Big changes in the works for WWAMI

WWAMI leaders spoke at the Idaho State Board of Education meeting Thursday and discussed changes coming to the program, including new curriculum schedules and the loss of a partner, Washington State University.

With the Washington state Legislature approving WSU's request to create its own medical school in Spokane, the university will no longer be a part of the WWAMI program, a collaborative medical school between the University of Washington School of Medicine and universities in Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho.

Suzanne Allen, vice dean for

academic, rural and regional affairs at the UW School of Medicine, said WSU still needs to find funding for its program, apply for accreditation and arrange for clinical rotation opportunities for its students.

Currently, hospitals and clinics through the five WWAMI states are working with students to offer positions for their clinical rotation requirements. Allen said WSU has been asking for clinics to work with its medical school, but with a larger amount of students in both programs there won't be enough clinical positions in eastern Washington, she said. Allen also said UW hopes to expand its class size, and WWAMI is looking at also partnering with Gonzaga. That partnership likely won't start until the 2016-17 school year, she said.

More changes will be coming to students participating in WWAMI with a complete overhaul of the curriculum schedule, she said. It will remain a four-year program, but will be broken down into the three phases, rather than by years.

The first phase will be an 18-month program over a period of three academic semesters in a system-based instructional format, such as the respiratory system or cardiovascular system. Students will then enter into clinical rotations six months earlier and end in a final phase focused on career exploration and focus areas.

Previously, each student was required to spend his or her second year at the UW Seattle campus, but now that time requirement in Seattle will be limited to two clinical rotations that can range in length. Allen said students will be able to do as many as they want in Seattle or can go back to their own regions to complete clinicals if they wish.

Samantha Malott can be reached at (208) 883-4639, or by email to smalott@dnews.com.