In November, we will be honoring the retirement of our long-serving Montana WWAMI TRUST* Director, Lisa Benzel, after years of dedicated service. Lisa was hired for this newly created position in November 2013 and is responsible for growing and shaping TRUST into what it is today.
As director and the face of TRUST for Montana, she traveled throughout the state, making connections, providing support to TRUST scholars (how we refer to our TRUST students), and celebrating reunions with our graduates who have joined Montana clinical practices after residency. After completing the TRUST application process, Lisa is often the first person our applicants encounter, and her relationships with the TRUST scholars remain constant until graduation and beyond.
Each academic year, Lisa works with the Montana WWAMI Admissions Committee to provide counsel on the qualifications of TRUST applicants. Under Lisa’s guidance, in 2017 the annual TRUST class increased from seven to 12 students, and with that increased head count, Lisa helped develop a half dozen new TRUST sites** in the state, including Glasgow in the remote northeast corner of Montana. For context, in each of the 12 TRUST sites, there are four students at various points in their education, learning, and working in rural Montana.
Also, during her tenure, Lisa helped establish two annual student retreat activities, one focused on leadership and the other on fostering cultural connections called the American Indian Medical Experience (AIME), a three-day immersion for entering students on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. Beyond overseeing and developing the TRUST program, Lisa has played a key role in strengthening Montana’s healthcare pipeline, connecting undergraduates with shadowing opportunities and assisting in recruiting physicians and new residency graduates to serve hospitals and clinics across Montana.
In recognition of Lisa’s impact, an anonymous donor recently established a scholarship in her name through the MSU Foundation.
With Lisa’s departure, we are very happy to welcome and introduce two new team members: Sara Houston, as the new TRUST Director, and Ashleigh Dallas as TRUST Program Coordinator.
Sara, from North Dakota, brings extensive experience in rural healthcare operations and grant programs. She previously served as a multi-department Operations Manager with Bozeman Health. Ashleigh, a Bozeman native with a background in exercise physiology, previously led Cardiac Pulmonary Rehab at Bozeman Health and helped expand services in rural areas like White Sulphur Springs.
To ensure a smooth transition, Lisa will work with Sara and Ashleigh through November. Please join us in wishing Lisa all the very best in her retirement, and welcoming Sara and Ashleigh to the Montana WWAMI team!
*The Targeted Rural Underserved Track (TRUST) is a four-year medical school curriculum that provides WWAMI TRUST scholars with a longitudinal continuity connection with a rural/underserved community over the four years of medical school training. The goal of the program is to increase Montana’s physician workforce in rural locations.
Montana TRUST provides the educational experiences necessary for medical students to choose rural, underserved-focused residencies. Nearly 70 percent of graduating TRUST scholars select residency programs in specialties oriented to rural/underserved care: Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, Med/Peds, Psychiatry, General Surgery, and OB/Gyn. After completing residency, half of our TRUST scholars choose rural practice locations.
**TRUST sites: The 12 Montana TRUST sites are essentially the “home” communities for TRUST scholars throughout their four years of medical school. Montana WWAMI TRUST scholars are matched with a community where they will benefit from the expertise of physician preceptors who mentor them over the course of their medical school training.
For more information about TRUST, visit: https://education.uwmedicine.org/somrural/programs/trust/.