciplinary clinical care program offered by �鶹ԭ��’s Academic Health Sciences Center (AHSC), which is made up of healthcare providers, faculty, researchers, staff and students committed to improving healthcare and educating the next generation of healthcare leaders.

Training Future Health Leaders

�鶹ԭ��’s Academic Health Sciences Center is made up of healthcare providers, faculty, researchers, staff and students committed to improving healthcare. It is focused on educating the next generation of healthcare leaders and finding better ways to treat disease through innovation, discovery and collaboration.

The mobile clinic serves as a classroom on wheels that provides future �鶹ԭ�� physicians, nurses, audiologists, physical therapists, occupational therapists and others with the opportunity to learn in real-world settings, side by side, as part of interprofessional teams.

“These experiences prepare graduates who are not only clinically skilled but know how to work and communicate better in healthcare teams.” — Caridad Hernandez, chair of medical education at the College of Medicine

“They will see firsthand how life and social circumstances impact health and care, and how collaboration strengthens outcomes,” Hernandez says. “These experiences prepare graduates who are not only clinically skilled but know how to work and communicate better in healthcare teams. That training stays with them when they go into clinics and hospitals to care for us all.”

Mimi Alliance ’22 is a family nurse practitioner doctoral student at �鶹ԭ��’s College of Nursing who is providing care on the mobile health unit and conducting doctoral research on hearing screenings for seniors.

“�鶹ԭ��’s mobile health clinic is an incredible and innovative tool that will allow us, as a group of providers, the ability to care for patients by serving them where they are,” she says. “Ultimately, this is going to improve the health of our communities.”

Addressing a Community Need

The mobile clinic serves Florida residents who are uninsured or underinsured with income levels at or below 300% of the Federal Poverty Level. Nearly 15% of both Orange and Osceola County residents are not insured, regardless of income level. In addition, 27% of Floridians say they do not have a personal physician.

Since March, almost 500 patients have visited the clinic for blood pressure checks, hearing screenings and point-of-care testing for blood sugar levels and cholesterol. It has provided care at Four Roots Farm, Kinneret Council on Aging, Grace Medical Home, the Central Florida Fairgrounds and four Central Florida YMCA locations. �鶹ԭ�� has also reached an agreement with Osceola County to provide care at community centers in the future.

Thanks to a grant from the Florida Department of Health, the clinic is working to improve care for the community’s diabetic patients with limited access to care.

Diabetes is a worldwide epidemic. In Florida, at least 2.17 million adults have been diagnosed with diabetes and an estimated 550,000 more are unaware they have it. The state’s diabetes rate is higher than the national average and it is getting worse – an additional 6 million adults in Florida have prediabetes.

“Many of our neighbors with diabetes have no access to healthcare. That leads to premature death, blindness, loss of limbs and kidney failure,” Hernandez says. “Through the FDOH grant, we can help provide these patients with needed care. We screen patients for diabetes, can provide prescriptions at no cost, and offer education on diet changes that will help them manage their disease.”

As one recent patient at Kinneret Council on Aging explains, “�鶹ԭ�� helped me know what kind of food and protein I can eat to help my blood sugar not get too high or too low. Thank you so much. You are helping.”

The clinic also started a diabetic foot program after one of the Kinneret patients said she and other diabetics lacked mobility and eyesight to regularly check their feet for ulcers or blisters. Diabetes increases a patient’s risk for foot ulcers that can lead to amputation. Thanks to the foot program, �鶹ԭ�� College of Nursing faculty and students are providing hands-on education and preventive screenings to patients, who also received their own telescoping mirrors to do regular foot checks at home.

Providing Needed Audiology Care

One of the clinic’s major health services is hearing health and the prevention of hearing loss.

“This is not just a ‘nice to have’ screening,” says Bari Hoffman ’96 ’98MA, associate dean for clinical affairs at �鶹ԭ��’s College of Health Professions and Sciences and a certified speech pathologist who has helped lead the mobile clinic effort. “Hearing loss is linked to diabetes, cardiovascular and cardiometabolic conditions, balance, cognition and overall health. When we catch hearing loss early, we can intervene before it affects someone’s safety, memory, their social connections, or their long-term health trajectory.”

Thanks to a gift from the Edyth Bush Charitable Foundation, �鶹ԭ�� purchased diagnostic hearing equipment to provide clinical-grade hearing assessments in the community. And though a collaboration with Central Florida Hearing Aid Recycling Programs, the mobile clinic can help connect patients with reprogrammed, refurbished hearing aids at no cost.

“This is such a meaningful addition,” Hoffman says. “Identifying hearing loss is important, but ensuring people have access to hearing aids is what truly changes lives.”

The mobile unit is also supported by the Community Fund of our teaching hospital – �鶹ԭ�� Lake Nona Hospital and our partners HCA Florida Healthcare and The Jules B. Chapman MD and Annie Lou Chapman Private Foundation.

Stephanie Garris is CEO of Orlando’s Grace Medical Home, which provides high-quality, continuous care to some of Orange County’s more than 160,000 uninsured residents. Grace patients have received audiology care from the �鶹ԭ�� mobile clinic.

“This mobile clinic is an incredible resource for our patients, offering essential services they otherwise wouldn’t have access to.” —Stephanie Garris, CEO of Orlando’s Grace Medical Home

“This mobile clinic is an incredible resource for our patients, offering essential services they otherwise wouldn’t have access to,” Garris says. “Through our partnership with �鶹ԭ��, we are expanding access to care—especially for the working poor, whose jobs often don’t include healthcare benefits.”

