Future rural physicians stepped beyond the classroom and into conversations about leadership, advocacy and community health during the Montana WWAMI TRUST Student Leadership Retreat, held June 24–27 in Bozeman. The annual retreat brought together second- and third-year TRUST students for several days of learning, mentorship and reflection as they prepare to serve rural and underserved […]
For more than two decades, Cindy Stergar has strengthened Montana’s healthcare system by helping to build the primary care workforce, expanding access to medical services and championing physician education. Now, after retiring as CEO of the Montana Primary Care Association, she leaves Montana with a stronger physician workforce and a lasting influence on the next […]
For Serena Brewer, D.O., becoming director of the WWAMI Rural Integrated Training Experience (WRITE) program is an opportunity to help expand the model of medical education she has experienced firsthand, both as a physician and as a longtime preceptor. Dr. Brewer, who also serves as a Montana WWAMI Assistant Clinical Dean, took over as WRITE […]
For Dr. Megan Marstaeller (E19), returning home to Montana isn’t just the next step in her career. It’s the fulfillment of a goal that first took shape during her medical school training. After completing her pediatric residency this summer through the Pediatric Residency of Idaho (PRI), Dr. Marstaeller returned to Montana to begin practicing at […]
The landscape stopped Mikayla Bullman in her tracks not because it was foreign, but because it wasn’t. Rolling grassland, wide sky, communities scattered far from the nearest hospital. “Rural Montana is not all that different,” she would later reflect. “The landscape even looks the same.” This summer, Bullman and fellow Montana WWAMI second-year Lucy Corbett […]
As Montana WWAMI student Ben Held navigates his third year of medical school, he is balancing two significant roles at once: training to become a physician and learning what it means to be a father Held’s path to medicine began with a desire to address one of Montana’s most persistent public health challenges. “My initial […]
Last month, we celebrated a remarkable achievement as 29 Montana WWAMI students crossed the stage at Benaroya Hall in Seattle, officially earning their Doctor of Medicine degrees. Among the graduates were eight Montana WWAMI TRUST scholars, whose medical education included an extended focus on serving rural and underserved communities throughout the state. On May 22, […]
Before joining their classmates at the Physician’s Oath & Hooding Ceremony, Montana WWAMI graduates Verena Lawrence, Jamie Ritter and TRUST scholar Jesi Kennedy (Assiniboine descent) took part in a Traditional Blanket Ceremony recognizing their completion of the Indian Health Pathway. Held on the morning of graduation, the ceremony honors students’ commitment to improving health […]
Four Montana physicians have been honored with WRITE Excellence in Teaching Awards, recognizing their outstanding commitment to mentoring medical students and helping shape the next generation of rural physicians. The annual awards are based on nominations from students participating in the WRITE (WWAMI Rural Integrated Training Experience) program, a longitudinal rural clerkship that places University […]
When medical educators from across the United Kingdom gathered in Dundee, Scotland, for the UK Longitudinal Integrated Clerkships (UKLIC) Conference in April, Montana WWAMI’s approach to building a rural physician workforce was part of the global conversation. Jay Erickson, MD, Montana WWAMI Assistant Clinical Dean delivered the conference keynote presentation, “Reflections on Creating a Physician […]
