UF College of Medicine launches new educational program in Jacksonville
As the University of Florida’s vision for a downtown Jacksonville campus is being realized, a new program will allow medical students to live and learn full-time in the city — the first UF initiative of its kind on the First Coast.
Starting in May 2026, UF College of Medicine medical students will have the opportunity to elect to spend their entire third and fourth years of clinical training at the long-established College of Medicine campus in Jacksonville. The expansion of the regional campus program will help students — starting with an inaugural cohort of eight — establish themselves professionally in the city of Jacksonville. The College of Medicine sees this as a key pipeline program for medical professionals who want to practice in the River City, where the health care industry and the economy are growing rapidly.
“Establishing a regional medical campus — an effort that was championed by Jacksonville faculty and came about thanks to strong cross-campus collaboration — will enhance academic support, create a more integrated educational experience and better enable our clinical programs to support our health system,” said Jennifer Hunt, M.D., M.Ed., interim Dean of the College of Medicine and the Folke H. Peterson Dean’s Distinguished Professor. “For the college and university community, it will provide greater opportunities for interprofessional education, resource sharing and growth while enabling our students to capitalize on the strengths of each campus.”
Expanding UF’s presence in Jacksonville
This summer, after years of collaborative discussions, the Liaison Committee on Medical Education — the UF College of Medicine’s accrediting body — granted the college approval to progress with the regional medical campus designation. And it came at an opportune time.
A rapidly growing city, Jacksonville recently passed a population milestone. With more than 1 million residents, it is among the nation’s top 15 fastest-growing metropolitan areas. The university’s plans in the region include offering graduate-level academic programs aligned with the city’s workforce needs in fields such as business, health science, engineering, law and architecture.
For decades, the UF College of Medicine campus in Jacksonville has served as a major clinical site for medical education, with UF medical students in their third and fourth years of training spending 20 to 25% of their clinical time in Jacksonville. Students who opt into being part of the new regional medical campus cohort will benefit from immersing themselves in living and learning in a busy urban center long term. They will have access to mentorship, research and other opportunities with Jacksonville-based UF faculty, beginning at the time of matriculation into medical school.