About the UW School of Medicine

Our mission guides us to improve the health of the public by educating and empowering the next generation of physicians, researchers and stewards of wellness in the Pacific Northwest and beyond.

The University of Washington School of Medicine (UWSOM) was founded in 1946. In the early 1970s, it formed a unique partnership with the states of Washington, Alaska, Montana and Idaho, adding Wyoming in 1996, to provide innovative and cost-effective medical education to this region known as WWAMI.

Recognized for advancing medical knowledge through scientific research, UW Medicine scientists explore every aspect of health and disease, from the molecular mechanisms of gene action to population studies of global illnesses. Their work has contributed to improved understanding of the causes of disease and to better treatments and prevention of many disorders. 

Full-time physician faculty staff UW Medical Center and Harborview Medical Center, as well as the Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System and Seattle Children’s. UWSOM faculty also practice in UW Medicine Primary Care locations throughout Puget Sound, and provide expert consultation to practicing physicians throughout the five-state region.

The University of Washington School of Medicine is consistently recognized as one of the nation's top schools for training physicians, and one of the nation's leading research institutions.

The UW School of Medicine is committed to building and sustaining a multicultural community that fosters equity, diversity and inclusion. We believe that this is achieved by intentionally creating opportunities for involvement, participation and growth for each individual and by nurturing a positive institutional climate through professional development, education, policy and practice.

The UW School of Medicine is committed to the promotion of professionalism in our community of faculty, staff, trainees and students. To support this, the Committee for Continuous Professionalism Improvement (CPI) was created. The CPI Committee is charged with overseeing and promoting professionalism throughout the medical school and all teaching sites.

• The WWAMI (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho) states make up 27% of the land mass of the United States but contain only 3.3% of the population.
• The UW School of Medicine is the only five-state medical school in the country.
• The school is nationally recognized for its innovative regional training program.
• Students from Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho complete the Foundations phase of the curriculum in small learning groups in their respective home states.
• Students from Washington attend their Foundations phase in Seattle or Spokane.
• Regional Clerkship Sites: UWSOM prides itself on the depth and breadth of excellent clinical educational opportunities available throughout all of the five states that comprise the WWAMI medical education program. The regional nature of our medical school allows our students to experience the entire gamut of medical care, both rural and urban, including private practice, community health care centers, community hospitals, tertiary care hospitals and quaternary care hospitals.

The UW School of Medicine provides opportunities for training with providers in all types of medical care settings.

• Tertiary care: UW Medical Center; Seattle Children’s Hospital; VA Puget Sound Health Care System; Harborview Medical Center (level 1 trauma center)
• Affiliated Community Hospitals
• Community Healthcare Centers (urban and rural)
• Private Practices (urban and rural)
• International Health Clinics (local and abroad)
• Indian Health Service Clinics: A distinguishing characteristic of UWSOM is interdisciplinary collaboration. Scientists, educators and clinicians are dedicated to helping each other reach the common goals of improving people's health and alleviating suffering from disease.

• Since 1974 the UW School of Medicine has ranked consistently among the top three schools in receipt of National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant funding.
• More than a hundred UW spinoffs and startups are in the biotechnology, medical devices, or general health and medicine sectors.
• M.D./Ph.D. Program (MSTP) The Medical Scientist Training Program is designed for highly qualified candidates who wish to obtain both M.D. and Ph.D. degrees and to pursue careers in basic medical research.
• Ph.D. Programs The UW School of Medicine provides advanced scientific training toward Ph.D. degrees in biomedical research in a resource-rich, collaborative environment dedicated to scientific discovery.

Clinical experiences are available at 50+ sites for required clerkships in addition to 100+ RUOP sites and 15 WRITE sites. TRACKs are also available to allow students to spend an entire year in one WWAMI state.

• RUOP: Rural Underserved Opportunities Program, a four-week, elective immersion experience in community medicine for students between their first and second years of medical school.
• WRITE: WWAMI Rural Integrated Training Experience, a 20-week, rural clinical medical training experience for a pre-selected group of third-year medical students.
• TRACK: WWAMI State Track Program, allows a select group of students to complete most of the required clerkships scheduled in one specific site/state throughout the WWAMI region during their third or fourth year of medical school.
• TRUST: Our Targeted Rural Underserved Track Program is available in Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho and is an integrated program for students interested in rural or underserved medicine. Beginning the summer before medical school and continuing throughout the curriculum, TRUST scholars participate in clinical and classroom experiences, online discussions, and regional or national conferences, exposing them to the satisfaction, challenges and lifestyle of a physician practicing in rural and underserved areas.

UWSOM Medical Student Education Program Strategic Plan

Mission Statement 
The University of Washington School of Medicine Medical Student Education Program will improve the health of the public by educating inquisitive, compassionate physicians who serve the evolving healthcare needs of diverse individuals while striving for healthcare justice and equity.

Vision Statement 
Empowering students to become the physicians they aspire to be through innovative regional medical education.

Values 
The UWSOM MSEP Values will be integrated within our strategic priorities, outcomes, and decision­ making to guide our path forward. 

• Collaboration
• Excellence
• Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion
• Respect
• Stewardship
• Student Engagement & Leadership

Strategic Priorities 
In order to achieve our Mission and Vision and to serve our students well, the MSEP will focus on the following Strategic Priorities over the next 5 years. These will be key to driving us towards our Mission and Vision in an outcomes-based manner.

• Optimize the Medical Student Education Program governance structure and align resources to meet regional needs.
• Foster collaborative and innovative regional medical education that recognizes the attributes of regional sites.
• Become an inclusive and anti racist medical student education program that dismantles all types of oppression in the learning environment.
• Instill a continuous quality improvement culture throughout UWSOM's medical student education program.
• Support faculty and staff education and lifelong learning across the region to optimize teaching outcomes as well as fostering recruitment, retention, and recognition.

The UW School of Medicine has undergone many innovative changes over the past 40 years. The Colleges was incorporated to provide consistent mentoring in clinical skills, professionalism and patient-centered care. The Colleges structure helps make a large university intimate.

• 8 colleges
• 6-7 faculty mentors in each college
• 6-7 students per year for each faculty mentor

Medical students can select one or more of nine pathways to develop knowledge and skills specifically tailored to working with vulnerable populations here and abroad. Each Pathway allows students to organize their courses, clinical rotations and volunteer opportunities around a particular community, population, or aspect of underserved medicine with mentorship from faculty, staff and community providers and partners who share those interests. 

• Black Health Justice Pathway
• Global Health Pathway
• Indian Health Pathway
• Latinx Health Pathway
• LGBTQ Pathway
• Underserved Pathway
• Humanities and the Arts Pathway (HAP)
• The Spokane Leadership Pathway
• The Clinical and Translational Research Pathway