Dr. Mel Hartsfield has been named campus dean at the Tallahassee regional campus and is expected to arrive in November. Hartsfield, a graduate of Florida State University’s Program in Medical Sciences (PIMS), currently is an emergency medicine physician and vice-president of medical affairs at Archbold Memorial Hospital in Thomasville, Ga.

Hartsfield will replace Dr. Eugene Trowers, who has begun work at the main campus in his new role as assistant dean for diversity and outreach. Dr. Trowers’ appointment is part of a new Diversity Program, designed to help the College of Medicine continue with its successful recruitment and retention of a diverse student body.

Currently, community boards are being assembled for the new regional campuses in Daytona Beach and Fort Pierce and formal searches for regional campus deans at those locations are expected to begin soon. The first students are expected to begin training in Daytona Beach and Fort Pierce by July.

Harris also announced changes to the college’s leadership by promoting Dr. Alma Littles to senior associate dean for academic affairs and designated institutional official for graduate medical education programs.

In that role, Dr. Littles has administrative oversight of the FSU/Sacred Heart residency programs in obstetrics/gynecology and pediatrics. The College of Medicine assumed responsibility for those residencies from the University of Florida College of Medicine on July 1.
Dr. David Steele, meanwhile, has been promoted to associate dean for curriculum and evaluation, and Dr. Sebastian Alston has joined the College of Medicine as associate dean for educational development.

Alston previously served as assistant dean for medical education and director of the Biomedical Problems Program, an integrated problem-based learning curriculum, at the Mercer University School of Medicine in Macon, Ga.

At the FSU College of Medicine, Alston chairs the Curriculum Committee with the goal of increasing integration and coordination of small-group experiences.