Expanding Efforts

Mobile clinic leaders are eager to expand services and work with additional community organizations.

Plans also include expanding the mobile clinic into an innovation hub to pilot and evaluate emerging aging-in-place and digital health technologies and integrate new diagnostic and disease prevention tools.

�鶹ԭ�� research faculty also want to use the vehicle’s services to study better ways to advance health accessibility and chronic disease management. Educators from the AHSC’s three colleges also plan to grow interdisciplinary student training across areas including audiology, nursing, medicine, physical therapy and speech language pathology.

Community organizations wishing to partner with the mobile health clinic can contact anna.cisneros@ucf.edu.

�鶹ԭ�� Creates Free Resiliency Resources for Healthcare Workers, Students Worldwide

Wendy Sarubbi — Tue, 02 Sep 2025 20:45:16 +0000

Burnout among healthcare providers is at an all-time high. In 2022, 46% of health workers reported feeling burned out often or very often, up from 38% in 2018, according to a Centers for Disease Control report. To address this, faculty members from �鶹ԭ��’s Academic Health Sciences Center (AHSC) created the RenewU program, a free virtual toolkit designed to increase resiliency and support well-being for healthcare providers, students, clinics and hospitals.

A Toolkit Grounded in Evidence

RenewU provides 10 evidence-based interventions to prevent burnout and promote resilience in stressful and challenging environments. The program was created by faculty across �鶹ԭ��’s Colleges of Health Professions and Sciences, Medicine and Nursing, with support from a $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), which aims to decrease high burnout rates among healthcare professionals.

“Burnout has emerged as a growing epidemic among healthcare providers,” says Magdelena Pasarica, College of Medicine assistant dean for medical education, who helped create the program. “They need to manage the inherent stress of the profession through healthy behaviors. We wanted to create a virtual, free resource that will work for everyone — whether you’re in a huge academic medical center or a clinic in rural Arkansas.”

“Promoting health and wellness among healthcare professionals allows us to better care for our patients.” — Laurie Neely, �鶹ԭ�� associate professor of physical therapy

While the Internet is full of suggestions for improving mental and physical well-being, �鶹ԭ��’s team found that most of those recommendations were not evidence-based. Existing programs had also not been studied for effectiveness and were not designed to support interdisciplinary healthcare teams.

“Promoting health and wellness among healthcare professionals allows us to better care for our patients,” says Laurie Neely, �鶹ԭ�� associate professor of physical therapy, who helped create RenewU. “It is also important that healthcare systems address the problem and promote a workplace that fosters health and wellness among their employees.”

Creating Interventions for Realities of Healthcare

In creating the system, the �鶹ԭ�� team incorporated proven practices recommended by the United States Preventive Services Task Force, a scientifically independent group of national experts on disease prevention and evidence-based medicine. The toolkit includes information and guides for individuals, teams and health systems, so hospital leaders can create resiliency support for their entire workforce. Resources are provided in medical and lay terms for clinical and non-clinical workers, and include active, self-directed learning, practice activities, group interaction and reflection opportunities. Licensed healthcare providers can even receive continuing education credits through RenewU training.

Supporting Mental and Physical Well-Being

The toolkit is divided into mental and physical wellness sections. Mental health and well-being topics cover stress management, mindfulness, psychological detachment, setting boundaries, behavioral modification and handling stress in challenging situations. Videos from mental health experts guide participants in detaching from work and responding more effectively when experiencing self-doubt or becoming overwhelmed.

“We selected these evidence-based interventions with intention, keeping in mind the fast-paced and often unpredictable nature of healthcare environments,” says Asli Yalim, associate professor in �鶹ԭ��’s School of Social Work and another RenewU creator. “The practices in this toolkit go beyond generic five- or ten-minute mental health tips. They offer practical, meaningful strategies tailored specifically for healthcare providers to support healthier decision-making in both work and life.”

The physical health section covers topics such as active rest, like exercising at your desk or taking a walk during breaks, along with healthy eating recipes and how-to videos from a licensed yoga instructor. Participants can watch a video on preparing baked salmon and vegetables, a meal high in Omega-3 fatty acids that support mental health, and learn which foods have the highest amounts of Omega-3s.

Feedback from �鶹ԭ�� Students, Residents and Community Clinicians

�鶹ԭ�� faculty piloted the program with 761 AHSC learners, including physicians training in College of Medicine-HCA Healthcare residencies. Emergency medicine residents at HCA Florida Osceola Hospital participated in the program’s yoga curriculum at a local park alongside their attending physician, Tracy MacIntosh of the College of Medicine, to test the program’s effectiveness in helping teams address burnout. The creators also shared the program with 351 healthcare workers from seven Central Florida clinical organizations. Staff at Orlando’s Grace Medical Home participated in active rest exercises during lunch and were amazed that all the physical and mental health resources are free.

In developing the program, �鶹ԭ�� faculty evaluated the educational rigor of their content using the Kirkpatrick Model, an internationally recognized system for measuring the success of learning and training programs.

RenewU is one reason �鶹ԭ�� received the National Award for Institutional Excellence and Innovation in Interprofessional Education from the Association of Schools Advancing Health, and it’s now integrated into the required curriculum for interprofessional education at the AHSC. As part of this year’s interprofessional education initiative, students from �鶹ԭ��’s College of Medicine and the University of Florida’s College of Pharmacy completed a five-week virtual course on stress management in healthcare. The Yellowdig platform played a key role in fostering learning communities across four campuses, enabling peer interaction, reflective dialogue and shared exploration of evidence-based strategies for well-being.

