Officials at the University of Washington (UW) and Washington State University (WSU) have signed a memorandum of understanding to dissolve their WWAMI partnership and to pursue separate solutions to address the state’s medical education needs and physician shortage.
WAMMI is a University of Washington School of Medicine-led remote-site medical education program for Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho (WWAMI). WSU has been a partner in the program for more than 40 years.
The agreement comes less than a month after WSU announced plans to pursue an independently accredited medical school at WSU Spokane.
“Now is the time to address the physician shortage confronting a great many Washington state communities,” said WSU President Elson S. Floyd. “We also have a unique opportunity to further grow our state’s healthcare economy by fully utilizing the exceptional medical talent we have and by building on the tremendous investment made by the state and community in our research campus, WSU Health Sciences at Spokane.
“This memorandum of understanding provides a clear path forward for each of our universities and allows us to refocus our efforts on how best to serve the people of our state,” he added.
The universities have agreed to work together on a subsequent agreement to fully transition the WWAMI program in Spokane to the University of Washington. Assuming completion of that agreement, both institutions agree not to oppose each other’s legislative initiatives to expand medical
