:: History Site Index
:: Historical Overview
:: Timeline of Events
:: Hall of Presidents

:: USF Site & Name
:: John Allen Legacy
:: 40 Years of Memories
:: Named Buildings & Sites
:: Medical School History
:: Medicine's 1st 25 years
:: Marshall Center History
:: Early Women's Athletics
:: Student Trends
:: Snow at USF!

:: 1st Student
:: 1st Professor
:: 1st Basketball Team
:: 1st Football Team
:: 1st Marching Band
:: 1st Years of The Oracle
:: 1st Trustees

:: USF Sarasota/Manatee
:: USF St Petersburg
:: USF Lakeland

:: Traditions Overview
:: Alma Mater
:: Academic Mace
:: USF Seal & Symbols

:: Rocky the Bull
:: Herd of Thunder

:: Homecoming
:: Student Gov. Ceremony
:: Bull Market
:: Movies On The Lawn
:: "Go Bulls" Hand Symbol
:: Retired Athletic Jerseys

The first class of students came to USF's new medical school in the same fall of 1971 that saw thousands of tourists enter the gates of the new Walt Disney World in Orlando.

The new medical school attracted academic physicians from around the nation who made Tampa Bay their home. Some were grand men in medicine's finest tradition, including Dr. Roy Behnke, Dr. Lewis Barness and Dr. Donn Smith, the beloved founding dean of the college, known for his General Patton-like style. Others quietly began to work for the future of USF, like Martin Silbiger in radiology and John Curran in pediatrics.

The result transformed medical care and research in the region. Just next door to the college, the Veteran's Administration built theJames A. Haley Hospital as a "dean's hospital," 1,000 beds with a research building attached.

On the strength of its USF affiliation, Tampa General Hospital undertook a major rebuilding in the 1980s, becoming the regional centerfor trauma, burns, high risk pregnancy and other USF-staffed services. By 1990, USF faculty physicians treated two-thirds of the patients at Tampa General.

In St. Petersburg, All Children's Hospital joined forces with USF to create the Children's Research Institute and an integrated teaching program with residents and medical students. The partnership came as All Children's handled the most severe case-load of kids in the nation.

On campus, USF saw a spectacular success in the building of the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, a 162-bed hospital that became the state's premier cancer facility.

At the heart of all these facilities was the faculty of the USF College of Medicine. By 1995, the USF Physicians Group had grown to 350 doctors, all academics engaged in treating patients, research and teaching.

At about that time, the faculty moved to a new phase. Founded to provide good physicians for the region, the medical school suddenly became a major player in research.

By 1998, medical research had grown to more than $52 million in grants for that year alone. This growth pushed the university into Research I status among Florida's state universities.

As dean of medicine, Dr. Martin Silbiger made a priority out of neurosciences, building on USF's successes in Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and brain repair. The new initiative paid off quickly, with new mouse models for Alzheimer's, and new cell lines to implant in the brain.

It will be intriguing to look back at the vision of the 1990s for medical education and see how it played out.

For USF, the trends point to out-patient, ambulatory care. As more procedures are done outside of the hospital, medical students need more experience away from the traditional bedside.

In research, understanding cells and genes will allow for repair and prevention unimaginable a decade ago.

In addition, USF physicians are beginning a marriage with the colleges of public health and nursing. Despite the power of medical discovery, prevention remains the best way to avoid the trauma of disease. USF hosts, for example, the only college of public health in the state of Florida.

And perhaps the greatest legacy of the faculty-physicians of USF can be seen in every hospital in the region--it's graduates. The college's alumni have spread throughout the area, boosting the quality of care for those millions of people who have brought their lives and families to Tampa Bay.