Findings from the resilience toolkit program have been presented at 17 national and four international scientific conferences and published in six peer-reviewed journals. Even with minimal marketing, the toolkit has been used by 2,500 people, including international healthcare workers in Canada, Ireland, Sweden and Germany.

�鶹ԭ�� Honored Nationally for Interprofessional Health Education Excellence

Heather Lovett — Thu, 17 Oct 2024 14:41:04 +0000

Providing comprehensive healthcare services to uninsured farmworkers and families in the community, offering inclusive playdates to children with complex communication and motor needs, and delivering courses to build resilience in healthcare providers are just a few of the exceptional interprofessional education (IPE) and interprofessional collaborative practice (IPCP) initiatives that have led to a prestigious national recognition for �鶹ԭ��’s Academic Health Sciences Center (AHSC).

The AHSC was honored with the Award for Institutional Excellence and Innovation in Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Health Care by the Association of Schools Advancing Health Professions (ASAHP), a national professional organization of universities and employers that focuses on critical issues affecting health professions. The award recognizes an institution that has excelled in IPE and IPCP — principles based on the idea that collaboration will increase the efficiency and effectiveness of delivery systems to promote team-based, family- and patient-centered healthcare.

“When healthcare professionals work together as a team, the patient always gets better care,” says Deborah German, �鶹ԭ��’s vice president for health affairs and dean of the College of Medicine. “Our faculty are committed to creating that kind of experience for all of our students.”

The AHSC comprises the College of Medicine, College of Health Professions and Sciences, College of Nursing and Student Health Services. �鶹ԭ��’s approach is especially impactful in the way it integrates education, research and patient care seamlessly for students and the community, creating a dynamic ecosystem that fosters collaboration, innovation and excellence.

More than 1,100 �鶹ԭ�� students from nursing, medicine, physical therapy and social work provide point of care testing, pharmaceutical supplies, nutrition education, counseling, and referrals for additional care through the Comprehensive Medical Care Outreach Team, providing essential healthcare services while learning in a live clinical environment.

“The future of healthcare is collaborative, and �鶹ԭ�� is ensuring a healthier future by fostering interprofessional learning opportunities that prepare future healthcare professionals across all disciplines for practice,” says Mary Lou Sole, dean of �鶹ԭ��’s College of Nursing. “Through interprofessional collaborative practice, �鶹ԭ�� is unleashing potential of students and faculty to improve patient care and solve our world’s greatest healthcare challenges.”

The Keeping Neighbors In Good Health Through Service (KNIGHTS) Clinic provides vital medical services to approximately 150 uninsured patients annually, bringing together medical and social work faculty and students to collaborate on interdisciplinary teams that serve Orlando and neighboring communities. The clinic, which is a partnership with Grace Medical Home, provides direct healthcare services, health promotion, disease prevention, social support, case management and appropriate referrals to medical and social resources in the community. Through ongoing research and evaluation, the clinic continually refines its practices to deliver evidence-based, exceptional care to its patients.

The Mighty Knights program and Go Baby Go! provide customized mobility solutions that enhance children’s independence and quality of life and bring together speech-language pathology, physical therapy, health sciences, medicine and engineering students.

The Mighty Knights program holds inclusive play experiences for children with complex communication and motor needs and their families, bringing mobility supports, specially trained students, and faculty clinicians into schools, community playgrounds, libraries, parks, zoos and other unique spaces, like �鶹ԭ��’s Rehabilitation Innovation Center. Go Baby Go! also offers invaluable hands-on learning experiences that bridge classroom knowledge with real-world applications. By modifying ride-along toys to meet the needs of children with mobility and cognitive impairment, students gain practical skills, interdisciplinary collaboration experience, and a deeper understanding of the benefit of assistive technology on individuals’ lives.

Clinical Instructor Angela Ziegler accepted the award on behalf of �鶹ԭ�� at ASAHP’s annual conference on Oct. 8. She is pictured here with ASAHP President Craig Jackson.

“We’re incredibly excited to be honored by ASAHP for our innovation in interprofessional education and collaborative healthcare,” College of Health Professions and Sciences Interim Dean Matthew Theriot says. “This recognition is a testament to our dedicated faculty teams who champion this critical work as they train and inspire the next generation of healthcare providers while caring for our community. We’re grateful for ASAHP’s continued leadership in advancing a collaborative approach to healthcare, and we’re deeply appreciative to our philanthropic partners who played a crucial role in sustaining and expanding our programs and providing resources for acquiring materials, conducting research, and organizing impactful outreach events.”

Another key initiative is an Interprofessional Health Promotion Course for students that equips them as future healthcare providers with resilience-building strategies essential for well-being and professional success. Implemented in January 2023, the virtual course has been completed by 872 students from medicine, nursing, social work, physical therapy and speech-language pathology. The goal is to provide the course as a free online program for clinical providers worldwide, particularly those serving military veterans, uninsured and underserved populations. The research results emerging from the course have been presented at multiple national and international conferences by the interdisciplinary faculty team.

Among the newest programs is a Neurologic IPE Day held for the first time in Spring 2024. The event brought together over 50 students from physical therapy, social work, health sciences and speech-language pathology to engage with families affected by acquired neurologic disorders such as stroke, Parkinson’s disease, and progressive supranuclear palsy. Students operated in teams to conduct health and wellness assessments and provide recommendations for ongoing care, emphasizing a holistic approach to patient well-being.

The award was presented to �鶹ԭ�� at an Oct. 8 ceremony at the 2024 ASAHP Annual Conference in Atlanta.

