Since the unveiling of its comprehensive strategic plan, the UF College of Medicine has made the recruitment and retention of a diverse workforce one of its key priorities. To accelerate this effort, the college created a new equity adviser pilot program equipping faculty and staff with a wealth of resources to serve as advocates for inclusive hiring practices.

As part of the diversity, inclusion and health care equity pillar of the college’s strategic plan, the equity adviser pilot program provides a structured course for faculty, staff and administrators to become certified in inclusive hiring best practices and serve their departments as consultants during the recruitment process.

The tiny pill you swallow to manage high blood pressure or keep your blood sugar in check probably took decades and billions of dollars to develop. Students at the UF College of Medicine aiming for careers in academic science or the pharmaceutical industry are learning the ins and outs of this yearslong, highly regulated field to understand the most effective ways to treat patients, from the lab bench to the hospital bedside.

Translational Research and Therapeutics: Bench, Bedside, Community and Policy — a class developed by pharmacology department faculty and Jeffrey Martens, Ph.D., chair of the department of pharmacology and therapeutics — gives students a crash course in the research, marketing and regulation of pharmaceuticals. The course serves as a foundation for Ph.D. candidates in the pharmacology concentration in the Graduate Program in Biomedical Sciences and for students in the TL1 and CTSA certificate programs in the Clinical and Translational Science Institute serving the College of Medicine and beyond.

Advocating for patients using a broad base of medical knowledge and training, physician assistants are essential to health care teams in every specialty. During National PA Week, held annually from Oct. 6-12, the UF College of Medicine honors its PA faculty, staff, students and alumni, who provide humanistic care for all patients.

“National PA Week is a way for us to honor and pay tribute to our colleagues and to celebrate the profession,” said Nina Multak, Ph.D., MPAS, PA-C, DFAAPA, the associate dean and Randolph B. Mahoney director of the UF School of PA Studies. “We’re looking forward to a bright future as our program continues to enhance through new opportunities with technology and training.”