Policy Statement
UWSOM students travel throughout the five-state WWAMI region to attend required clerkship rotations during the Patient Care and Explore & Focus phases of the curriculum. UWSOM receives funding from the WWAMI state legislatures to support housing and transportation costs for students who travel to required clerkships outside of their official duty stations and has dedicated staff to support its clerkship housing and transportation program. Funding support must comply with all UW and UWSOM travel and purchasing policies.
Requirements, Procedures and Guidelines
The UWSOM provides support for transportation costs of students participating in required clerkships located outside the student’s official duty station. Students must provide their own transportation for travel to clerkship sites within Washington, Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming, and to commute between multiple clinical sites, between didactic teaching sites and clinical training sites, and between student housing and clinical facilities at the clerkship site. Students will be reimbursed for mileage during travel to and from clinical sites. Students will be reimbursed for vehicle rental for required clinical rotations in Alaska if Alaska is not their official duty station. Students will be reimbursed for vehicle rentals in non-Alaska WWAMI states if Alaska is their official duty station. Students traveling to and from Alaska will have their airfare purchased by the UWSOM.
Non-Track students (including WRITE and TRUST) are provided with, or reimbursed for, housing during the required clerkships in family medicine, medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, psychiatry, surgery, neuroscience, emergency medicine, and advanced patient care rotations when the clinical site is outside the student’s official duty station. During the Explore and Focus Phase, students are also eligible for housing and reimbursement, but only during their first advance patient care rotation and sub-internship, which are indicated as required credits on the Graduation Audit Report.
UWSOM does not provide housing for Track students at Track sites; Track students must secure their own housing, as their Track site is their official duty station during the Patient Care Phase and Explore and Focus Phase.
UWSOM does not provide medical student housing or travel support for elective courses.
Overnight lodging during travel is reimbursable within approved limits when inclement weather creates unsafe driving conditions, or when the total driving distance is 650 miles or greater.
UWSOM travel policy aligns with limits set by the Washington state legislature. For a full statement of the UWSOM travel policies, visit the WWAMI Student Travel website.
Effective: Current
Last updated: September 22, 2025
Policy Contact: UW School of Medicine, Curriculum Office, somgov@uw.edu; Education Quality Improvement Office, eqi@uw.edu