Earlier this year, designed to improve collaboration and develop new strategies for ensuring the talent pipeline continues to provide competent and compassionate future healthcare professionals proficient in delivering team-based care.

�鶹ԭ�� faculty and staff leading programs include:

College of Medicine
Professor Magdalena Pasarica
Associate Professor Denise Kay
Associate Professor Katherine Daly
Associate Professor Janice Cato Varlack
Instructional Designer Monica Bailey
Assistant Director Melissa Cowan
Project Coordinator Karla Rosario
Research Assistant Denyi Canario Asencio

College of Community Innovation and Education
Professor Bryce Hagedorn

College of Nursing
Lecturer Heather Peralta
Professor Desiree Díaz

College of Health Professions and Sciences
Clinical Associate Professor Jennifer Tucker
Assistant Professor Julie Feuerstein
Clinical Instructor Angela Ziegler
Assistant Professor Asli Cennet Yalim
Associate Professor Lauren Bislick
Associate Instructor Iradly Roche
Assistant Professor Susanny Beltran
Clinical Associate Professor Laurie Neely

University Unites Clinical Services Under �鶹ԭ�� Health Brand

�鶹ԭ�� — Mon, 26 Aug 2024 13:00:18 +0000

Clinical faculty across �鶹ԭ�� provide almost 120,000 patient visits for the community each year, and the university announces today it’s linking those healthcare services under a new �鶹ԭ�� Health brand.

University leaders say they hope the branding will help the community and patients understand the breadth of medical services they can get from �鶹ԭ�� physicians, nurses, physical therapists, speech-language pathologists, audiologists and other providers.

“�鶹ԭ�� is taking care of our community’s health in so many extraordinary ways,” says. Deborah German, vice president for health affairs and dean of �鶹ԭ��’s College of Medicine. “By bringing these services under the �鶹ԭ�� Health brand, we make it easier for our community to understand our services and seek academic patient care.”

The rebranding comes as the latest step in the development of �鶹ԭ��’s Academic Health Sciences Center, which unites all of the university’s clinical programs — the colleges of Health Professions and Sciences, Medicine and Nursing as well as Student Health Services. As part of that effort, �鶹ԭ�� will open the new Dr. Phillops Nursing Pavilion in Lake Nona’s Medical City in 2025 — next door to the medical school. Eventually it plans to bring other clinical programs to Lake Nona to foster increased interprofessional education, research and patient care. As Dr. German explains, “Whenever healthcare professionals work as a team, patients always get better care.”

The university has almost 140,000 square feet of clinical space, caring for patients in Central Florida as well as children and families who travel from across the country to access �鶹ԭ�� services:

offers a variety of primary and specialty care services to help keep students at their optimum health. The primary Health Center is located on the main campus with satellite clinics on the Rosen College, Health Sciences, and �鶹ԭ�� Downtown campuses. Student Health Services also offers a pharmacy and dental care. “Student Health Services is thrilled to collaborate with our �鶹ԭ�� clinical partners to share not only an exciting new brand but also to maximize the patient benefit of all our combined services,” says Michael Deichen, associate vice president of �鶹ԭ�� Student Health Services, who also serves as the chief public health officer for the university as a whole.
, formerly called �鶹ԭ�� Health, has two locations; one in East Orlando just blocks from the main �鶹ԭ�� campus and one in Medical City. Physicians provide academic, personalized care to the community in a variety of areas including cardiology, rheumatology, endocrinology, ophthalmology, dermatology, internal and family medicine, and geriatrics. All physicians are �鶹ԭ�� College of Medicine faculty.

�鶹ԭ��’s College of Health Professions and Sciences also provides wellness and rehabilitative patient care services to the community:

delivers high-quality, patientcentered care delivered by licensed physical therapists and faculty members with expertise in orthopedics, sports injuries, geriatrics, neurology, pediatrics and women’s health. The clinic serves patients through three facilities located in Research Park, on the �鶹ԭ�� main campus and at �鶹ԭ�� Athletics.
provides cutting-edge diagnostic and treatment services to people of all ages with communication and hearing challenges. It treats patients across the lifespan — from toddlers developing speech and language to adults who have lost speech or language due to disease or trauma. The Communications Disorders Clinic offers speech therapy, audiology, assistive technology and an intensive aphasia treatment program, among other services. “Thousands of patients and their families already choose �鶹ԭ�� each year for our competent and compassionate providers,” says Matthew Theriot, interim dean of the College of Health Professions and Sciences. “Uniting our expertise under the �鶹ԭ�� Health name is another step toward making healthcare more accessible to our community and beyond.”

In addition to these services, students and faculty from �鶹ԭ��’s Academic Health Sciences Center provide free care to medically in need residents through service learning clinics. These include the KNIGHTS (Keeping Neighbors In Good Health Through Service) Clinic at Grace Medical Home, the Chapman Compassionate Care Clinic for people experiencing homelessness, and a clinic for Apopka farmworkers through a partnership with the Farmworker Association of Florida.

�鶹ԭ�� has launched a new Academic Health Sciences Center , where you can find out how to get care at �鶹ԭ��, including appointment information.

Dean of �鶹ԭ��’s College of Medicine Named Central Florida Woman of the Year

Wendy Sarubbi — Mon, 16 Oct 2023 19:07:39 +0000

The Women’s Executive Council of Orlando has named Deborah German, �鶹ԭ��’s vice president for health affairs and founding dean of its medical school, as the organization’s 2023 Central Florida Woman of the Year.

