The University of Wyoming is looking to find more space for the WWAMI medical program. The program is run by the University of Washington and trains students from Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho to be doctors.
A new curriculum will require students to complete the first two years of the program in their home state. University of Wyoming WWAMI Director Tim Robinson said the school is exploring options for expansion to accommodate those students. He said that the program is worth it.
“We just recently had a financial impact study done and they found that for every dollar the state of Wyoming invests in the WWAMI program, over eleven dollars returns to the state. So we have 79 graduates of the WWAMI program that are practicing in the state of Wyoming and that’s about a 70 percent return rate.”
Robinson said that return rate is the best in the region. The new curriculum has students take a combination of science classes and more hands-on courses.
“Instead taking all of your science in one lump of two years, your science is more integrated with the practice of medicine. So instead of just discipline specific courses, like biochemistry, anatomy, microbiology, like they did before. What they have is more integrated classes, so that when you are learning about a science concept it’s then attached to its relevance in medicine.”
Robinson said it will make their medical education more practical.
