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 46 years ago in 1971, the four states that partner with Washington are Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho, hence the acronym "WWAMI."

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.

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, as the amount of time students spend in a given state is thought to increase their likelihood of practicing there after graduation. The program is largely considered a success, and serves as a model for comprehensive regional medical education.

Prior to the addition of Wyoming 21 years ago in 1996, the program was known as "WAMI." That state's previous arrangement was with the private Creighton University School of Medicine in Omaha, Nebraska.

The program has five stated goals:

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.

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