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MIAMI (CBS4) ― In the near future, you may be hearing your doctor say that he or she graduated from medical school at Florida International University.

FIU President Modesto A. Maidique and College of Medicine Dean Dr. John Rock proudly announced Wednesday that the university's new medical school had received preliminary accreditation from the Liaison Committee for Medical Education, the nationally recognized accrediting authority for medical education programs leading to the M.D. degree in U.S. and Canadian medical schools. The LCME is sponsored by the Association of American Medical Colleges and the American Medical Association.

With their initial accreditation, FIU will begin receiving applications for its first class of medical students in the fall 2009.

Maidique said he's honored that FIU had received the Liason Committee's preliminary accreditation; he pointed out that only 2 or 3 universities had received accreditation in the last 20 years. He adds that the medical school will still have to receive two more accreditations before they receive a final accreditation.

Under an innovative program FIU will launch as part of the medical school's training program, first year students will be paired with families in designated areas to provide medical care to them throughout the year. 

"It's innovative and different," said Rock, "possibly the first of its kind in this country.  Health care is not just if you will the holistic health of an indivudual, but its the community enviornment."

During the med student's house calls, they will be accompanied by nurses and social workers to attend to all of the family's healthcare needs. 

Michael Uguccioni, an FIU student and Florida native who hopes to enroll in the medical school, said he can't wait.

"These are the people that I want to help, these are the people that I care about, so for me to be able to stay here and get my education here is the most important thing to me," said Uguccioni.

The program will target the uninsured and neglected, and provided needed medical support in clinics in the established designated areas.

Sonia Martinez, a mother of four - one a newborn, said that kind of program would be great for her.

"It's devastating because, for instance, my newborn baby got sick the other day and I had to take him to the ER and I know that's gonna come back and bite me because it's going to be a big medical bill that sets me back," said Martinez.

The goal of the program will be to reduce the number of emergency room visits and inspire their patients to be more pro-active in their own healthcare.

Rock says not only will this program help the school's new doctors develop ties to the community; it will also help out with the state's doctor shortage. An unpublished survey of active doctor's licenses in 2005 found the average age of a doctor in South Florida is 53-years old; 11-percent are over the age of 70 and only 10% of doctors in our area are under the age of 35.



According to Florida Health Workforce, South Florida ranks 49th in the nation when it comes to the number of medical school students per capita and 50th in the nation for the number of doctors per capita. 

FIU's School of Medicine will also be the first public medical school in Miami; tuition is expected to range from $20-thousand to $25-thousand a year.

Financial experts believe once the school is established its financial impact will be well beyond a billion dollars including research grants and the more than 83-hundred jobs that will be created. 

In South Florida, 2.3 million of 5.1 million are medically underserved, and 60% of those underserved, or 1.4 million, live in Miami Dade County.

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