University of Central Florida-HCA Florida Healthcare Ocala Program

Program Identity & Fit

This is a community-based family medicine residency in Ocala, FL, originally established as an osteopathic program in 2016 and now training both DO and MD residents through a consortium linking a community hospital with the University of Central Florida College of Medicine. Continuity clinic training occurs at Heart of Florida Health Center, an FQHC-affiliated site explicitly focused on underserved and socioeconomically diverse populations, with residents managing their own panels using population health and analytics tools. The curriculum retains a distinct osteopathic thread (OMT training available throughout) alongside standard rotations, and graduates go on to single/group practice, hospitalist medicine, and academics in both rural and urban settings, indicating a broad, non-fellowship-funneling career output. The program explicitly frames its identity around "bringing family back to family medicine," whole-person and family-centered care across the lifespan, and values residents who can engage across cultural and socioeconomic difference.