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About the UW School of Medicine’s WWAMI Program

The WWAMI Medical Education Program is a partnership between the UW School of Medicine and the states of Washington (Seattle and Spokane), Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho. Started in 1971, WWAMI is currently in its 45th year of successfully educating physicians across the five-state region.

Presently, the WWAMI program in Spokane hosts 60 first-year medical students and 40 second-year students conducting their medical training in Spokane on the GU campus; third- and fourth-year students do clinical training at sites across the WWAMI region.

Students who enter the program are dual enrolled at the University of Washington School of Medicine and Gonzaga University. The first 18 months is the Foundations Phase of medical school. It integrates basic science and clinical education, as well as rural training early in the standardized curriculum and is taught by Clinical Skills Instructors and Foundations Guides, both on campus and in the community.

The WWAMI Medical Education Program has five primary goals:
  • Provide publicly supported medical education
  • Increase the number of primary care physicians; especially in rural underserved communities
  • Provide community-based medical education
  • Expand graduate medical education (residency training) and continuing medical education
  • Provide all of this in a cost-effective manner
The WWAMI program in Spokane has an excellent rate of return with many of its graduates returning to eastern Washington and choosing careers in primary care medicine.

Frequently Asked Questions

The following are some frequently asked questions about the UW School of Medicine WWAMI program at Gonzaga in Spokane:

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