Rural Programs

Washington AHEC is an integral part of the larger University of Washington School of Medicine. Washington AHEC shares the mission to improve the quality and distribution of all health professionals in our mostly rural, five-state region. In 2025, Washington AHEC locations are Eastern Washington AHEC in Spokane; Southwest Washington AHEC in Olympia; Central Washington AHEC in Wenatchee. There are affiliated AHEC programs in Montana, Idaho, and Alaska.

The Health Careers Opportunity Program (HCOP) is designed to create an ecosystem to aid disadvantaged students moving through educational systems toward healthcare careers. HCOP contains four programs: BRIGHT-UP (Biomedical Research Internship for the Growth of High-school Trainees from Underrepresented Populations), UDOC for high school juniors and seniors interested in a career in medicine, SHPEPLE (Summer Health Professions Education Program Longitudinal Education) for undergraduates interested in a health career, and Ambassador program to help health professional students develop leadership skills relevant to help and work with underrepresented healthcare populations. For more information, contact Dr. Hoa Appel at happel@uw.edu

Administrated by UWSOM’s Office of Rural Programs, the Washington AHEC Scholars Program is a two-year, interprofessional program for healthcare profession students across Washington state. Medical students, and TRUST students in particular, are invited to join this diverse cohort of health profession students as a complementary program to their primary medical school program(s).

AHEC Scholars receive didactics that focus on topics like medical ethics, AI/telehealth, leadership, working with interpreters, and Native/Indigenous health. They also participate in hands-on, interprofessional training in clinical rural and under-resourced settings- clinical placements/rotations for primary programs satisfies this requirement).

TRUST seeks to provide a continuous connection between underserved communities, medical education and health professionals in our region. The goal is to create a full-circle community of medical students by guiding them through a special curriculum that connects underserved communities in Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho to UWSOM and its network of affiliated residency programs in an effort to help meet the workforce needs of the region. 

The Rural Underserved Opportunities Program (RUOP) is a four-week, elective immersion experience in community medicine for students during the summer block of the Foundations Phase of the curriculum.  During this rotation students live in rural or urban underserved communities throughout Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho (WWAMI). They work side-by-side with local physicians providing health care to rural and underserved populations.  

RUOP iii-3 is a six-week elective course in community health that coincides with the RUOP clinical experience. This course fulfills UW SOM’s Independent Investigative Inquiry requirement.

The WRITE Program is a longitudinally integrated clerkship developed by the University of Washington School of Medicine as a means to help medical students learn and understand the practice of rural medicine. The success of this unique program is due to the integration of community involvement, continuity of experience and a proven curriculum. The impetus for creating WRITE was to expand rural training options at the UW; develop additional training experiences in the WWAMI states, including rural areas; foster the primary care mission of UWSOM; and provide more physicians for rural practice in the Pacific Northwest.

Explore the UW School of Medicine's Rural Programs.