The organization’s mission is to encourage and recognize women leaders and students to serve the Central Florida community.

In accepting the award on Oct. 12, German said she came to Orlando in 2006 to build a top-tier medical school that would anchor an emerging Medical City just minutes from one of the world’s most visited airports. The goal was to create what would become a global destination for medical research, patient care and education “for all of us,” she says.

Under Deborah German’s leadership, the �鶹ԭ�� College of Medicine has graduated more than 1,000 physicians.

“I wanted to have a great adventure, a life project, so that when I was 90 years old like my parents — who are now 96 and 93 — I could look back and say, ‘Good job,’” she says. “I have so much for which to be grateful.”

Under her leadership, the �鶹ԭ�� College of Medicine has graduated more than 1,000 physicians and welcomed its 15th M.D. class this fall. Thanks to community donations, �鶹ԭ�� was the first medical school in U.S. history to offer full four-year scholarships to an entire class — the charter class of 2013. Since that time, �鶹ԭ��’s College of Medicine has created one of the fastest-growing graduate medical education programs in the state — with 550 residents and fellows training in �鶹ԭ��-HCA Healthcare programs from Orlando to Pensacola.

The college is unique nationally because it includes the Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences, which provides undergraduate, masters and doctoral programs. Biomedical Sciences is �鶹ԭ��’s third most popular major. Burnett School faculty researchers focus their discoveries on the diseases that plague humanity — such as cancer, cardiovascular, infectious and neurodegenerative diseases. �鶹ԭ�� Health, the College of Medicine physician practice, has two locations — in East Orlando and Lake Nona — and provides primary and specialty care to patients across the community. The college has also begun a clinical trials program to advance translational medical research and recently partnered with NASA to conduct space medicine research that will impact the health of space travelers and those on earth.

At the 2023 Women’s Executive Council of Orlando awards banquet, Deborah German is joined by Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and (from left) Claudia Andl, a College of Medicine cancer researcher, Yanisa Del Toro, medical director of �鶹ԭ�� Health, and Onchantho Am, associate general counsel at the medical school.

�鶹ԭ�� Lake Nona Hospital, a College of Medicine partnership with HCA Healthcare, opened in 2021 next door to the medical school and is training �鶹ԭ�� medical and nursing students sooner than anticipated. �鶹ԭ�� Lake Nona Cancer Center, a new model of cancer research and patient care, opened the same year. Those facilities have helped create �鶹ԭ��’s new Academic Health Sciences Center in Lake Nona. The center incudes �鶹ԭ��’s Colleges of Health Professions and Sciences, Medicine and Nursing, along with Student Health Services.

Eventually the university hopes to locate many of its clinical training programs in Medical City for increased interdisciplinary medical education, research and patient care. A will break ground next to the medical school in Lake Nona in January 2024.

“Don’t be afraid to pursue your dream,” German told community leaders and other attendees at the awards banquet. “It’s what you were born to do. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. They are really lessons and … also guideposts pointing you in a better direction.”

Making a Difference in Hispanic Healthcare Disparities

Wendy Sarubbi — Thu, 12 Oct 2023 19:33:23 +0000

Hispanics continue to face severe health disparities and �鶹ԭ��’s College of Medicine can play a role in easing those challenges, says Caridad Hernandez, chair of medical education, at a recent Hispanic Heritage Month event.

A 2021 study found that 34% of nonelderly Hispanic residents in the United States do not have a physician — compared to 18% of African Americans and 16% of Caucasians. This lack of access to care, along with poverty, language challenges, food insecurity and other societal factors — called the social determinants of health — lead to higher rates of diseases including diabetes, heart disease, HIV/AIDS and cancer for Hispanics.

“Where you live – your zip code — is the most important determinant of your health, regardless of race or ethnicity,” says Caridad Hernandez, professor in the College of Medicine. “Let’s look at ways that we, as educators, researchers and clinicians, can make a difference.”

Caridad Hernandez

One solution on the horizon is a new mobile healthcare clinic — a collaboration of the �鶹ԭ�� Academic Health Sciences Center (AHSC). The 38-foot van is expected to launch in June 2024, with participation from faculty and students of the AHSC’s three colleges: Health Professions and Sciences, Medicine and Nursing. It will provide preventative and screening services, with the goal of improving chronic disease management and unnecessary ER visits. By providing care where patients are, Hernandez says the mobile clinic will allow providers to be more engaged in the community and learn first-hand the community’s needs. The mobile clinic will schedule visits in poverty hot-spots across Central Florida, including Apopka, East Orlando, Kissimmee, Parramore and St. Cloud.

In 2003, medical experts across the nation produced a book titled Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care. Twenty years later, while some progress has been made, Hernandez says that these disparities continue and have worsened due to COVID-19. The coronavirus pandemic showed once again that underserved and minority populations became seriously ill and died from COVID-19 more than their Caucasian counterparts.

According to the U.S. Census, 63.7 million Hispanics now live in the U.S., accounting for 19% of the population. Hispanics make up 27.1% of the population in Florida, 32% of the population in Orange County and 55% in Osceola County. Many of Osceola County’s Hispanics — 41% — are from Puerto Rico, relocating to the U.S. after Hurricane Maria in 2017. In addition to other social determinants of health, many of these families face displacement issues and trauma from the hurricane, Hernandez says.

