WWAMI Stories and Student Features

After more than two decades of leadership with the University of Washington School of Medicine, Dr. Suzanne Allen retired from her role as Vice Dean for Academic, Rural and Regional Affairs in June, leaving behind a legacy rooted in expanding medical education opportunities across the Northwest and preparing the next generation of physicians to serve […]

For Waleed Gharib, a third-year medical student at the University of Washington School of Medicine and co-lead of the Firearm Injury Reduction Education (FIRE) group, expanding access to knowledge about firearm safety and injury prevention is both a personal and professional calling.    “I have seen friends and family experience the pain and trauma caused by […]

Ian Qureshi, DO; John Hatzenbuehler, MD; and Jessica Sallstrom, DO   Three Idaho physicians have earned Idaho WWAMI Excellence in Teaching Awards after being nominated by the people who have experienced their impact firsthand: WWAMI students. The annual awards recognize physician preceptors who go above and beyond to educate and mentor medical students during their […]

When the sun appeared during Andrea Storer’s first TRUST rotation in Juneau, her preceptor encouraged her to get outside and explore. For the first-year Alaska WWAMI student, those sunny days offered a chance to discover more of the community she was getting to know through her clinical experience at Valley Medical. But it was her […]

A new $487,022 investment could create more opportunities for Alaska WWAMI medical students and graduates to complete residency training in the state. The funding, which goes through the State of Alaska Department of Health, is a federal pass-through of Rural Health Transformation Program funding included in the One Big Beautiful Bill. The award will support […]

WWAMI TRUST students from Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Washington, and Wyoming gathered in Coeur d’Alene recently for a retreat designed to strengthen their connection to rural medicine and, perhaps just as importantly, to one another. The retreat (Aug. 18-21, 2026) brought together TRUST students, leaders, and physicians from across the five-state WWAMI region for presentations, workshops, […]

For Bhargavi Pochi, a second-year Alaska WWAMI student, an eight-week summer experience in Nepal offered a chance to explore global health while contributing to a community-based health project with real impact. As part of her Triple I experience through the Global Health Immersion Program (GHIP), Pochi traveled to Dhulikhel, Nepal, where she worked with Dhulikhel […]

In 2024, we introduced you to Sydney “Syd” Sattler, then a PhD candidate in the Abitua Lab in UW’s Department of Genome Sciences, as the first UW recipient of the Shurl and Kay Curci Foundation PhD Fellowship. At the time, she was just beginning to chase a question about how immune cells decide what to […]

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 […]