Since 1971, the WWAMI (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho) program at the University of Washington school of medicine has been working to bolster the rural physician workforce, both by recruiting medical students from these communities and providing them financial support to return to their communities as family physicians. The program also provides specialized education that prepares graduates to practice medicine in non-metropolitan areas of the northwestern U.S.

A recent donation to the UW School of Medicine will help to bolster this program, and fund students who want to practice family medicine in rural and indigenous communities.

Dr. Tim Dellit is the CEO of UW medicine, and Jenya Morales, a second year medical student who is currently taking part in the WWAMI program at the UW school of medicine. We’ll hear from them about this education model, the shortage of primary care physicians in rural areas, and about what this funding could mean for students who aspire to pursue family care in these areas.

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News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/06/30/think-out-loud-uw-wwami-school-medicine/