UW Selects Students for WWAMI Medical Education Program

The University of Wyoming welcomed 20 new students into its WWAMI medical education program this fall.

Led by the University of Washington School of Medicine, WWAMI is a unique medical education program that trains physicians, many of whom practice in Wyoming and other northwestern states. WWAMI stands for the participating states -- Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho.

The Wyoming medical students spend their first year taking classes at UW, spend their second year in classes at the University of Washington in Seattle, and then spend their third and fourth years in clinical rotations throughout the five-state region.

“Once they earn their M.D. degrees, the students still must complete their residency requirements and, if all goes according to plan, they will then return to their home state to practice medicine,” says Timothy Robinson, who directs the WWAMI program at UW.

He says Wyoming’s WWAMI students must return to the state to practice medicine for three years after completing residency, or they must repay the state the amount of money expended on their behalf. Wyoming’s rate of 64 of 95 graduates returning to the state to practice -- 67 percent -- is the highest in the WWAMI region.

As of this spring, 243 Wyoming students have started medical school through WWAMI; 158 have graduated from the University of Washington with medical degrees; 95 have completed residency training and are eligible to practice medicine; and 64 have returned to Wyoming to practice, most in primary care.

Students accepted into the UW WWAMI program this fall -- listed by hometown, academic major and school attended as an undergraduate -- are:

Auburn -- Aislinn Lewis, physiology, UW.

Casper -- Brandon Douglass, physiology, UW; Morgan Johnson, kinesiology, physiology, UW.

Cheyenne -- Danielle Borin, neuroscience, Brandeis University; Allison Dawson, physiology and biology, UW; Sarah Koch, physiology, UW; Justin Romano, physiology, UW.

Cody -- Brittany Myers, biology, Rocky Mountain College.

Douglas -- Tricia Jensen, molecular biology and physiology, UW.

Gillette -- Levi Hamilton, chemistry with a physiology minor, UW; Casey Slattery, biology with a chemistry minor, University of Denver.

Glendo -- Rage Geringer, physiology with a chemistry minor, UW.

Jackson -- Bryan Feinstein, biochemistry and molecular biology, Dartmouth; Katelyn Miller, social work with gerontology minor, University of Montana.

Lander -- Lydia Clark, biology, Reed College.

Newcastle -- Lauren Millett, microbiology, bacteriology and molecular biology with a history minor, UW.

Otto -- Coulter Neves, exercise science, Brigham Young University.

Powell -- Galen Mills, biology with a chemistry minor, Carroll College.

Rock Springs -- Andrea Habel, microbiology, bacteriology and molecular biology, UW.

Worland -- Jason Reynolds, microbiology and bacteriology, Idaho State University; M.S. medical science, University of Southern Florida.