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USF may expand programs in India

School may offer medical, nursing degrees there.

By Times Staff Writer
Published December 8, 2005

TAMPA - Leading Tampa Bay philanthropists and officials from the University of South Florida are in India to explore setting up medical school and nursing school programs there.

The group is led by Drs. Kiran and Pallavi Patel and sponsored by the Patel Foundation for Global Understanding. Judy Genshaft, USF president, and Dr. Stephen Klasko, vice president of USF health and dean of the USF medical school, are traveling with the group, which left last week.

USF already offers a master's in public health degree in India as part of a joint program in bioinformatics with the International Institute for Information Technology in Pune.

The group will visit Gujarat and Bangalore to discuss setting up U.S.-certified medical and nursing programs, said Sigrid Tidmore, the foundation's executive director.

But it's too soon to say what, if any, affiliation USF would have to any such programs, USF officials said in Tampa Wednesday.

The group also is visiting a 50-bed hospital in Goa that has been upgraded and renovated with help from the foundation. It also plans to visit schools, hospitals and health clinics in Vadodara, Pune, Mumbai and Pondicherry.

Also on the trip are Dr. John Sinnott, director of USF's Florida Infectious Disease Institute; Dr. Ekneth Naik, director of the CHART/India program at USF; and philanthropist Tom Pepin.

[Last modified December 8, 2005, 00:49:13]