To improve science education statewide, UF partners with Valencia College on teacher prep
Teachers are expanding their knowledge in medical anatomy and physiology
March 17, 2025 – As the need for skilled science instructors grows throughout Florida, key educational institutions throughout the state are teaming up to meet the demand.
Faculty from Valencia College are now able to take graduate courses at the University of Florida through the online master’s degree in medical anatomy and physiology program, due to a collaboration between the State University System of Florida and the Florida College System. These teachers are expanding their knowledge in core science, specifically medical anatomy and physiology, in order to educate undergraduate pre-health students who aspire to become Florida’s future caregivers. There is no individual cost to those enrolled.
Nico Rose
“This is a tremendous partnership opportunity between the University of Florida and Valencia College for us to share the expertise and resources that we have among each other, to support each other and to ensure that everyone who lives in Florida has access to high-quality education,” said Nico Rose, a UF assistant provost and senior director of operations, teaching and technology who helped facilitate the collaboration.
Just this spring, more than two dozen Valencia College faculty members have enrolled in the UF program’s inaugural cohort, hoping to bring the updated curriculum to their students within the year.
Serving the state
This program evolved in response to the updated higher education requirements from the Florida Legislature in 2023, which prompted Valencia College to expand its anatomy and physiology curriculum.
Jen Snyder poses for a portrait on East Campus on March 2, 2020 in Orlando, Fla.
Steven Sobel
Many biology faculty could shift to teach the subject with refreshed content, and the professional development opportunity offered by UF’s online master’s program — designed with working professionals in mind to receive expert training remotely — seemed promising, said Jennifer Snyder, Ph.D., interim campus dean of the Valencia College Lake Nona Campus.
“This initiative provides significant value to our faculty, while ensuring that students learn from instructors who have both the content expertise and confidence to prepare them for their future careers,” Snyder said. “It has been a truly rewarding experience.”
Kyle E. Rarey, Ph.D.
Teaching medical human anatomy to other faculty has been an exciting and fulfilling experience for Kyle E. Rarey, Ph.D., a celebrated anatomy professor at UF for more than 40 years. His course offers recorded lectures, weekly quizzes and four modules that cover the organization of the human body and anatomy associated with skeletal and muscular systems.
Because of their larger knowledge base, Rarey said, the Valencia faculty students are asking deeper questions and engaging with the material from a strong scientific background.
“From our perspective, everything that we do for teaching is helping others. That’s the fun part,” Rarey said. “Assisting the faculty from Valencia learn the anatomy that they’ll be teaching others is fulfilling that mission.”
Teaching the teachers
David Curtis, M.S.
Steven Sobel
David Curtis, M.S., a professor of microbiology at Valencia College, West Campus and one of Rarey’s students, said the UF program seemed like a great way to “bone up” on his knowledge since he had not taught anatomy for 12 years. While it is still early in the course, his experience seems to be going well, and the structure of the course and materials are similar to his own online classes — a validating experience between educators, he said.
“The transition between teacher and student is perhaps the most difficult aspect of the course so far,” Curtis said. “It really makes me appreciate the struggles that my students face in my own classes.”
Lynn Sims, Ph.D.
Kevin Chau
For Lynn Sims, Ph.D., interim dean of science at Valencia College, West Campus, one of the most exciting aspects of the course has been revisiting human anatomy and the advances in medical applications with a fresh perspective.
“Seeing these real-world connections reinforces the impact of what we teach in the classroom. With a deeper understanding of the latest advancements, I can better prepare students with the most relevant and practical information for their future careers,” Sims said. “Ultimately, these efforts contribute to student success, especially for those pursuing careers in high-demand medical fields like nursing, where a strong foundation in anatomy and physiology is essential.”
UF has a long history of supporting education around the state as a land-grant institution. Take the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, or UF/IFAS, for example: its federal-state-county partnership has long served each of Florida’s 67 counties through dedicated extension offices that offer educational programs on topics like sustainable agriculture, food safety and youth development.
Peter Sayeski, Ph.D.
As Peter Sayeski, Ph.D., a UF College of Medicine professor and director of educational programs for the Department of Physiology and Aging, put it, “The fact that other universities and colleges want to take our courses to reeducate their faculty, I think, speaks to the quality of what we’re doing here.”
Visit https://go.ufl.edu/r224sia for more information about UF’s online master’s degree in medical anatomy and physiology.
