UW Medical Education Program Students to Begin Clerkship Rotations

Twenty current University of Wyoming second-year medical students in the WWAMI Medical Education Program -- who began their medical school journey on the UW campus in 2023 -- will soon leave the classroom to begin their clerkship rotations in clinical spaces alongside physicians and patients in the region.

The second-year Wyoming WWAMI (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, Idaho) Medical Education Program students spent the past 18 months in medical teaching classrooms in UW's College of Health Sciences while in the foundations phase of the medical education curriculum.

In addition to their basic science training in the first phase, the students received early exposure to working with patients, which has equipped them to move on to the clinical phase of their curriculum. Wyoming WWAMI is among six medical education sites; students ultimately receive their medical degrees from the University of Washington School of Medicine (UWSOM).

UW students were honored in December at the Wyoming WWAMI clinical transitions ceremony.

Among the speakers at the ceremony was Dr. Todd Guth, a physician and director of the Wyoming WWAMI program, who highlighted the importance of diligence and perseverance demonstrated by students. He praised the support and encouragement from family and friends as keys to success in the students' medical school training.

Guth also emphasized that the ultimate goal of the WWAMI Medical Education Program is for the students to return to Wyoming to practice medicine in its many rural communities.

"We are all excited to see our students enter into the clinical phase of their medical education journey, knowing that our excitement is tempered due to the understanding that our students will be leaving Laramie to venture out across the five-state WWAMI region to complete their clinical rotations," he says.

Dr. Brian Menkhaus was the keynote speaker for the event and was this year's Distinguished Alumnus for WWAMI Medical Education. He completed his Doctor of Pharmacy at UW in 2007, after which he was employed as a pharmacist in Sterling, Colo. He then went on to complete the WWAMI program, graduating in 2012.

At the end of the program, WWAMI physician mentors and hospitalists conducted the capstone portion of the ceremony -- the presentation of a white coat to each student. The white coats, provided by the UWSOM Alumni Association, symbolize the students' assumption of their responsibilities in the care of their future patients. Students will wear their white coats throughout the clinical phase of their medical training.

"In their new clinical phase, the students will be part of the medical team, seeing patients and helping with clinical decision making. This is a very exciting time when they begin to really feel like physicians," says Dr. Julie Carlson, an instructor in the program. "That is why the transition ceremony is so important. It allows students to celebrate all of the hard work that has prepared them to actually see and care for patients. We, as their teachers, hand off the baton, so to speak, letting them know they are ready for the challenges ahead and that we trust them to carry on in the medical field, now as our colleagues."

Also featured at the ceremony were individual awards.

The recipient of the Howard Willson Excellence in Primary Care Award was Chantelle Barr, of Worland, while the Pheneger Community Health Award went to Dean He, of Casper, and Rafael Homer, of Laramie.

The second-year class presented the Faculty Award to Menkhaus, who is the leader of the histology-pathology curriculum for the Wyoming WWAMI program.

Second-year medical students entering the clinical phase of their training, listed by hometown, are:

Buffalo -- Hyrum Ruby.

Burlington -- Matthew Rasmussen.

Casper -- He and Tatiana Smith.

Cheyenne -- Anh Huynh.

Cody -- Aaron Nichols.

Gillette -- Rylie Pilon and Victoria Toscana.

Green River -- Anna Ujvary.

Greybull -- Annaliese Fitzsimmons.

Lander -- Emma Miller.

Laramie -- Brandi Carreau, Homer and Sai Kit Ng.

Pinedale -- Sabrina Gay.

Powell -- Kaden Moore.

Sheridan -- Clara Bouley and Quinton Brooks.

Story -- Bradford Burns.

Worland -- Barr.

About Wyoming WWAMI Medical Education Program

Wyoming WWAMI Medical Education Program is a partnership between the University of Wyoming and the University of Washington School of Medicine. WWAMI Medical Education reserves 20 seats each year for qualified Wyoming residents. Students accepted to the program spend 18 months on the University of Wyoming campus. Students spend the third and fourth years at selected clinical sites throughout the WWAMI region.

About the University of Wyoming College of Health Sciences

UW's College of Health Sciences trains health and wellness professionals and researchers in a wide variety of disciplines, including medicine, nursing, pharmacy, speech-language pathology, social work, kinesiology, public health, health administration and disability studies. The college also oversees residency and fellowship programs in Casper and Cheyenne, as well as operating a speech/hearing clinic in Laramie and primary care clinics in Laramie, Casper and Cheyenne.

With more than 1,600 undergraduate, graduate and professional students, the college is dedicated to training the health and wellness workforce of Wyoming and conducting high-quality research and community engagement, with a particular focus on rural and frontier populations.