As the College of Medicine and the healthcare industry look at addressing healthcare disparities for Hispanics, Hernandez and Deborah German, �鶹ԭ��’s vice president for health affairs and dean, have suggested examining ways to diversify people entering medicine. For example, as technology helps improve care and health monitoring, medical schools might consider admitting more engineers who can help create new, more accessible delivery systems. And increasing the numbers of bilingual medical students — in languages such as Spanish and Portuguese — will create more doctors who can communicate with Hispanic patients in their native language.

Hernandez shares her personal journey through medicine as an illustration.

She arrived in the United States as a Cuban refugee at the age of 3. Her parents were farmers in Cuba and had little advanced education. Her mother worked as a seamstress in America. Her family only spoke Spanish in their home and Hernandez was their interpreter for all of their medical appointments.

“I didn’t end up here by accident,” she says of her life’s work.

�鶹ԭ��’s College of Medicine Graduates its 1,000th Physician

Wendy Sarubbi — Mon, 22 May 2023 13:56:56 +0000

�鶹ԭ��’s College of Medicine graduated its 1,000th physician Friday with streamers, cheers, tears and military salutes.

“You are my 1K graduates,” Deborah German, vice president of health affairs and founding dean, told the Class of 2023. “I couldn’t be prouder of the work you have done. When I came here in 2006 to build this medical school, it was hard to even imagine graduating 100 �鶹ԭ��-trained physicians. And look where we are now.”

In deciding how to recognize the milestone, medical school leaders didn’t want to analyze lists of graduates to pick one individual as the thousandth, German says, because with few exceptions, everyone in the class had gone through their medical education journey together.

“You received your white coats together…You entered your clerkships together where you delivered your first baby, participated in your first surgery, counseled your first psychiatric patient,” she says. “Together you cared for others during a worldwide pandemic…Our community is healthier today because of the work you did together.

“Your entire class — each and every one of you — are the thousandth graduate in my heart.”

After the last of the 123 new Physician Knights received their diploma, German asked for a round of applause and then — unbeknownst to the students — black and gold streamers fell from the ceiling.

After that celebration, the ceremony included the military promotion of , the 39th �鶹ԭ�� military officer to become a Physician Knight.

The new physicians will go onto residency training at top hospitals around the city, state and nation in specialties that include pediatrics, internal, family and emergency medicine, OB-GYN, surgery and anesthesiology. A record 12 graduates matched into psychiatry, saying they want to help address the nation’s mental health challenges.

Asked why they had chosen the and the graduates’ answers were remarkably similar: the people. They talked about the medical school’s collaborative, supportive, engaging “vibe,” how faculty and staff were committed to helping students achieve their dreams. They talked about the unique opportunity to build a young medical school and a growing Medical City at Lake Nona.

Amy Morrison did her undergraduate work at Cornell and after graduating from �鶹ԭ��, she will enter a general surgery residency at Orlando Health.

“I felt like I fit in from the first time I walked in the building,” she says of �鶹ԭ��. “I met my best friend during my admissions interview. And I was inspired to be part of growing a Medical City.”

Sarah Baker entered medical school at age 41, after having three children and working in public health in Florida’s Lee County. With her M.D., she is returning home to Southwest Florida to do her residency in internal medicine at NCH Healthcare System. As part of commencement, she gave her children certificates of appreciation for their love and support during her journey. “This diploma belongs to them and my husband as much as it does to me,” she says. Baker says the medical school’s culture supported her as a student with more life experience than most. “I never felt nontraditional at �鶹ԭ��,” she says. “Everyone in this class is my family.”

Yanisa Del Toro is medical director of , the College of Medicine’s clinical practice, and as a �鶹ԭ�� faculty member, she leads internal medicine clerkship training at the clinic and also is an advisor and mentor to students. She served as grand marshal for commencement and helped hood each of the doctoral candidates before they received their diplomas. As she did, many of the graduates stopped and hugged her. “That’s because so many have passed through my hands,” she says.

$5.5M Gift From Helene Fuld Health Trust to Create Simulation Center at New �鶹ԭ�� Nursing Building

Robyn Lorfink — Thu, 18 May 2023 18:12:57 +0000

�鶹ԭ�� is pleased to announce the Helene Fuld Health Trust (Fuld Trust) has committed a $5.5 million gift to the College of Nursing’s new education and teaching facility in Lake Nona. This funding will specifically support the creation of the state-of-the-art simulation center in the new building, a critical component to education and innovation.

“The Helene Fuld Health Trust Simulation, Technology, Innovation and Modeling (STIM) Center at �鶹ԭ�� exemplifies our mission to support the education of nursing students,” says Robert Campbell, vice president of Trust & Fiduciary Services at HSBC, who oversees the trust. “Simulation is a critical component to nursing education and will continue to be in the future, and we’re proud to make this investment to strengthen nursing skills and improve the welfare of our communities.”

�ճ�� will sit on the 50-acre property already home to the �鶹ԭ�� College of Medicine and the �鶹ԭ�� Lake Nona Medical Center.

The state-of-the-art building will address the nation’s nursing shortage and foster innovation. (Photo by Dana Saccoccio)

The STIM Center will be a centerpiece in the new facility, occupying over 12,000 assignable square feet. The two main components of the STIM Center will be a Virtual Hospital and Clinical Skills Exam Suite. The Virtual Hospital will be heavily used by students across multiple clinical courses and programs and will include student queuing, prebriefing and debriefing spaces, flexible simulation rooms, and specialty virtual reality rooms. The Clinical Skills Exam Suite is made up of several individual rooms outfitted with exam tables, patient diagnostic tools and audio-visual recording systems.

