Florida International University is four decades old, but it began a new era on Monday.

The school's multimillion-dollar Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine -- South Florida's only public medical school -- opened to an inaugural class of 43 students.

It's a stellar moment for a university of modest beginnings, built on the grounds of an abandoned airport off Tamiami Trail in 1972 -- ``a little engine that could school'' that has often lived in the shadows of the private University of Miami.

``There is no doubt that this is a signature moment in the history of FIU,'' said President Modesto ``Mitch'' Maidique, the man who brought the new college to fruition -- and picked its opening day to close out his own 23-year run as head of the university.

``I could have left weeks ago, but I wanted to be here on this day,'' said Maidique as he looked around at the inaugural class.

At orientation, the new class -- 27 men and 16 women -- from as far away as India and Argentina and as close as Miami and Fort Lauderdale nervously stood up and gave brief bios.

And a common thread that drew them to FIU emerged: They identified with the school's pitch of a new kind of medical-school education, tailor made for a post-recession generation, offering a medical career focused on prevention and serving the less fortunate.

``I feel the curriculum here has a shot at revolutionizing the way medicine is taught around the word -- that's why I'm here,'' Kaiming Wu, 22, a native of China who lives in Missouri, told the group.

Sandra Novoa, 22, a ``local girl,'' stood up and told fellow classmates that FIU's medical school fit her personal goal. ``I want to become a physician so I can help my community and I think FIU is the place where I can accomplish that,'' said the daughter of Cuban parents and a recent graduate from UM with a degree in biology.

For Florida residents like Novoa, tuition at the new medical school is $25,000 a year and $50,500 for others. The school said 3,332 people with degrees from schools like Notre Dame, Stanford and Vanderbilt applied to get one of the initial spots.

Among those who made the cut was Trine Engebretsen, 28, of Hollywood, who as a little girl became Florida's first liver-transplant patient. And Patricio Lau, 23, the son of a single mom who arrived here from Nicaragua in 2001. He credits a school counselor at Miami Palmetto High with setting him on this path.

``I never thought I could come this far. But here I am, ready to be a doctor,'' said Lau, who was accepted to nine other medical schools.

THE MISSION

A unique component of the FIU curriculum that attracted Engebretsen and Lau is called NeighborhoodHELP. In the first year, it pairs med students with a local low-income family whose health the students will monitor. They will identify medical problems, accompany them on doctor visits and see how they pay for healthcare.

``This is total immersion in real families with real problems,'' said Dr. Pedro ``Joe'' Greer, an assistant dean with the school and director of the program. Last week, Greer won a presidential Medal of Freedom for his work in bringing healthcare to downtown Miami's homeless.

``We want our students to see the relationship between health, culture and economics from Day One,'' Greer said.

UM's work with the underprivileged through Jackson Memorial Hospital is well-known, but FIU says its approach will be different.

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