Office of Student Affairs
Collegia Program
At the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine (MCOM), every student belongs to a Collegium—a vibrant learning community designed to foster belonging, professional identity formation, and personal connection throughout medical school.
The Collegia Program, established in 2012, has grown into a non-residential, student-centered framework that engages learners both inside and outside the classroom. Collegia provide a consistent space for reflection, support, and longitudinal relationships with peers and faculty, grounded in a culture of community and shared purpose.
Each Collegium is named and colored based on decisions made by student leaders and faculty beginning in 2013, reflecting the program’s strong foundation in student voice and collaboration. Today, Collegia serve as the cornerstone for professional identity development and connection at MCOM.
To further support students in their career and personal growth, each Collegium is paired with a dedicated MAPS (Mentorship, Advising, Progress, and Support) Advisor. MAPS Advisors work closely with students across all four years of medical school to provide personalized mentorship and strategic career advising and residency planning guidance while monitoring student progress and providing ongoing support.
While Collegia cultivate connection and identity, the MAPS program ensures each student has structured, proactive advising to guide their progress. Together, they form an integrated model of student support that helps learners grow into the physicians they aspire to be.
Key Outcomes of the Collegia & MAPS Experience:
- A sense of belonging through consistent peer and faculty connections
- Development of professional identity in a supportive community
- Longitudinal career and residency advising tailored to each student’s goals
- Mentorship and coaching focused on whole-person development
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Collegium History
Team Orange selected Dr. Carla Bourne because of her strong support as a student advocate. Dr. Bourne was born and raised in the beautiful Caribbean island of Barbados. She is currently practicing as an Ophthalmologist with specialty training in Glaucoma. At USF Morsani College of Medicine, she was an excellent educator, serving as the Director of the student clerkship in Ophthalmology, Faculty preceptor for the Doctoring One course, and a Career Advisor.
Color: Orange
Tagline: Into the Fire
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Collegium History
Team Yellow selected Dr. Michael DeBakey to represent their goals of innovation in medicine. Dr. DeBakey was a cardiovascular surgeon best known for being the first to successfully implant an artificial heart in a human. During his service in World War II, he also designed the Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) units that gave soldiers a 97% chance of survival when wounded in battle. Furthermore, he was the first to remove a blockage in a carotid artery, designed and used the first artificial grafts for cardiac bypass surgery, and performed the first aorto-coronary artery bypass.
Color: Yellow
Tagline: ...And the Beat Goes On
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Collegium History
Paul Edward Farmer is an American anthropologist and physician who is best known for his humanitarian work providing "first world" health care for "third world" people, beginning in Haiti. Co-founder of international social justice and health organization Partners In Health (PIH), he is "the man who would cure the world" as made famous in the award-winning Mountains Beyond Mountains by Pulitzer-prize-winning author Tracy Kidder. In 1987, Farmer co-founded Partners in Health. PIH began in Cange in the Central Plateau of Haiti and has developed into a worldwide health organization. The PIH hospital in Haiti provides free treatment to patients. PIH helps patients living in poverty to obtain effective drugs to treat tuberculosis and AIDS.
Color: Light Blue
Tagline: Dignity. Excellence. Wellness.
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Collegium History
Claudius Galenus or Galen of Pergamon was referred to as the “Father of Experimental Physiology”. A prominent Greek physician, surgeon & philosopher in the Roman Empire, Galen was ranked second behind Hippocrates in the knowledge of medicine. He influenced the development of various scientific disciplines, including anatomy, physiology, pathology, pharmacology, and neurology, as well as philosophy and logic. Galen was set apart from his rival when he begin to diagnose soldiers returning from battle with smallpox & measles, and recorded their symptoms and prognoses.
Color: Purple
Tagline: Prorsum Sempter
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Collegium History
Hippocrates was named after the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates of Cos. “Hippocrates is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of medicine. He is referred to as the father of western medicine in recognition of his lasting contributions to the field as the founder of the Hippocratic School of Medicine. As the father of western medicine he is credited with coining the Hippocratic Oath, as well as advancing the systematic study of clinical medicine.” Hippocrates traveled around Greece training medical students that there are scientific reasons for ailments. In addition, he authored the saying “Life is short, and the Art long”. View the following links for more on Hippocrates.
Color: Black
Tagline: "I Swear by Apollo...."
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Collegium History
Robert Koch was a German physician known as the founder of modern bacteriology. In addition, he played a vital role in identifying the specific causative agents of tuberculosis, cholera, and anthrax. Koch is most known for his research that led to the creation of Koch’s postulates – four generalized principles linking specific microorganisms to specific diseases that remain today the “gold standard” in medical microbiology. Due to Koch’s many brilliant contributions he was the recipient of the 1905 Nobel Prize for Physiology.
Color: Pink
Tagline: To Life and To Truth
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Collegium History
Richard Lower was a British physician regarded as one of the finest doctors from the University of Oxford. Lower is known for his medical science as it relates to transfusions and the function of cardiopulmonary system; becoming the first Western scientist ever to perform a blood transfusion. He is credited with being the first to observe the difference in arterial and venous blood, as well as for his work on 'Tractatus de Corde' and 'Cerebri anatome'. De Catarrhis, Lower's book, is of historical significance because it was the first scholarly attempt by a British physician to take a classical doctrine (the theory that nasal secretions are an overspill from the brain) and to disprove it by scientific experiment. View the following links for more on Richard Lower.
Color: Red
Tagline: Vision. Fortitude. Virtue
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Collegium History
William Osler was one of the most famous physicians in the English- speaking world; and one of the most influential figures in the history of medicine. This Canadian physician was one of the first in North America to teach his students at patients’ bedsides rather than from a textbook. “take him from the lecture – rooms, take him from the amphitheatre – put him in the out – patient department, put him in the wards.” Osler became the Chief of Medicine at the new John Hopkins Medical School revolutionizing the medical curriculum for both American and Canadian schools; through medical training and education that remains relevant in Western medicine.
Color: Dark Blue
Tagline: Aequanimitas
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Collegium History
Paracelsus who was born Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, was a Swiss German Renaissance physician, botanist, alchemist, astrologer, and general occultist. He founded the discipline of toxicology. He is also known as a revolutionary for insisting upon using observations of nature, rather than looking to ancient texts, in open and radical defiance of medical practice of his day. He is also credited for giving zinc its name, calling it zincum. Modern psychology often also credits him for being the first to note that some diseases are rooted in psychological illness.
Color: Green
Tagline: Discere Faciendo
