Idaho House Bill 176 seeks to cut Idaho’s ties with WWAMI, a multi-state medical education partnership including Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho. Passed by a 9-5 vote in the committee, it now awaits a vote from the full House.
Dr. Bryn Parker, a local practicing family medicine and obstetrician physician, trained through the WWAMI program. She grew up in the small town of Elk City and, through Idaho’s WWAMI partnership, was able to “get into one of the most exceptional medical schools in the country,” said Parker.
Not only is Parker a WWAMI alumn, but she is also now a WWAMI faculty member. She has been teaching medicine in her clinic to WWAMI students since 2015.
“It would be shortsighted to end the WWAMI partnership,” Parker said. “This is a program that has been in place for over 50 years. It has proven exceptional education for Idaho students, including myself, and returns Idaho physicians to the state at an incredibly high rate.”
“It is unrealistic and frankly probably cost prohibitive to make any new [medical] program function at all, let alone one as good as WWAMI,” said Parker. “A far better option to increase medical training and physician return in Idaho would be to expand other training options theoretically proposed in HB 176 while still offering the excellent, strong WWAMI partnership.”
“If the WWAMI partnership is dissolved right now, I think Idaho will immediately suffer from fewer home-grown Idaho medical students staying local for training and there will be a decreased number of Idaho physicians returning to practice in Idaho,” Parker said. “WWAMI is working for us.”
Liz Woodruff, Executive Director of the Idaho Academy of Family Physicians, said, “Ending WWAMI and trying to transplant it to a different location will disrupt medical education and reduce access to healthcare in Idaho, especially in rural areas.”
“The WWAMI program is deeply embedded with clerkships for medical students, and it takes a long time to establish those relationships so that medical students can learn from positions that are already in the state,” Woodruff said. “Any other program would have to start from scratch to establish those relationships, and that’s part of where the disruption would come from.”
“The other thing to note is that the way WWAMI is designed is with a five-state region,” said Woodruff. “Idaho WWAMI students get to practice throughout the Northwest region in different communities, which is a great experience. But it also means that people from different parts of the region get to come to Idaho, and it’s a huge opportunity for us to recruit physicians into the state, and that will not be available in another program.”
Established in 1972, Idaho WWAMI is a partnership between the University of Idaho and the University of Washington School of Medicine. The program provides “immersive medical education programs and training opportunities to Idaho’s future physicians,” according to their website.
This bill is sponsored by Representative Dustin Manwaring, House Speaker Mike Moyle and Senator Dave Lent. They proposed that the bill would be a way to “increase medical school capacity amid a doctor shortage and improve Idaho’s return on investment in medical education,” according to the Idaho Statesman.
Once cutting ties with WWAMI, HB 176 would require two new partnerships with medical schools in Idaho or the Mountain Time Zone. Several schools in Utah were suggested by Manwaring, including the University of Utah and a medical branch of Brigham Young University which has yet to be established.
According to Moscow-Pullman Daily News, UI staff have said that the university has already pursued a formal agreement with U of U to look into this future partnership.
Manwaring explained that Idaho has had recent issues with UW. Idaho passed a resolution in 2022 that requested 10 additional WWAMI seats within the next two years that have yet to come about, and UW has not agreed to Idaho’s request to restrict spending on abortion care.
“If they want to be a good partner… show us that you’ll respect Idaho values,” Manwaring said.
However, Suzanna Allen, Vice Dean for Academic, Rural and Regional Affairs for UW’s medical school, told the Idaho Statesman that UW does not use Idaho’s money to fund any abortion care.
Manwaring did not respond to The Argonaut for comment.
UI students admitted into WWAMI begin their healthcare education journey at UI, starting with an 18-month intensive curriculum that covers essential classes and foundations. Once this curriculum is complete, students transfer to the “Clinical Phase,” which includes hands-on opportunities. WWAMI allows for clinical rotations in both urban and rural settings.
Many additional physicians and medical students are also voicing their disagreements with the potential severance. A large group of people wearing white coats and scrubs rallied in the Boise Capitol on Friday, Feb. 21, for a press conference protesting the bill.
The group, who filled half of the fourth-floor rotunda of the Capitol, according to Moscow-Pullman Daily News, could be heard throughout the building, chanting, “Save WWAMI.”
Rebekah Brown can be reached at arg-news@uidaho.edu.