College of Medicine
A Year of Innovation and Impact

Education

Foundations of Artificial Intelligence-Based Medicine — Release of Online Course

Earlier this year, the College of Medicine launched the first of at least three courses that will be developed to train members of the college community and beyond in the application of artificial intelligence for clinicians and medical researchers. The first course provides participants with the fundamentals of AI, gives insight into how it can be used in medicine and shows how clinicians can become involved with campuswide experts in the field. The course is now available to be applied as continuing medical education credit. Two additional courses will be introduced in 2023 that expand upon some of the technical skills needed when using AI tools.

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Foundations of Artificial Intelligence-Based Medicine — Release of Online Course
The College of Medicine launched new courses to train members of the college community in the application of AI for clinicians and medical researchers.

Research

Boot Camp Programs: R01 & AI Bootcamps

Two boot camps were launched by the college, with the aim of leveraging the expertise of senior faculty to assist learners, trainees and junior faculty in developing their skills to better perform research and provide top clinical care. 

The first, a new artificial intelligence boot camp created by the Office of Research, is making it easier for students and trainees to learn the basics of AI and how to incorporate its tools into their research and practice. The fast-paced, multiday group training sessions combine the college’s growing field of AI expert faculty members and partnerships with enterprising technology companies like NVIDIA. Participants learn the fundamentals of AI as it relates to the world of medicine, including important vocabulary and terminology and basic coding in the Python programming language, concluding with an introduction to the most leading-edge deep learning algorithms provided by UF NVIDIA Ambassadors. They also undergo cohort-building and team science exercises.

The second, an R01 boot camp, teams up early-career investigators with senior researchers at the college, as well as other UF and external subject matter experts, to assist researchers who are applying for grants through all steps of the process and provide them with feedback. During the nine-month program, the mentors meet monthly with small peer groups and hold meetings to track the progress of participants’ grant proposals.

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Boot Camp Programs: R01 & AI Bootcamps
Two new boot camps will leverage the expertise of senior faculty to assist learners, trainees and junior faculty. 

Patient Care

Transitioning Adolescent Children to Adult Health Care

In 2022, the college piloted a new program to help adolescent patients prepare for and smoothly transition from UF Health’s pediatrics care to adult primary and specialized health care. The interdisciplinary initiative, led by Maria Kelly, M.D., assistant dean and chief medical officer of UF Health Physicians, is strengthening patient retention at UF Health and helping prepare and educate young adults to maintain preventive care and individualized treatment as they become responsible for their own medical care for the first time in their lives. The program also aims to prevent costly ER visits and minimize the burden on our local emergency rooms through the continuation of patients’ routine care.

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a doctor and patient talking
A new program will help adolescent patients transition from pediatrics care to adult primary and specialized care.

People

Faculty Mentorship Resource Center

This year saw the creation of the Faculty Mentorship Resource Center, an online portal designed as a centralized location where faculty can learn about and easily connect with the many existing resources UF has to offer, including mentorship from colleagues further along in their careers. The dashboard, which will formally launch in 2023, is structured to break down departmental barriers and match faculty across the college with other faculty who can help them find success in any areas where they would like to grow and enhance their skills. 

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two doctors talking
An online portal was created as a centralized location where faculty can learn about existing resources.
Screenshot of College of Medicine Faculty Mentorship Resource Center
The dashboard breaks down departmental barriers and matches faculty across the college with other faculty. 

System Integration

Reimagining Our Administrative Support Services Through a Comprehensive Assessment

Assessment is complete and has resulted in “ELEVATE” – a comprehensive plan for a path forward to enhance college operations.

The college has embarked on an assessment of administrative support services in an effort to understand how effectively the college’s financial and administrative infrastructure supports the seven pillars of the strategic plan and to assess processes and provide recommendations to align governance, increase operational efficiencies and enhance financial stewardship. As a result of the assessment, the Office of Finance and Administration has launched ELEVATE, a large-scale, comprehensive plan to enhance college operations and better align finance and administration services with strategic priorities to ensure success and future growth for the college. As a champion for change, ELEVATE is exploring opportunities to enhance operations by establishing centers of expertise, reimagining service delivery strategy, strengthening budget process, clarifying funding model and fund uses, clarifying sources and use of assessment, and leveraging enhanced reporting.

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ELEVATE College of Medicine graphic
The Office of Finance and Administration launched ELEVATE to enhance college operations and better align finance and administration services.
ElEVATE acronym graphic

Value

The UF College of Medicine is participating in the Comprehensive Unit-based Safety Program, or CUSP, originally developed by Johns Hopkins patient safety researchers. The program aims to improve the culture of patient safety while providing health teams the tools and support to address patient-safety hazards. The CUSP training initiative will result in physician-nurse dyads throughout UF Health who will lead teams to set and pursue quality and safety goals specific to their unit’s needs. Many of the physicians involved in these dyads were part of the “Executive Training for Quality, Patient Safety and Patient Experience” project under the College of Medicine’s strategic plan and are now applying what they learned to this specific initiative, with more projects to follow.

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two UF Health professionals talking
CUSP aims to improve the culture of patient safety.