Members of the new WWAMI Medical Education Program class at UW are, from left: front
row, Samantha Britz, Bethany Shotts, Bailey Theis, Audrey Mossman and Tristan Bohlman;
second row, Brandon Izatt, Sara Martinez-Garcia, Matthew Rorke and Hanna Ahuja; third
row, Jessica Garcia, Laura Stamp, Tazle Markovich and Brandon Young; fourth row, Kurt
Leseberg, Colin O’Neill, Saul Alvarado and Seth Eckhardt; fifth row, Carson Walker
and Christopher Henry. (UW Photo)
The WWAMI Medical Education Program on the University of Wyoming campus has welcomed
20 new future physicians, marking its 24th class of medical students.
A stethoscope ceremony Aug. 20 at Ivinson Memorial Hospital (IMH) also was the first
official WWAMI event under new Program Director Dr. Brant Schumaker.
WWAMI is a five-state consortium (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho),
with each state providing students clinical experiences leading up to graduation through
the University of Washington School of Medicine.
The ceremony followed a one-week period of orientation/immersion, allowing students
to meet faculty members and familiarize themselves with the Wyoming medical school’s
facilities. It also was a period of introduction to the foundations of clinical medicine.
Schumaker thanks community health care providers, as well as members of IMH staff,
for their support of the WWAMI students, especially in providing clinical space for
medical students to practice their skills.
“If we have learned anything during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is the importance of
collaboration among all segments of the health care community,” Schumaker says. “I
can’t stress enough how important the relationship is between our medical school curriculum
and the physician and hospital partners who help facilitate and foster our students’
early clinical education.”
Four faculty mentors within the WWAMI program each will work with five students, assisting
with instructional needs as well as helping with personal challenges related to medical
school. These mentors are Drs. Yvette and John Haeberle, clinical curriculum director
and family medicine physician with Family Physicians of Laramie, respectively; Dr.
Julie Carlson, assistant clinical curriculum director; and Dr. Tim Govaerts, a consultant
for IMH who practices nephrology within a clinic he owns at UW’s Mountain View Medical
Park.
Carlson says the ceremony of new medical students receiving their stethoscopes along
with clinical white coats is a fairly new tradition in medicine. The short coat they
received in the recent ceremony is a symbol of authority and professionalism, representing
the caring and trust they must earn from their patients. The white coat welcomes the
students to the community of physicians by giving them “a powerful symbol of compassion
and honor.” The long coat they will later receive is a symbol of being an equal clinician
to others who have earned their long coats, to “carry on the noble practice and tradition
of medicine,” she says.
At the conclusion of the ceremony, each student received his or her white coat and
stethoscope. Then, along with friends and family members, they were treated to a barbecue
dinner outdoors at Washington Park in Laramie.
Scott Killian was unable to attend the ceremony in person. (Brian Harrington Photo)
Listed by hometown, members of the new class of medical students are:
Afton -- Carson Walker.
Buffalo -- Scott Killian.
Casper -- Tazle Markovich, Sara Martinez-Garcia, Audrey Mossman, Colin O’Neill and
Laura Stamp.
Cheyenne -- Saul Alvarado.
Cody -- Bethany Shotts.
Dubois -- Kurt Leseberg.
Gillette -- Brandon Izatt and Bailey Theis.
Jackson -- Matthew Rorke.
Laramie -- Seth Eckhardt and Christopher Henry.
McKinnon -- Brandon Young.
Powell -- Tristan Bohlman.
Rock Springs -- Hanna Ahuja and Jessica Garcia.
Wheatland -- Samantha Britz.
