More than 1,200 aspiring doctors have applied so far for the 40 spots in Florida International University's fall 2009 inaugural medical school class. The applicant count at the University of Central Florida, where the inaugural med school class will get a free ride worth $160,000, is now more than 1,600.

“The flood of applications we have received indicates this community needs this medical school,” said FIU president Mitch Maidique, who fought for years to get state approval for the new school - slated to open the same time as a new med school at UCF in Orlando.

The FIU College of Medicine began receiving applications in late June and will take them through Dec. 15. FIU officials say about half of the applicants are from Florida, including a quarter from South Florida. The others come from 44 states, and from every Ivy League school in the country.

“I am delighted with the number of applications we have received and the quality of the students who are applying,” said Dr. John Rock, founding dean of the FIU med school. “This bodes well for the caliber of our inaugural class and the first-rate doctors who will graduate from our College of Medicine.”