January 5, 1999
Libby, Mont.; Sandpoint, Idaho; and Thermopolis, Wyo., each welcome a UW medical student for six months training in rural practice
Three University of Washington (UW) third-year medical students have started their six-month WWAMI Rural Integrated Training Experience (WRITE) in rural towns. The students, preceptors and towns are:
–Maile Anslinger, from Ketchikan, Alaska, who is supervised by Dr. Howard Willson, a family physician in Thermopolis, Wyo.
–Jana Peters of Lake Stevens, Wash., whose training is directed by family physician Dr. Greg Rice at the Libby Clinic in Libby, Mont.
–Seattlelite Jennifer Porter is working with preceptor Dr. Hugh Leedy and others at the Family Health Center in Sandpoint, Idaho.
While learning primary care, the WRITE participants will be exposed to the diversity of rural practice, which can include internal medicine, family medicine, pediatrics, surgery, psychiatry, obstetrics/gynecology and other specialty care. Several local health-care professionals will help teach the medical students. UW medical faculty will visit to assist the preceptors and to offer continuing education for health professionals in the communities.
Medical students usually spend only four to six weeks in each of their training rotations. In contrast, WRITE gives a medical student more time to become acquainted with a town and its people. It also gives these future doctors the chance to get to know their patients and to see the progress of their medical care. For example, a medical student may not only help deliver a baby, but also do the baby’s checkups over several months.
A few other towns in Washington state and Idaho have participated in WRITE in the past or are designated as future locations. A search is under way for an Alaska WRITE site. Students are matched to a town based on their personal goals and interests, such as a desire to train in a particular state or with a certain patient population.
The program is now in its third year. Including this year’s group, nine medical students have participated in WRITE.
Administrative oversight for WRITE is provided by Dr. James Blackman, clinical medical education coordinator–Boise; Dr. Philip Cleveland, clinical medical education coordinator–Spokane; Dr. Tom Nighswander, clinical medical education coordinator–Anchorage; Dr. Susan Marshall, assistant dean for curriculum; and Dr. D. Daniel Hunt, associate dean for academic affairs. UW medical faculty members from several disciplines help set WRITE teaching goals.
