I am very glad Idaho legislators are thinking long and hard about getting good doctors into this state. But “good” is in the eyes of the beholder.
Abortion rears its ugly head. There’s more going on.
It seems the longstanding Idaho partnership with the University of Washington to train physicians in the WWAMI program might founder on these shoals. Don’t fall for it. There’s more than a dog whistle at stake.
Idaho has had an agreement to send Idaho resident applicants to medical school through the University of Washington for almost 50 years now. This was a bitter deal made back in the 1970’s when we had a fiscally conservative Democratic governor who couldn’t abide the expense of starting our own medical school. So, Cece looked for partners. University of Washington, Alaska, and Montana signed on. That was WAMI. Wyoming dropped their medical school attempt, and we got WWAMI, the second “W”, maybe soon to lose the “I”.
I wrote last spring that maybe Idaho should be considering its own medical school. But now we have a bill in the legislature to cut ties with WWAMI and go into the Mountain Time Zone within a couple years? I appreciate the intent, the consideration, but really, is that the best you can do Speaker Mike Moyle?
Let’s have a plan.
I understand there is money at stake. Idaho sends $7M a year into WWAMI to support Idaho residents who then spend annually $9M of their own debt to become graduates. And our taxpayer support is not the only debt they owe to the Gem State. We now, by law, require them to come back here and work for 4 years.
This was also a Moyle brainstorm. If he had a plan, was this a part of it? Please, Mike, let us in on it.
What is he thinking?
First, it’s to make them indentured, then it’s to kick them out.
We need a plan.
There is no doubt Idaho needs doctors. So, Idaho has a doctor deficit. What is wrong with a doctor deficit? Do we really need all that many doctors? There are many ways to provide care. Are we interested in quality? Or is it about the money?
Maybe we need MD’s, or DO’s or Nurse Practitioners (NP’s) or Physician Assistants (PA’s). All provide care. The training is what we are talking about. What level of taxpayer support gives us the best health outcomes? Or are we talking about what level of taxpayer funded and legal sanction drives money into whose pockets?
And why does the Mountain Time Zone need Idaho money?
These are all reasonable questions for speaker Moyle. That is, if they are not too political. And really, they are not about abortion. That is the lever these WWAMI assassins are trying to use. All you Pro-life folks should feel your dog collars being yanked.
The training of MD’s seems to have some clout that some folks want. Not sure why, maybe it’s like a shiny thing crows gather.
It really should be about public health. How can we make our citizens healthier. But the system of MD training and state licensing and restrictions on what degree can do what have created a system that enriches MDs, and doesn’t make us healthier.
We are a small, but growing state. We need vision.
Back in 1970 when Cece Andrus decided WAMI would suit us, we had 700,000 inhabitants. We got a truly quality system for a small investment.
I will hereby admit, I am a graduate of this program. They aren’t paying me a dime to say this. They gave me an excellent education. But times are different.
We need a plan. Ditching the old one is not a plan. Let’s hear your plan, Mike.