BOISE, Idaho — A new bill aims to bring changes to Idaho's partnership with the University of Washington and expand more education options for medical students. House Bill 368 also addresses the doctor shortage in Idaho.
"We do have a physician shortage in the state of Idaho, and I love that the legislature is recognizing that and they're motivated to make changes," says Boise-based Doctor Joie Florence.
The bill would require the State Board of Education to create a plan to address the shortage. Specifically, it would remove 10 seats reserved for Idaho medical students at the University of Washington by 2027 while adding up to 30 new seats at the University of Utah.
"We know WWAMI produces good doctors, that's not the issue. The issue is if we're gonna invest more, how do we make that investment? How do we diversify our interests and how do we prioritize dollars being in Idaho," says bill sponsor Representative Dustin Manwaring (R).
Manwaring says that though the bill would pull seats away from the existing WWAMI partnership, overall it means growth for Idaho.
"We're going to net at least 20 new undergraduate medical education seats that the state would invest in in Idaho. So we're not contracting, we're expanding the opportunities, we're expanding the program partners," says Manwaring.
"I got to train here in Idaho, in my home state," says Dr. Joie Florence, who attended medical school at Idaho WWAMI.
"I was part of a class of 30 so I watched the expansion take place… now we're at 40. I'm very concerned at moving backward," added Florence.
Now, she helps teach Idaho WWAMI medical students and feels the program is in a unique position to train new Idaho doctors.
"The University of Washington partnered with Idaho WWAMI has this excellent infrastructure, this network of doctors, all through the state of Idaho, and throughout the whole WWAMI region… University of Utah doesn't have that yet," Florence explained.
Representative Chris Matthias (D) — who voted no on Wednesday morning — argued the bill, as it is currently written, likely won't address Idaho's shortage.
"It is not going to lead to more physicians, removing medical education seats prematurely, before we know whether the University of Utah is ready to bring on all these students and make sure they have clinical sites in Idaho to train them," says Matthias.
"Now is not the time to potentially disrupt our pipeline of physicians to Idaho," says Florence.
House Bill 368 is now on its way to the house floor for consideration.
