WWAMI is Idaho’s Medical School!
The University of Idaho participates in the WWAMI Medical Education Program, which is affiliated with the University of Washington School of Medicine (UWSOM) in Seattle, Washington. WWAMI represents a partnership with the University of Washington School of Medicine to provide medical education to students from the states of Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho. Idaho, along with Alaska, Montana, and Wyoming have no medical schools, so the partnership is critical to helping Idaho educate its future physicians.
The Idaho WWAMI program currently includes seats for 35 Idaho medical students per year and a request has been submitted to the Idaho state legislature to increase the student complement to 40 students per year. Idaho WWAMI also has 31 required clerkships in 11 communities around the state and more than 90 students completed required and elective clerkship rotations during the 2014-2015 academic year. Idaho students are able to complete the majority of all four years of medical school within the state of Idaho.
Focusing on the rural and underserved physician workforce needs in the state, Idaho WWAMI started the TRUST (Targeted Rural Underserved Track) program in 2013. TRUST admits students with a specific interest in rural and underserved care, matching the student to a continuity community where the student participates in specified curricular activities across all four years of medical school. Idaho has 6 TRUST Scholars yearly who are matched in the following communities: Hailey, Jerome, McCall, Nampa, Orofino and Sandpoint.
Idaho WWAMI has graduated 578 students with 51% returning to practice in Idaho. Additional WWAMI graduates have come to Idaho to practice bringing the return on investment for the state to 75%.
Click here for more information about Idaho’s WWAMI Medical Education Program.
WWAMI Messenger: News from Idaho WWAMI Program