Central Washington Introduction
Washington is a state of great wonder with its unique natural beauty and amazingly diverse geography. The beauty of this land is seen in the towering mountains, flat windy plains, fields of grain and fruit and always, within a stone’s throw, water. Central Washington towns are famous for their fresh fruit and for their wine making in addition to the fact that they supply a large portion of the world’s wheat supplies. The inhabitants are the ancestors who settled this land and still live with pride, authenticity and integrity. Many of the towns are big on character and solitude and short on people and ego.
Your clerkship rotations in Central Washington will be “up close and personal” as you may be the only student on your rotation and will work one-on-one with the preceptor while treating a wide variety of health issues. You will get to experience rural medicine at its best.
Spokane Introduction
Spokane is the gateway to the Inland Pacific Northwest. It is located 24 miles west of the Idaho state line and 100 miles south of British Columbia, Canada. There are approximately 450,000 people in the greater Spokane area and the medical centers draw from 2 million people in the surrounding areas.
Spokane is home to the largest WiFi Hot Zone in the nation, the commute time is short, there is strong economic growth and the cost of living is affordable. Cultural opportunities include a symphony orchestra, ballet companies, stage productions, libraries, museums and galleries. The downtown core is alive with shopping, dining and the arts.
Spokane has easily accessible recreational opportunities including a large number of major ski areas, mountains, lakes, rivers and streams all within an hour of town. The topography of this area varies from rolling wheat fields to snow-capped mountains, from lush forests to desert areas and from pristine lakes to raging rivers. There are 4 distinct seasons (sometimes all in one day) with temperatures that range from an average of 33F in the winter to 82F in the summer; yearly rain average is 16.5 inches and the snow average is 50 inches.
In Spokane, the major tertiary healthcare center between Seattle and Minneapolis, students have a lower student-to-faculty ratio. This close relationship with faculty and attending physicians allows for a more tailored experience for the student including more opportunity for hands-on experience and greater contact with patients. Spokane has a closely integrated set of sophisticated medical services supported by a consortium of hospitals and community health centers as well as six residency programs and many allied health educational programs leading to a collegial atmosphere. Training in Spokane can show real-life medicine at its best by providing the opportunity to become acquainted with the lifestyle of the practicing physician in the region.
The Spokane clerkship sites and institutions are very welcoming to students. The Spokane medical community provides free food to medical students and residents as well as computer access and free and easily accessible parking. Additionally, housing is close to the major hospitals and clinics and is free for WWAMI students and very affordable for Spokane Track students.
Training in Spokane, the large city with friendly small-town people, will provide you with a rich variety of experiences in state of the art facilities with cutting edge technology and a pool of very talented teachers.
Spokane Office Activities
The Eastern Washington Clinical Coordinator’s Office in Spokane, WA provides a wide variety of services:
- Serves as a liaison between the UWSOM Seattle Campus and the Eastern & Central Washington medical education communities;
- Works to bring students to the medical education programs in Eastern & Central Washington and to maintain and improve the quality of medical education by developing new clerkship and elective opportunities;
- Works to recruit local physicians to teach;
- Works with Central Washington & Spokane Residency Programs by participating in the Spokane Graduate Medical Education Committee and through site visits;
- Works with state representatives, local community leaders, institutions of higher education and medical groups and associations to enhance and encourage growth of collaborative research & medical education endeavors in the Spokane area;
- Works with the Eastern Washington Area Health Education Committee and the Rural/Underserved Opportunities Program to offer local K-12 institutions, underrepresented populations in the area and pre-medicine students from local undergraduate colleges information about the University of Washington School of Medicine;
- Works with the WWAMI 1st Year Program at WSU and the WSU WWAMI Spokane Program to provide a link to the Spokane medical education community and to offer course instruction and mentoring;
- Oversees the Eastern & Central Washington WRITE (WWAMI Rural Integrated Training Experience)Program , the medical school’s undergraduate clinical teaching programs including the Spokane Track and other hospital and community-based 3rd & 4th year required clerkships and electives for UW medical students in Eastern & Central Washington.
Third Year Required Clerkship Sites
Family Medicine
- Omak
- Othello
- Spokane
- Wenatchee
- Yakima
Internal Medicine
Obstetrics and Gynecology
Pediatrics
Psychiatry
Surgery
Fourth Year Required Clerkship Sites
Chronic Care
- Spokane-Rehab
- Spokane-Palliative Care
Neurology
Surgery Selectives
- Ophthalmology
- Orthopaedics - Hand
- Orthopaedics - Pediatric
- Otolaryngology
- Surgery - Breast
- Surgery - Cardiothoracic
- Surgery - Pediatric
- Surgery - Vascular
Fourth Year Electives
- Anesthesia
- Family Medicine Sub-I
- Medicine - Cardiology
- Medicine - Dermatology
- Medicine - Infectious Diseases
- Medicine - Nephrology
- Medicine - ICU
- Pediatric - ER
- Pediatric - Advanced
- Pediatric - Genetics
- Pediatric - Office
- Pediatric - Cardiology
- Radiology
- FM Sub-I
- Medicine - ID
WRITE
The WRITE Program is a clinical medical education program developed by the University of Washington School of Medicine as a means to help meet the need for rural primary care physicians in the WWAMI region. The success of this unique program is due to the integration of community involvement, continuity of experience and a proven curriculum. A detailed description of this program can be found in the WRITE manual. The Washington sites are Ellensburg, Grand Coulee, Moses Lake, Chelan and Port Angeles.
Contact Information
Assistant Deans for Regional Affairs University of Washington
Deborah J. Harper, M.D., djharper@u.washington.edu
John F. McCarthy, M.D., mccajf@u.washington.edu
509.358.7794
509.358.7793 (fax)
Physical Address
WWAMI Clinical Medical Education-Eastern & Central WA
Riverpoint Campus
310 N Riverpoint Blvd
Health Sciences Building 320P
Spokane, WA 99202
Mailing Address
WWAMI Clinical Medical Education-Eastern & Central WA
PO Box 1495, HSB 320P
Spokane, WA 99210-1495
Operations Administrators and Administrative Assistants to Central & Eastern Washington WWAMI Assistant Deans
Janie Ford, jmford@u.washington.edu
Marlene Maurer, mamaurer@u.washington.edu