{"id":633,"date":"2015-04-28T22:49:56","date_gmt":"2015-04-29T05:49:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spokane.wsu.edu\/extra\/?p=633"},"modified":"2025-10-08T15:51:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T22:51:11","slug":"cougs-celebrate-medical-school-approval","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spokane.wsu.edu\/news\/campus-community\/cougs-celebrate-medical-school-approval\/","title":{"rendered":"WSU Spokane Magazine: Cougs Celebrate Medical School Approval"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"WSU<\/a><\/p>\n

(Ed. Note: The latest edition of the WSU Spokane Magazine is available as a PDF here<\/a>. It is also distributed statewide to WSU alumni and friends. We will share a story each day from the latest issue on the blog. Enjoy!)<\/em><\/p>\n

By Doug Nadvornick<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bill signing ceremonies<\/b><\/span> conducted by governors are often joyous occasions that formalize legislative achievements. But rarely do they lead to spontaneous pep rallies, as happened on April 1.<\/p>\n

As Washington Governor Jay Inslee put pen to paper and gave WSU the authority to create its own medical school, state Sen. Michael Baumgartner<\/strong>\u2014a WSU alum\u2014began an impromptu version of the Cougar fight song. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFight, fight, fight for Washington State\u2026..\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

A few people in the crowd circling the governor joined him while WSU President Elson S. Floyd<\/strong> stepped forward to shake Inslee\u2019s hand.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The bill the governor signed was simple in its scope. It essentially adds one sentence to a 1917 state law that gave the University of Washington exclusive rights to offer public medical education in the state. There was no money attached to the bill. Still, the process of building support for, and passing it, was not an easy one and it represents one small and important step toward alleviating a physician shortage in parts of rural Washington.<\/span><\/p>\n

An intense year<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s been about a year since Floyd and WSU Spokane Chancellor Lisa Brown<\/strong> told\u00a0 <\/span>Spokane business and medical leaders that the University was interested in creating its own medical school, in addition to continuing in its role as an affiliate of the University of Washington\u2019s WWAMI (Washington Wyoming Alaska Montana Idaho) medical education program.<\/span><\/p>\n

The University hired the consulting firm MGT of America to study the feasibility of a WSU College of Medicine. Its report released last summer concluded the University has the tools and experience it needs to operate its own medical school.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

With study in hand, Floyd, Brown and College of Medical Sciences Acting Dean Ken Roberts<\/strong> asked the Board of Regents\u00a0<\/span>in September for permission to pursue a medical school. The Regents endorsed the proposal.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Washington State University Board of Regents made a historic decision this morning,\u201d was how Floyd announced the vote in an online column he released that day. It was historic because Washington has had only one publicly-funded medical school during the last 70 years, thanks to the 1917 law. It accepts about 120 students from Washington per year, one of the lowest ratios of medical students-to-population in the nation. (A private school, Pacific Northwest University, opened in Yakima; its first class began in 2008.)<\/p>\n

\"WSU<\/a><\/p>\n

Before WSU could create a new College of Medicine, the University needed the legislature to change that\u00a098-year-old state law.<\/p>\n

Through the fall and early winter, Floyd, Brown and Roberts traveled the state to gather support from legislators, health care and local elected officials. They focused their message on a few points:<\/p>\n