The USF Health Morsani College of Medicine Physician Assistant Program has a new address, a new set of neighbors and a new home in the heart of downtown Tampa.
On May 11, the PA program officially opened its doors in the USF Health Downtown building, welcoming its first incoming class to begin training in the new location.
The USF Health downtown Tampa building.
The move relocates the program from the USF main campus in North Tampa to a facility designed specifically for modern health education. In its new home, PA students will train alongside medical and pharmacy students, creating more opportunities for interprofessional learning and collaboration.
The downtown location also brings the program closer to USF Health clinical sites and the expanding Tampa Medical & Research District, a life sciences epicenter enhancing access to cutting-edge education and research while driving regional growth and innovation.
The transition was both strategic and carefully timed, said Todd Wills, MD, associate dean and program director.
“This was not something that we just decided a year ago,” Wills said. “When we looked at the flow of our program, its needs and the cadence of how we deliver things, we decided that this would be the best time to make this full transition.”
Dr. Todd Wills listens to PA students during orientation at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine in downtown Tampa.
The move was five years in the making and planned with medical education in mind. Classrooms are surrounded by small-group spaces for problem-based sessions, advising and peer study. PA students also have access to a simulation and procedural skills lab.
“The building has been designed to really foster didactic education and small-group education in a very highly functional way,” Wills said.
For Gigi Jamison, a second-year PA student, the shift is already tangible. While her first year on the Tampa campus drew her cohort close, the new building provides something different.
“Now we get to connect with med students, with pharmacy students,” she said. “There’s no better place to be than here.”
Joelle Hugney is among the first PA students to begin the program at the downtown location. She relocated from the Washington, D.C., area and said the building made an impression before orientation was finished.
Joelle Hugney (left) during a break.
“When you take your first couple of steps inside, you are just in awe,” Hugney said. “It makes you want to work hard.”
She added that training alongside other health professions students before entering clinical rotations adds a layer of preparation that distinguishes the program.
“It’s really unique to know that we are already going to have those experiences of working with other professions before graduating,” Hugney said.
The program welcomed its 10th incoming class this spring, marking the milestone in a downtown home designed to support the next phase of its growth.