The STIM Center at �鶹ԭ��’s College of Nursing is accredited by the Society of Simulation in Health Care for its educational excellence. The STIM Center is also one of nine simulation programs worldwide — and only one in Florida — to earn the new Healthcare Simulation Standards Endorsement from the International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation and Learning. The international endorsement recognizes the �鶹ԭ�� STIM Center for the high quality of simulation experience, the expertise of our faculty and staff, and our commitment to give opportunities for all to earn success across all simulation.

This recognition is also for our commitment to innovation in the field, as it regularly incorporates new technologies, such as augmented, virtual and mixed reality, into simulation learning experiences. The new facility will triple the existing research and clinical lab space and will enable the College of Nursing to leverage its internationally recognized expertise in healthcare simulation and achieve its vision of serving the global community as a leader in innovative nursing education.

“We are extremely grateful to the Helene Fuld Health Trust for their continued support,” says �鶹ԭ�� College of Nursing Dean Mary Lou Sole. “With this generous new gift, �鶹ԭ�� will build upon our strong leadership in simulation education, innovation and research and continue to grow a Knight nurse workforce to provide skilled, compassionate care in Central Florida and beyond.”

About the Helene Fuld Health Trust

The Helene Fuld Health Trust is the nation’s largest charitable trust devoted exclusively to nursing education, and has been a supporter of the College of Nursing for nearly two decades. Over this time, Fuld Trust has donated $1.2 million to support an endowment for second-degree nursing students — these are students who change careers and return to school to join the frontline as nurses. To date, this endowment has supported over 50 �鶹ԭ�� students with scholarships. �鶹ԭ�� is grateful to the Helene Fuld Health Trust for their support of future Knight nurses.

Helene Fuld Health Trust joins , , Parrish Medical Center, the and the VNA Foundation in supporting the new building.

About the New �鶹ԭ�� College of Nursing Building

The new College of Nursing building is a much-needed investment for the region and the state, both of which are facing a critical healthcare worker shortage.

�鶹ԭ�� currently graduates more newly licensed RNs annually than any other institution in the State University System, with approximately 260 Knight nurses entering the workforce each year. Almost all of them — 85% of the 14,000 nursing alumni — live and work in Florida.

Last year, the College of Nursing added 100 students beyond its usual enrollment to help keep pace with the state’s demand for new nurses. �鶹ԭ��’s College of Nursing is working to increase capacity to educate more BSN-prepared graduates eligible for RN licensure annually and to growing our graduate nursing programs, with a focus on educating more faculty to teach in programs across our community. The new building is needed for the additional enrollment growth, and when complete, the 90,000-square-foot building will be large enough for the college to increase admits by at least 50% to make a much bigger impact in helping to alleviate the state’s nursing shortage.

�鶹ԭ�� continues to seek philanthropic investments in the new building, as we near our goal of raising $70 million needed to break ground on the College of Nursing for the future. The new facility is slated to open at Lake Nona in 2025-26. The building will join the College of Medicine, �鶹ԭ�� Lake Nona Hospital and �鶹ԭ�� Lake Nona Cancer Center in an Academic Health Sciences Center that brings together students and faculty from many different disciplines.

Gift from Elizabeth Morse Genius Foundation to Support New College of Nursing Building

Julie Harper — Mon, 30 Jan 2023 15:00:21 +0000

With a generous $500,000 gift, the Elizabeth Morse Genius Foundation has become one of the founding donors for the new �鶹ԭ�� College of Nursing building at Lake Nona’s Medical City. This investment in �鶹ԭ�� will help unleash the potential of more Knight nurses while bolstering the nursing workforce in Central Florida, which is in critical need of more highly qualified professionals.

“Hugh and Jeannette McKean made a deep impact in Central Florida, and their legacy will continue with this gift to build the College of Nursing for the future,” says Mary Lou Sole, dean of the �鶹ԭ�� College of Nursing. “We are thankful to the Genius Foundation for their continued support, which will provide more educational opportunities to future Knight nurses whose clinical excellence and compassion will positively impact many lives in our community.”

Both the region and state are facing a critical nursing shortage. According to the Florida Hospital Association, an additional 2,300 registered nurses (RNs) are needed to enter the workforce each year to address Florida’s projected shortage of 37,400 RNs by 2035.

�鶹ԭ�� is already the largest educator of newly licensed registered nurses in the State University System of Florida. With double the classroom space and three times the simulation and lab space, the new 90,000-square-foot nursing building will facilitate increased enrollment across degree programs to graduate an additional 150 new nurses annually — as well as more nursing faculty who are needed to educate future generations.

Growing the number of �鶹ԭ�� nursing graduates will have a direct impact throughout the state and especially in Central Florida. Of the more than 14,000 Knight nurse alumni, more than 85% live and work in Florida and nearly 60% remain in Central Florida, according to a recent alumni survey.

“Both the Elizabeth Morse Genius Foundation and our �鶹ԭ�� Knight nurse graduates have a shared commitment to improving lives in Central Florida and making it a better place to live for everyone,” Sole says.

In addition, with an optimal location at �鶹ԭ��’s Academic Health Sciences Campus, already home to the �鶹ԭ�� College of Medicine and the �鶹ԭ�� Lake Nona Medical Center, the new building will foster greater collaboration in research and innovation.

A longstanding supporter of �鶹ԭ��, the — established by Jeannette Genius McKean in honor of her mother — seeks to promote the welfare of humannkind through scientific discoveries, educational support and more. The foundation is a founding donor of the College of Medicine and has supported an endowed chair in the College of Nursing, nursing scholarships and interdisciplinary healthcare research.

