Even more acutely than other growing Western states, Idaho suffers from a critical need for physicians. Our rural communities and rapidly expanding urban areas alike can benefit from a deeper pool of well-qualified physicians. The Idaho WWAMI program, our state’s partnership with the top-ranked University of Washington School of Medicine, is Idaho’s outstanding public medical school, and its continued success is key to enhancing health and well-being across our great state. Through the Idaho WWAMI program, women and men from Idaho attend a premier medical school – the top school in the nation for primary care, rural medicine and family medicine, according to U.S. News and World Report. A revamped curriculum means WWAMI students now spend most of their time here in Idaho, with access to Seattle and clinical rotations available in other states. Thanks to the state’s investment, which helps keep this education affordable for students, in recent years we’ve expanded entering class sizes from 20 to 40 students per year. That represents twice as many Idaho students getting a top-quality medical education, right here in Idaho. These aspiring physicians form lasting connections in Idaho communities – with 50 percent staying or returning to practice in Idaho. This is a program that pays off for aspiring doctors, for our communities and for our state at large. One economic impact assessment suggested that for every $1 of state support, $5 returns to Idaho. I know our ambitious students and the communities they go on to call home see the value of that investment firsthand. Residency is an important part of training physicians. The more time students spend in Idaho, the better our chances of retaining them as practicing physicians. Last year I served on the State Board’s Medical Education Committee, which helped develop a plan for enhanced residency (Graduate Medical Education) programs, a plan that has attracted the support of Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter. This week at an Idaho WWAMI event I had a chance to join others in honoring Dr. Richard McLandress, a physician with Kootenai Health and the new director of the Family Medicine Coeur d’Alene Residency Program. With 44 years of experience, he’s a great asset to our resident trainees. I appreciate his work and the work of other residency mentors, and I know our up-and-coming doctors feel the same way. While increasing our residency opportunities is important, we also need to invest in our facilities. Kootenai Health, along with organizations like St. Luke’s and St. Alphonsus, have supported the crucial facilities projects here in Moscow – a laboratory at the new Gritman Medical Center building downtown and a renovated Idaho WWAMI facility on campus. That’s exciting progress for our program and for the University of Idaho. We are excited about other program progress, too. The national opioid crisis is devastating, and unfortunately Idaho is no exception – opioids are the second-most abused illicit drug in Idaho. Project ECHO Idaho, a new Idaho WWAMI venture, uses virtual clinics to link experts with rural healthcare providers to address opioid addition and treatment. The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare is a partner in this effort to get patients the right care at the right time, and help curb this damaging epidemic. ECHO Idaho is one example of the Idaho WWAMI program innovation that leverages our unmatched expertise and resources, combined with our sense of mission for the state. I am proud to see the progress Idaho’s public medical school has made, and look forward to the impact it will make in the future. | | Go Vandals! Chuck Staben President | | | Wellner Endowment Supports Expert Presentations in Statistics and Probability Jon ’68 and Vera Wellner of Seattle recently made a $25,000 gift to fund the Jon A. Wellner Lecture Endowment in the Department of Mathematics. The lecture series will feature presentations on research in statistics and probability by outside experts. Dr. Wellner earned a B.S. in mathematics at Idaho and Ph.D. in statistics at the University of Washington. He is currently a professor of statistics and biostatistics at Washington. “Opportunities to interact with leading statisticians from outside the university are incredibly valuable for both students and faculty,” said College of Science Dean Ginger Carney. “We are grateful to the Wellners for helping to provide those types of experiences.” For more information about giving to the College of Science, please contact Eric Bennett at ebennett@uidaho.edu or 208-885-9106. | | U of I Research Helping Mountain Communities Respond to Environmental Challenges Outbreaks of bark beetles, a common pest of conifers in the American West, are rising due to long-term climate change. As this and other natural events affect mountain landscapes, nearby communities must understand, adapt and respond to minimize the impacts on their societies and economies. This is one common denominator behind five articles written by University of Idaho researchers and their colleagues for a special issue of Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, an academic journal of the Ecological Society of America. The special issue, titled “Social-Ecological Systems in Mountain Landscapes,” highlights the use of social-ecological systems (SES) science, a field that uses anthropology, ecology, economics, hydrology and geography to explain the balance between communities, their economies and the ecosystems around them. The research was funded through the Mountain Social Ecological Observatory Network (MtnSEON), a five-year research program led by College of Art and Architecture researcher Lilian Alessa and Jim Gosz of the College of Natural Resources. Both work in U of I’s Center for Resilient Communities. | | Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author to Visit U of I Colson Whitehead, winner of the 2017 Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award for his novel “The Underground Railroad,” will give the keynote address Monday, Feb. 12, as part of the University of Idaho’s Black History Month observance. Whitehead’s talk, “Revisiting the Underground Railroad,” will begin at 7 p.m. Feb. 12 in the International Ballroom of the Bruce M. Pitman Center, 709 Deakin Ave., Moscow. A question-and-answer session and book signing will follow. The event is free. “We are thrilled that Mr. Whitehead will illuminate themes of his remarkable book for our students, faculty and community members,” said Kenton Bird, a faculty member in the U of I School of Journalism and Mass Media who is helping to organize the author’s visit. The talk is supported by the Idaho Humanities Council and several university offices and academic departments. | | American Language and Culture Program Receives 10-Year Re-Accreditation Upon the 25th year as an intensive English program at the University of Idaho, the American Language and Culture Program (ALCP) received a prestigious 10-year re-accreditation through the Commission on English Language Program Accreditation (CEA). CEA is a nationally recognized accrediting agency by the U.S. Secretary of Education for English language programs and institutions. | | | | |