Purpose
To provide access to publicly supported medical education across the five-state region, and to train physicians who will return to practice in Alaska.


Philosophy
Emphasizes decentralized medical education, and a significant part of any given student's education occurs within the WWAMI region in communities utilizing a combination of both fulltime and volunteer teachers.

WWAMI is a collaborative medical school among universities in five northwestern states, Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho and the University of Washington School of Medicine.  The curriculum at each site has been standardized and is compatible with the University of Washington School of Medicine curriculum which integrates the basic and clinical sciences, and includes rural health care at an early time in medical education.  Alaska WWAMI provides Alaskans access to a high quality regional medical school.

The Alaska WWAMI Program began at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (as WAMI) in 1971. The program Moved to the University of Alaska Anchorage in 1989 and is currently in it's 45th year of successfully educating Alaska's physicians. 

Prospective students apply to the University of Washington School of Medicine; upon admission, Alaska's WWAMI students, starting in 2015, take classes at the University of Alaska Anchorage for the Foundations Phase, an 18 month experience for the equivalent of the first and second years of medical school.

The third and fourth years of the medical school curriculum are comprised of "clerkship" rotations in the various medical specialty areas. These clerkships may be taken in any of the five WWAMI states. Students who choose the "Alaska Track" can take nearly all of these clerkships in Alaska.