Read feature stories about students, staff and faculty from across the WWAMI region.
At the Alaska WWAMI site in Anchorage, a student-led initiative is bringing the power of music into clinical spaces. Music in Medicine, a service-learning group founded by second-year medical students Will Simard and Alyssa Mandich and now co-led with first-year student Yi Chan, aims to create moments of comfort and connection for patients, families and […]
Heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the United States, but many of its most significant risk factors are within our control. For Idaho WWAMI alum and interventional cardiologist Dr. Kendra Coonse, heart health starts with everyday habits. At the core of prevention, she emphasizes lifestyle choices and routine monitoring. “Following a heart-healthy […]
For Dr. Lance Hansen, medicine has always been about relationships: finding meaning in caring for patients throughout every phase of their lives and building trust that lasts. A proud Idaho WWAMI alum, Dr. Hansen has spent his career practicing and teaching full-spectrum family medicine in rural Idaho, helping ensure that communities like Preston continue […]
Friends, family, volunteers, and community partners gathered recently to celebrate a remarkable milestone: the 100th birthday of Marie Blanchard, the visionary founder of The Marie Blanchard Friendship Clinic in Boise, Idaho. Among the attendees on December 19, 2025, was Mary Barinaga, Assistant Clinical Dean for Idaho WWAMI, underscoring the deep connection between the clinic […]
Idaho WWAMI medical students stepped beyond the classroom this month and into the rugged terrain of Cottonwood Butte during the annual Wilderness Medicine Retreat — an immersive weekend designed to prepare them for rural and remote practice. Throughout the retreat, students rotated through hospital-based skill stations focused on airway/breathing, circulation, and disability/exposure before heading into […]
What if breast milk does more than just nourish a baby? What if it also helps to tell time, and improve an infant’s sleep and development, among other benefits? Last month in California, Idaho WWAMI student Hannah Hardin’s research stood out among other medical students from across the Western United States for her impressive findings. […]
With Match Day—the annual release of National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) results—on the horizon, fourth-year medical students Chey Malmin and Colton Brodock are charting their next steps together after years of shared training. Having both grown up in Idaho—Chey in Boise and Colton in Emmett—their shared roots played a big role in choosing the Idaho […]
Dr. William H. “Bill” Foege, a 1961 graduate of the University of Washington School of Medicine MD Program and a global public health leader, helped change the course of history. Credited with pioneering the surveillance and ring vaccination strategy that led to the eradication of smallpox, Foege played a central role in ending transmission of […]
Second-year Montana WWAMI student Brynne Miller has been recognized for her research in neonatal nutrition at the 2026 Western Medical Research Conference (WMRC), earning the Abbott Nutrition Abstract Award in Neonatology (Feeding & Nutrition). Miller’s classmate, Montana WWAMI student Cooper Mann, is the co-author of the abstract, and played a principal role in the project. […]
For fourth-year Montana WWAMI student Benjamin Nalls, Military Match Day marks more than the next step in training. It’s a continuation of a lifelong commitment to service. Nalls matched into general surgery at Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma, Washington, through the military match. Before medical school, Nalls served as a Marine, an experience that […]
