WWAMI ::$0, Th 40Anniversary
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WWAMI ::$0, th 40Anniversary WWAMI: 1950 CELEBRATING 40 YEARS OF PARTNERSHIP First class of 50 students graduates from the University of Washington School of Medicine. 2011 marks the 40th anniversary of the WWAMI regional medical education program. The acronym WWAMI stands for the participating states: Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho. Throughout WWAMI’s history, thousands 1965-72 of participants—including physicians, universities, medical societies, hospitals and UW class grows from 81 to 106 legislators—have partnered to advance regional excellence in medical education students, with 4 to 8 women in each class. and to meet physician workforce needs in the Northwest. The University of Washington started WAMI in 1971 (Wyoming joined in 1996) to help Northwest states that were struggling with insufficient healthcare resources and physician 1970 training opportunities. Commonwealth Fund of New York City grants nearly $1 million for proposal, “Regionalization of Medical Education in the Pacific Northwest,” that secures the start The program was founded with five goals for the region: of the WAMI program. WAMI becomes a national model for decentralized medical • Provide publically supported medical education education and cooperation among states to conserve scarce resources. • Increase the number of primary-care physicians and address maldistribution of physicians • Provide community-based medical education UW SOM joins with Alaska to contribute to federally legislated “regional medical • Expand graduate medical education and continuing medical education programs to bring scientific advances in medicine through continuing education of physicians • Provide all of these in a cost-effective, high-quality manner and other health professionals.” In 2011, WWAMI is recognized nationally as a model program for training Robert Van Citters named Dean of the UW SOM. physicians and other health professionals for rural areas. First-year students at WWAMI sites rave about the outstanding classroom teaching they receive at their home state university, with small student-to-teacher ratios. 1971 John N. (Jack) Lein, head of UW SOM postgraduate education travels across WAMI WWAMI clinical training for third- and fourth-year medical students has grown to lobby nearly every state legislator in the four-state area. UW SOM partners with four tremendously—there are more than 165 teaching sites across the region. UW Northwest states to admit students who will complete their first year of medical school residency training programs have WWAMI regional sites and rotations in internal in their state of origin: University of Alaska, Fairbanks; Washington State University, medicine, pediatrics, psychiatry, obstetrics & gynecology, and anesthesiology. Pullman; University of Idaho, Moscow; and Montana State University, Bozeman. The UW Family Medicine Residency Network has 18 programs across the five- state region. The result is dramatic. More than 50 percent of WWAMI graduates become primary-care physicians—higher than the national average—and many University of Alaska-Fairbanks welcomes its first WAMI choose to practice in rural areas. students: 9 students for a single semester. Alaska is first home- state university site for WAMI Program. WWAMI’s future is very bright. WWAMI is deeply committed to the success of our five-state medical school. Thank you for your part in making WWAMI a success. WAMI endorsed by UW SOM medical school faculty. Roy Schwarz is named first director and organizer of WAMI. 1972 WAMI then... Family Medicine Residency Network established by the UW Department of Family Medicine. By 2011 there are 18 Family Medicine Residency Programs across WWAMI. Family Medicine Programs established in Washington as follows: 1969 - Group Health Cooperative Family Medicine Residency Program; 1970 - Swedish Family Medicine - First Hill Residency Program; 1972 - University of Washington Family Medicine Residency Program; 1974 - Swedish Family Medicine - Cherry Hill Residency Program, all in Seattle, WA. 1972 - Spokane Family Medicine Residency Program; 1973 - Madigan Family Medicine Residency Program on the Fort Lewis Military Reservation south of Tacoma, WA; 1978 - Tacoma Family Medicine Residency Program; 1986 - Valley Family Medicine Residency Program in Renton, WA; 1989 - Puget Sound Family Medicine Residency Program at the Naval Hospital in Bremerton, WA; 1991 - Providence St. Peter Hospital Family Medicine Residency Program in Olympia, WA; 1993 - Central Washington Family Medicine Residency Program in Yakima, WA; 1995 - Family Medicine of Southwest Washington Residency Program in Vancouver, WA. Family Medical Center in Omak, Washington, and Yakima Valley Clinic in Grandview, Washington, officially become the first community clinical training sites in the WAMI Program. By 1974 Anacortes and Whidbey Island sites are added. 