Medical Education (WWAMI Program)

Contact Information

Dr. Rayme Geidl, M.D., Interim Regional Dean, Idaho WWAMI Medical Education - WWAMI (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, Idaho) (D.A. Huckabay M.D. Med Ed Building, Office 145; phone: 208-885-0115; email: rgeidl@uidaho.edu). 

Overview

WWAMI is a cooperative medical education program between the University of Washington School of Medicine (UWSOM) and the five-state WWAMI region (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, Idaho). WWAMI has the mission and goal of increasing the training and education of medical students in their home states or neighboring northwest states, with the intent of exposing them to the unique needs and opportunities for medical careers in the region. Students complete their foundations phase of medical training in Moscow, Idaho and their clerkships in Idaho and at University of Washington’s Seattle campus and partner health care facilities.

With small class sizes and individual clinical placements, Idaho WWAMI students have the opportunity to interact closely with the faculty and physicians. The WWAMI program allows access to medical education for Idaho residents by contract between Idaho and the UWSOM. Currently, 40 first-year students are admitted annually with a total class size of 160 for the four years of medical studies. The WWAMI program was developed in Idaho to train Idaho residents in medical studies, address the need for more primary care physicians practicing in rural areas, extend the resources and facilities of an excellent medical school into Idaho, improve the quality of patient care, and minimize the cost of medical education by the use of existing facilities.

Eligibility for consideration as a WWAMI medical student requires certification as an Idaho resident. U of I's Undergraduate Admissions Office is responsible for residency certification.

Students interested in WWAMI apply directly to UWSOM. Idaho residents take their foundations phase years of medical studies at U of I. All participating WWAMI faculty at U of I hold affiliate faculty appointments at the University of Washington and in many cases develop and lead the curriculum for all five states.

Many of the physicians in the Moscow-Pullman-Lewiston area are involved in the preceptorship program in which the students work a half a day each week with local physicians and observe/participate in their practice, either in the office or at the hospital.

Participants in the WWAMI program are matriculated students of the University of Washington Medical School. Upon completion of their studies, they receive the M.D. degree. Following graduation, a postgraduate (internship/residency) training period of three to five years is required for medical practice. Medical students may also be approved for graduate studies at the University of Idaho or UWSOM leading to the M.S. or Ph.D. degree. The UWSOM M.D.-Ph.D. program usually requires a minimum of six years of study.

Medical Education Undergraduate and Graduate Course Work

A limited number of undergraduate and graduate course opportunities are available through the MEDS program. These courses are currently arranged with individual faculty.