“The McKeans were dedicated to improving the quality of life in Central Florida, and increasing access to quality education and healthcare in our community are critical to supporting that,” says Randy Rush, the foundation’s president, on behalf of the current trustees of the Genius Foundation.

The Genius Foundation joins Dr. Phillips Charities, which donated $10 million last fall, in supporting �鶹ԭ��’s $30 million fundraising campaign to support the creation of the new College of Nursing building, which is anticipated to open during the 2025-2026 academic year.

New Immersive Simulation Suite Will Teach �鶹ԭ�� Students, Help Patients

Heather Lovett — Mon, 23 Jan 2023 19:28:35 +0000

�鶹ԭ��’s College of Health Professions and Sciences has again expanded its state-of-the-art with the addition of a new immersive, mixed reality room that will be used for both student learning and patient care.

The Blended Learning Interactive Simulation Suite, or BLISS, uses 270-degree, floor-to-ceiling touchscreen walls that display curated video and audio, providing an immersive view of any event, location or experience — either real or created. The technology was funded by a philanthropic gift from the Paul B. Hunter and Constance D. Hunter Charitable Foundation.

Acquired to better prepare students for the frontline roles they’ll encounter as healthcare practitioners, the technology serves as a unique and hands-on learning tool.

“It allows us to create environments that have a higher level of realism,” says Bari Hoffman, associate dean of clinical affairs for the College of Health Professions and Sciences. “We want students to be used to the sights, sounds, stressors and energy associated with hospitals, clinics and other locations where they will be providing treatment.”

BLISS is unique in that the user is fully immersed in the room with no headsets or tethers. Plans are in place to add smells and a floor that can vibrate and rumble, bringing another dimension to the experience.

The suite joins a host of other digital health technology tools already housed in the Rehabilitation Innovation Center, including a hologram machine, a maker space with a 3D printer used to adjust toys and household items for patients with rehabilitative needs, and a “Smart Home” room designed to train clinicians, patients and caregivers how to adapt a home for safety and better navigation.

BLISS can be used to demonstrate a medical procedure, recreate an emergency or incident, or display anatomical models in greater detail. Students can be transported virtually to any environment in the world, enabling them to respond to treatment scenarios or practice skills in a more realistic environment. Faculty can lecture, demonstrate techniques and then engage students in applying their knowledge through exercises and skills stations.

For example, students studying to become speech language pathologists can examine anatomical models using touchscreen technology to rotate, zoom in and view inside the jaw, neck and throat. Skills stations for pre-med students in health sciences can take place in a mock hospital room where they can learn to navigate and gain information through patient charts and medical equipment. And students studying athletic training can practice first aid skills in a crowded football stadium with the roar of the crowd and the presence of anxious teammates, coaches and fans looking on.

“We can give students access to locations and experiences that might not be possible in person due to cost or geography considerations.” — Bari Hoffman, associate dean of clinical affairs for the College of Health Professions and Sciences

“We can give students access to locations and experiences that might not be possible in person due to cost or geography considerations,” says Hoffman. “We can provide the backdrop for any clinical or non-clinical setting. It can be a patient’s home, the inside of an ambulance or a medical clinic … and it could also be a roadside traffic crash, a crowded airport terminal or an entertainment venue. The backdrop, combined with the use of our manikins and other high tech, hands-on equipment in the center, is what makes this truly unique.”

Faculty are developing new scenes and scenarios for students, as well as tailoring existing healthcare lessons developed by hospitals and universities in the United Kingdom who are using the same system there.

Associate Professor Jennifer Tucker teaches a coursework on neurological physical therapy in which students study the evaluation and treatment of patients with movement problems due to disease or injury of the nervous system. This semester, her students will examine patient cases involving stroke, conduct a comprehensive assessment and develop short and long-term recovery treatment protocols. Their classroom will be in BLISS, giving them an up-close look at the course content.

“The space just lends itself to a higher level of student engagement,” says Tucker, who has already taken students in for any early look and a basic skills exercise. “It felt very real, very quickly for them and I could see how the environment required them to actively think on their feet and react and respond to what’s happening around them.”

Athletic training students with Kristen Schellhase, director of the athletic training program and assistant director of the School of Kinesiology and Rehabilitation Sciences.

Research on the use of simulation in healthcare education supports that the more “real” the simulation, the more engaged students become, and the better learning outcomes they have. Having hands on and immersive experiences helps close the gap between the classroom and the real-world experience that students will encounter as health care practitioners.

In addition to serving as a learning lab and classroom for students, BLISS will also be a therapy tool for patients served by the college’s community clinics, including the Communication Disorders Clinic. Clinicians there assist patients who have communication and hearing challenges and they’ll incorporate the tech in therapy sessions.

For example, a patient struggling with stuttering could undergo therapy at a simulated movie theater ticket counter, or a patient being treated at the Aphasia House might practice interacting with the cashier immersed in a grocery store setting.

The space can be transformed into a dentist’s office, barber’s shop or noisy shopping center to help children with autism adjust and manage heightened sensory reactions. Children with mobility impairments in the Go Baby Go! program can test drive their specially retrofitted cars against the backdrop of a simulated racetrack.

The new space is also expected to be a site for the clinic’s summer programs for children with reading challenges. Youth in the camp will be able to see their storybooks come to life and interact with the words and the characters.

“The possibilities are endless,” says Hoffman who is working across �鶹ԭ��’s Academic Health Sciences Center to help make the technology accessible for faculty and students across all health-related disciplines to practice team-based care. “The only limitation is your imagination.”