In Memory of Dr. Daniel Van Durme

Dear Faculty, Staff, Residents, Students and Alumni,

It is with great sadness that I share the news that Dr. Daniel Van Durme, a graduate and former faculty leader of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, passed away last week as a result of injuries suffered in an April traffic accident in Tallahassee, where he was the chief medical officer at the Florida State University College of Medicine. He was 61.

Dr. Van Durme earned his undergraduate degree from USF and then his medical degree from the College of Medicine in 1986. He joined the USF faculty in 1989 and was an associate professor and vice chairman of the Department of Family Medicine from 1996 to 2004. While at USF Health, he served as the head medical team physician for the USF Athletics program. He also worked as the team physician for the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Tampa Bay Mutiny soccer team, and the Tampa Bay Storm arena football team.

During his tenure at USF, Dr. Van Durme received multiple teaching and faculty awards, including the USF President’s Award for Faculty Excellence. He won the Outstanding Faculty Award from the Family Practice Student Organization so many times that the award was renamed after him.

Dr. Van Durme was recruited to the fledgling FSU College of Medicine in 2004 as the chair of their Department of Family Medicine and Rural Health and performed several roles there before becoming the chief medical officer and senior associate dean for Clinical and Community Affairs in 2018.

The FSU College of Medicine joins us in mourning his loss. My colleague, Dr. Alma Littles, interim dean of the college, described him in a statement to the Tallahassee Democrat:

“He was a great person, wonderful human being and doctor,” Dr. Littles said. “He and I have been friends and colleagues for almost 40 years, since we were residents. Our children grew up in the FAFP [Florida Academy of Family Physicians] together. I helped recruit him to FSU. He will be missed in so many ways and so many places and by so many people.”

Dr. Van Durme was a past president of the Florida Academy of Family Physicians and served on the board of directors of the American Academy of Family Physicians.

Dr. Van Durme is survived by his wife, Patricia, his children Felicia, Stephanie (Shawn), and Luke, and his grandchildren Bella and Killian. More obituary information is available here.

We have established a new fund, the      Daniel Van Durme M.D. Memorial Scholarship, in his honor. The giving link is available below.                                

I would like to extend my sympathy and prayers to Dr. Van Durme’s family as well as to all those in our community who cared about him. He was respected and loved by many on our campus and will be deeply missed.

Sincerely,

Charly

Charles J.  Lockwood, MD, MHCMJ

Executive Vice President, USF Health  

Dean, USF Health Morsani College of Medicine