1970: 1991: •A $1 million grant from Commonwealth Fund of New York City secures WAMI program pilot •Spokane Advanced Clinician Track of the UW Psychiatry Residency Program is established 1971: •University of Alaska-Fairbanks joins WAMI 1993: •Surgery residency rotation established at the Wenatchee Valley Clinic/Central Washington Hospital •A first: UW medical school grads matching into primary-care residencies exceeds 50 percent 1972: •Montana State University joins WAMI 1994: •University of Idaho joins WAMI •New program ‘Student Providers Aspiring to Rural and Underserved •Washington State University-Pullman joins WAMI Experiences’ (SPARX) initiated and provides interdisciplinary experiences 1969: •Family Medicine Residency Network established to encourage practice in rural or urban underserved communities •MEDEX Northwest physician assistant 1975: : training program •MEDCON, a toll-free communications network, starts; community physicians can consult faculty at the 1996 •Montana Family Practice Residency established in Billings, MT established UW School of Medicine via phone • Wyoming becomes fifth state to join WWAMI •Family Medicine Residency of Idaho established in Boise, ID. Rural training track starts later in Caldwell, ID in 1995 and in Twin Falls/Jerome, ID in 2009 •University of Wyoming Family Medicine Residency Program established in Casper, WY 1997: •WWAMI Rural Telemedicine Network is funded by the federal Office of Rural Health 1977: Policy to explore the use of telemedicine consultations for rural communities •Internal Medicine Primary Care Track established in Boise, ID by the UW Department of Medicine 1998: 1978: •First class participates in WWAMI Rural Integrated Training Experience (WRITE) program •WAMI is self-sustaining; each participating state provides support •Alaska Family Practice Residency established in Anchorage AK 1970 1990 “Even from day one, there’s quite an emphasis placed on primary care. I think it’s because of the WWAMI program and the fact that they’re encouraging those 1980 students to practice primary care in their home states. It really serves those states.” 1980: •University of Wyoming Family Medicine Residency Program established in Cheyenne, WY 1985: “Today was amazing. I was •WAMI Area Health Education Centers (AHECs) funded to train, recruit and retain health personnel for medically underserved areas. •WAMI Center for Health Workforce Studies funded by Bureau of Health Professions to conduct policy-relevant humbled and privileged to health research and provide guidance to policymakers on health workforce issues witness a new diagnosis of 1986: cancer. I performed my first •Graduate medical education (GME) training grows in WAMI region to include 9 combined student-resident family medicine teaching units supporting the training of 149 residents. Internal Medicine offers a primary-care track in Boise, ID and rotations in Montana and full history and physical on a Washington. Pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, and psychiatry add community-based residency rotations hospital patient. I witnessed 1989: the kind of hard-pressed rural •Minority Medical Education Program starts: guidance for underrepresented minority college students interested in careers in medicine hospital patient care dilemmas •Rural/Underserved Opportunities Program (R/UOP) launched that initially brought me here.” 2000: •UW residents have completed 2,766 clinical rotations at WWAMI sites since 1970 2002: •WWAMI program receives Outstanding Community Service Award from AAMC 2005: •Institute for Simulation and Interprofessional Studies (ISIS) is initiated to enhance procedural skills training, medical teamwork and patient safety 2006: •Idaho Track of the UW Psychiatry Residency Program is established in Boise, ID.established in Pocatello, ID 2008: •Washington State University-Spokane joins WWAMI •Targeted Rural Underserved Track (TRUST) starts in Montana. The program expands to eastern Washington in 2009 and into western Washington in 2010 “There’s a definite camaraderie and collegial feeling among physicians and students. Among the faculty that I’ve 2000 run into in Seattle and at regional sites, they treat you as one of their own.” “We took a little four-seater prop plane to a remote part of the island – this really isolated little town, with about 150 people – and saw patients there for a couple 2010 of days. It just blew my mind.” 2010: • First WWAMI Graduate Medical Education Summit held in Spokane • UW SOM clerkship sites grow to 165 2011: •Boise Internal Medicine Residency established. The three-year training program is sponsored by the Department of Medicine •Wyoming adds 4 medical school seats