College News
S P R I N G 2018 | 33
It started with a White Coat Ceremony in May and
ended with a Pinning Ceremony in June, and the six
weeks in between offered life-altering experiences and
unprecedented access to educational resources at UF for
80 underrepresented and minority undergraduate college
students from across the country.
Funded by a $415,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation, the UF Summer Health Professions Education
Program, or UF SHPEP, made its debut at the UF Health
academic health center campus this summer.
“For the first time, many of these students interacted with,
and learned from, health care professionals who look like
them and are doing the jobs they want to do,” said
Michelle Jacobs, MD, assistant dean for diversity and
health equity in the UF College of Medicine.
Life-altering experiences
BY KELLY SOBERS
10
UF has become the first Florida school to break into the
list of top 10 best public universities, coming in at
No. 9, according to the 2018 U.S. News & World Report
Best Colleges rankings released in September.
Among all universities both public and private, UF is now
tied with the University of California, Irvine; the University of
California, San Diego; and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in
New York.
“This is a significant milestone that we can all be proud
of, and it happened as the result of many years of focused
work and a keen sense of purpose,” UF President Kent
Fuchs said. “Our faculty — the core of our academic
reputation — and staff deserve tremendous credit
for lifting us up to get us here, as do previous leaders,
particularly Bernie Machen and UF’s Board of Trustees. We
also owe a huge debt of gratitude to the Legislature,
Gov. Rick Scott and the Board of Governors for their
continued support to ensure that the nation’s third mostpopulous
state has the world-class university it deserves.”
11 UF breaks into top 10 in U.S. News
Scholars from the Summer Health Professions
Education Program receive hands-on
instruction on proper suturing techniques.
The free summer enrichment program
focuses on improving access to information
and resources for underrepresented and
minority college students interested in
health professions.
PHOTO BY ERIC ZAMORA PHOTO BY KELLY SOBERS