WWAMI Regional Medical Education Program

The WWAMI Regional Medical Education Program (often merely referred to as "WWAMI", pronounced "whammy") is a partnership in the western United States between four states that lack medical schools, and the state of Washington, along with the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle. Created 45 years ago in 1971,[1] the four states that partner with Washington are Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho, hence the acronym "WWAMI."

Background

In 1970, prompted by the shortage of primary care physicians that have historically affected rural areas, the UW School of Medicine created a four-state (later five-state, with the inclusion of Wyoming in 1996) community-based program with the goal of increasing the number of general physicians throughout the northwest United States.[1]

WWAMI was created as a regional medical education program for neighboring states that lacked their own medical schools, while also encouraging physicians-in-training to eventually stay and practice in the region,[2] as the amount of time students spend in a given state is thought to increase their likelihood of practicing there after graduation.[3] The program is largely considered a success, and serves as a model for comprehensive regional medical education.[2]

Prior to the addition of Wyoming 20 years ago in 1996, the program was known as "WAMI."[4] That state's previous arrangement was with the private Creighton University School of Medicine in Omaha, Nebraska.[5]

Program

The program has five stated goals:[6]

  1. Provide publicly supported medical education
  2. Increase the number of primary-care physicians and correct the maldistribution of physicians
  3. Provide community-based medical education
  4. Expand graduate medical education and continuing medical education
  5. Provide all of these in a cost-effective manner

The program model uses existing state universities in the five states for the first year of medical education. In the second year, students attend the University of Washington campus in Seattle. For the third and fourth years of clinical education, sites across the five states are used. There are over 3,000 individual physicians affiliated with WWAMI that are available for the required and elective clerkships.[3]

The program provides in-state tuition rates for all parts of the program, dramatically reducing educational costs.[7] Each state subsidizes tuition for their students. With only a limited number of spots available, admission is competitive.[6][8]

Participating Schools

The following schools participate in the WWAMI program:[9]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "WAMI: A new concept in medical education and rural health care". University of Washington. November 1996. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
  2. 1 2 Ramsey, MD, Paul G.; Coombs, John B. MD; Hunt, D. Daniel MD; Marshall, Susan G. MD; Wenrich, Marjorie D. MPH (August 2001). "From Concept to Culture: The WWAMI Program at the University of Washington School of Medicine". Academic Medicine 76 (8): 765–775. doi:10.1097/00001888-200108000-00006. Retrieved 20 January 2013.
  3. 1 2 Norris, Tom E., MD; Coombs, John B., MD; House, Peter, MHA,; Moore, Sylvia, PhD, RD; Wenrich, Marjorie D., MPH; Ramsey, Paul G., MD (October 2006). "Regional Solutions to the Physician Workforce Shortage: The WWAMI Experience" (PDF). Academic Medicine 81 (10): 857–862. doi:10.1097/01.acm.0000238105.96684.2f.
  4. ↑ "Wyoming plans to join WAMI program". Moscow-Pullman Daily News (Idaho-Washington). Associated Press. March 21, 1996. p. 6A.
  5. ↑ "Wyoming legislators leary about joining WAMI medical program". Moscow-Pullman Daily News (Idaho-Washington). Associated Press. July 24, 1995. p. 5A.
  6. 1 2 "WWAMI: Idaho's Medical School". State Impact Idaho. Retrieved 20 January 2013.
  7. ↑ Saunders Ritter, Emilie (2013-01-07). "Gov. Otter Advocates For Expanding Idaho’s Medical Education Opportunities". State Impact. Retrieved 20 January 2013.
  8. ↑ Dennison, Mike (2013-01-02). "Health issues, expansion of Medicaid sure to spark partisan battle". Billings Gazette. Retrieved 2013-01-19.
  9. ↑ Voelker, Rebecca (23 July 2003). "Medical Students Reach Out to Rural Communities in "WWAMI Land"". Academic Innovations 290 (4): 452. doi:10.1001/jama.290.4.452. Retrieved 20 January 2013.
  10. ↑ Malott, Samantha (April 17, 2015). "Big changes in the works for WWAMI". Moscow-Pullman Daily News (Idaho-Washington). Retrieved December 17, 2015.
  11. ↑ Long, Katherine (August 22, 2015). "Early medical-school training will shift to Spokane". Seattle Times. Retrieved December 17, 2015.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, December 17, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.