Idaho’s WWAMI is a partnership between the University of Washington School of Medicine and the states of Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho. Since 1972, the University of Idaho has partnered with the UW School of Medicine to help educate Idaho’s future physicians.

Each year, a cohort of 40 medical students that are residents of the Gem State complete their first and second year of medical training at U of I. Students are dual-enrolled at the University of Idaho and the UW School of Medicine while completing their Foundations Phase (18 months). The Clinical Phase can be completed in Idaho, Seattle or across the 5-state WWAMI region.

The curriculum taught at each WWAMI site, including the Seattle site, is a joint product of the UW School of Medicine. While each site has its own unique instructors and may have specific offerings, such as the wilderness medicine elective offered to Idaho and Seattle students, all WWAMI students learn the same core curriculum at the same time.

Idaho WWAMI has five primary goals for the State of Idaho:

• Provide publicly supported medical education
• Increase the number of primary care physicians 
• Provide community-based medical education
• Expand graduate medical education (residency training) and continuing medical education
• Provide all of this in a cost-effective manner

Idaho WWAMI has an excellent rate of return: 51 percent of our graduates choose to practice in Idaho - well above the national average of 39 percent.