On July 1, a new cohort of residents and fellows began their training under the expanding FIU Medicine–Baptist Health South Florida partnership. The numbers tell part of the story: what started last year with 68 residents and fellows has nearly doubled to 135. Behind those figures lies a deliberate effort to grow graduate medical education; embed clinical care on the university campus; and align academic faculty with South Florida’s largest health system.

The partnership, formalized in 2023 and deepened in recent years, is reshaping how physicians are trained and how care is delivered in a region that continues to grow and age.

“This partnership reinforces our mission to improve health outcomes for the South Florida community,” said Dr. Juan C. Cendan, dean of the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine (FIU Medicine) and senior vice president for health affairs. “By aligning with Baptist Health, we are bringing together new and existing talent to deliver more coordinated, high-quality care.”

“The partnership is building toward close to 400 residents and fellows by 2029.”

— Osmel Delgado, FIU Health CEO & Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs

Growing the pipeline of physicians

Graduate medical education sits at the heart of the collaboration. Last year marked the formal start of the joint GME effort. Plans call for nearly 400 residents and fellows within five years, with new programs continuing to come online on a strategic schedule.

Programs approved to start in 2027 and 2028 include anesthesiology, obstetrics and gynecology, transitional year, cardiovascular disease, critical care medicine, hematology and medical oncology, hospice and palliative care, thoracic surgery and integrated interventional radiology. Additional programs are under development, including gastroenterology, neurosurgery and orthopedic surgery. Further down the pipeline—electrophysiology, interventional cardiology, pain medicine, physical medicine and rehabilitation, and radiation oncology.

The growth addresses a regional and national reality: physician shortages in key specialties and the difficulty of recruiting doctors to stay in the communities where they train. By expanding local training slots in partnership with Baptist Health’s clinical sites, FIU Medicine aims to keep more graduates in South Florida.

Osmel Delgado, MBA, PharmD, chief executive officer of FIU Health and associate dean for clinical affairs, notes the trajectory. “The partnership is building toward close to 400 residents and fellows by 2029. That expansion increases faculty appointments for program directors, department chairs and core teaching faculty.”

Several Baptist-employed physician leaders hold leadership roles within the College of Medicine, including department chairs Drs. Michael McDermott (Neurosciences), Tom C. Nguyen (Cardiovascular Sciences), Geoffrey Young (Surgical Sciences), Minesh Mehta (Oncological Sciences), Douglas Inciarte (Family Medicine), John W. Uribe (Orthopedics), and John P. Diaz (Obstetrics and Gynecology). The dual appointments illustrate the integration of clinical and academic leadership.

Furthermore, Baptist Health is expected to achieve statutory teaching hospital status next year, formalizing a three-way relationship among the health system, the university, and the State of Florida. The designation strengthens the educational mission and the infrastructure supporting it.

An academic medical center on campus

In May, FIU broke ground on the new academic medical center on the main campus. Funded by a $212 million State of Florida appropriation and developed with Baptist Health, the facility is planned as an eight-story building of roughly 179,000 square feet. It is scheduled to open in 2028 and will be named the Helen and Jacob Shaham Academic Medical Center in recognition of their $30 million philanthropic commitment—the largest in the college’s history.

“The facility will be a significant addition to the university campus,” Delgado said. “Beyond expanding clinical services, it creates an active clinical learning environment not just for our medical students but for all health-related students. It will also provide space to facilitate our graduate medical education program.”

FIU President Jeanette M. Nuñez described the project as a step that places learning, discovery and patient care side by side. Bo Boulenger, president and CEO of Baptist Health South Florida, noted the center will expand access to outpatient services for the community while fostering collaboration among physicians, educators and future health professionals.

The academic medical center will support interprofessional training by bringing together medical students, residents, nursing students, physician assistant students, occupational and physical therapy learners, and others in shared clinical spaces. For prospective students, the visible on-campus footprint offers a concrete reason to choose FIU; for those already enrolled, it creates the possibility of continuing from medical school into FIU Baptist Health residency programs without leaving the region.

Services planned for the center align with Baptist Health’s major institutes—orthopedics, cardiovascular, neurology and oncology—while building on existing strengths in primary care, gynecology and psychiatry. Some specialty services tied to the expanding GME programs may also be delivered on-site.

Faculty practice under Baptist Health management

Earlier this year, physicians from the FIU Health Faculty Group Practice began practicing as part of the Baptist Health Medical Group.

Baptist manages and operates the practice, while FIU establishes the criteria for faculty appointments. The partnership has enabled the recruitment of world-class specialists. One example is cardiac surgeon Makoto Hashimoto, an FIU employee who practices at the Baptist Health Cardiac & Vascular Institute. Since his arrival, the institute has developed the largest-volume robotic cardiac surgery program in Florida.

“By aligning with Baptist Health, we are bringing together new and existing talent to deliver more coordinated, high-quality care.”

— Dean Juan Cendan, M.D.

Research and the bench-to-bedside horizon

The partnership is also building research connections. The FIU Medicine/Baptist Health Pilot Fund, created last year, supports early-stage collaborative projects. Each award pairs an FIU Medicine faculty member with a Baptist Health employee and provides seed funding to generate preliminary data for larger external grants. This year, six teams each received $75,000.

Delgado points to a longer-term opportunity. FIU already has substantial investment in NIH-funded basic science research. The on-campus clinical presence and the relationship with Baptist Health open pathways for translational and clinical research, moving discoveries from the lab to patient care. That intersection, he said, further advances the delivery of academic medicine.

A model taking shape

Taken together, the elements form a clearer picture of academic medicine in practice. Residents and fellows train across an expanding set of specialties. Faculty teach and care for patients under a unified clinical management structure. A new building will place those activities on the university campus itself. A sports medicine fellowship leverages regional professional team relationships. Pilot grants encourage joint research. And dual-appointed leaders bridge the health system and the medical school.

South Florida’s demographic pressures make the work timely. An aging population and ongoing physician shortages require both more training capacity and stronger reasons for doctors to remain in the region. The FIU-Baptist Health partnership addresses those needs by growing the local pipeline, improving access to coordinated care, and creating an environment in which education and clinical practice reinforce each other.

What you’ll find at the Academic Medical Center

The Helen and Jacob Shaham Academic Medical Center is designed to integrate education and outpatient care.

Key services will include:

• Dedicated spaces for medical students and residents
• Outpatient multispecialty services
• Diagnostic imaging
• Same-day surgery
• Infusion services
• An outpatient retail pharmacy

Additional planned capabilities encompass radiation therapy for cancer treatment, physical therapy, and services aligned with cardiovascular, orthopedic, neurological, and oncological care, alongside continued primary care, gynecology, and psychiatry offerings.