| The
Montana WWAMI program has made some innovations over the
years that encouraged other schools in the system to look
to Montana for leadership, says Dwight Phillips, interim
director of the regional medical education program that
refers to Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho. |
| Three
years ago, for example, MSU started testing students in
all subjects every other Monday. |
| "The
earlier they can start thinking about all the material
in an integrated way, the better off they are," Phillips
explained. "It does relieve stress because students rarely
get very far behind." |
| "Susan
Gibson, anatomy instructor, developed a new approach for
teaching microscopic anatomy. Using computers instead
of microscopes makes the classical course much more efficient
and interactive," Phillips said. |
| Stephen
Guggenheim, former director of Montana's WWAMI program,
suggested a way to encourage physicians to return to rural,
underserved areas. Now called the Montana Rural Physicians
Incentive Program, it charges WWAMI students a surcharge
which goes into a trust fund to help returning physicians
pay off their loans. |
| "MSU
also has a body donation program that's worked so well
that it benefits other Montana institutions as well as
MSU," Phillips said. |
| WWAMI
is run by the University of Washington School of Medicine,
but it allows students in the participating states to
attend their first year of medical school in their home
state. Montana's program is 29 years old and based at
MSU-Bozeman. |
| Past
and current students say they appreciate the opportunity
to pay in-state tuition for a school that's consistently
one of the top three state-supported medical schools in
the nation for primary medicine. They also enjoy an extra
year in Montana. |
| "Our
state is truly lucky to have this wonderful program,"
said George Knight, '99 Biomedical Sciences, a
third-year student from White Sulphur Springs. |
| Alan
Muskett, '79 Engl., a cardiovascular and thoracic
surgeon in Billings, said the small class size was an
advantage, as well. |
|
Eric Rich, '01 Chem/Biochem, noted that 10 people
in his second-year class received their undergraduate
degrees at MSU. Calling that "a very significant amount,"
he, for one, hopes to return to Montana to practice. |
