Director’s Message
Welcome to the University of Florida’s MD-PhD Program. We hold the future in our hands. As Director of the Physician-Scientist training program I am fortunate to be associated with some of the finest students anywhere who have a strong desire and commitment to conduct translational research. It is translational research that will break down the barrier between the “wet lab” and the clinic. As this begins to happen, training for the PhD scientist will begin to get more and more attention. But it is important for us to remember that if a scientist is given the basic understanding of medicine combined with the correct foundation and sense of how a physician thinks about a problem they may run into with patients, the research, while exacting, becomes easier to do because it is now relevant to the disease process and good patient care.
Because the skills needed for translational science are diverse, we need to have a new paradigm or model, if you will, for interdisciplinary disciplines. For example, why not philosophy or bioengineering? These are nontraditional directions to solve nontraditional problems that will occur in the future. Preparation for the future begins here at the University of Florida with individualized curricular and research programs where each trainee is carefully guided under the direction of a highly accomplished mentor.
The path to finding your niche will not always be as clear cut as some of you medical school peers, but I am looking for those special persons who are willing to take the risks. It is my objective to create a distinct MD-PhD pathway within the College of Medicine. But above all, when you have concluded your MD-PhD training here at the University of Florida, you will have completed the necessary work and demonstrated the necessary competencies which will allow you to be a successful physician-scientist.
