Greg Mason / The Spokesman-Review
Statistically, the Washington State University Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine enrolls higher numbers of American Indian and Alaska Native students compared to other medical schools nationwide.
That's not saying much, Leila Harrison admitted.
Harrison, the College of Medicine's senior associate dean for admissions and student affairs, pointed to how WSU's number of enrolled American Indian and Alaska Native students has ranged as high as approximately 5% of the total student population. By comparison, the annual nationwide rate in that span has hovered around 0.7%, according to Association of American Medical Colleges data.
"When you say that, you would think that it's a big number," Harrison said. "It's still a small number, and that needs to change."
The College of Medicine is hoping to do so by expanding a program that offers conditional acceptance into WSU's medical school to students from federally recognized tribes.
Since 2020, WSU has partnered with the Oregon Health and Science University School of Medicine in Portland and the University of California, Davis School of Medicine to offer the Wy'east Post-Baccalaureate Pathway.
As part of the program, the College of Medicine has granted conditional acceptance to up to four students per year who first attend a 10-month program at OHSU in Portland.
Starting in 2024, WSU will host its own pathway program on the Spokane campus thanks to a five-year, $3.4 million federal grant that will allow for more enrollees and for WSU a more direct connection with program participants.
"The amazing part of that is we get to have our own faculty train them. We get to immerse them into our own learning environment and learning community," said Harrison, who has spearheaded WSU's program pathway efforts. "For them, they get to know us better as an administration and our current student body. They get to become more familiar with the resources that are available to our medical students."
Before getting involved in Wy'east, the WSU College of Medicine founded in 2015 was not established long enough to create its own pathway program.
Harrison said OHSU reached out around 2018 to see if WSU was interested in Wy'east, thereby giving participating students options to attend medical school either at WSU Spokane, OHSU or UC Davis in Sacramento. WSU's first Wy'east cohort was picked in 2020.
The 10-month program in Portland prepares participants for the first year of medical school with anatomy and epidemiology coursework, clinical shadowing, research and Medical College Admission Test preparation.
Moving to Portland for 10 months' of classes before moving again to Spokane was a barrier for many prospective applicants, however. Lexie Packham, who is entering her second year at the College of Medicine, had to move from Utah to Portland for Wy'east before finally landing in Spokane to attend WSU.
"That was a bit inconvenient for my husband who had to be switching jobs a lot," said Packham, a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. "It would've been nice to do Wy'east at the school that I was going to attend afterwards."
A new $3.4 million grant, funded over five years from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, will allow WSU, OHSU and UC Davis to each operate their own pathway programs for Native students.
WSU's program, which will come online in fall 2024, will have a new name reflective of local tribes, Harrison said. WSU also plans to enroll more students and will attempt to make it a certificate or degree program.
"These are not necessarily going to be courses that are already existing," she said. "Part of this is building, working with our current faculty to build coursework that is applicable to this level of student that is sort of pre-preparation for the medical curriculum."
Wy'east students, as well as those participating in WSU's future program, must be enrolled members of federally recognized tribes, regardless of race or ethnicity, and must have a bachelor's degree. State law prohibits WSU from considering race or ethnicity for admissions.
Harrison said the grant also allows WSU to hire additional program staff.
"It's really kind of bringing them into that College of Medicine family that we have and the overall culture that we have," she said. "They already become part of us, so that way, when they matriculate into the medical school, they are already comfortable. They already have that knowledge and trust rather than transitioning and building it brand new."
Packham said Wy'east gave her a pathway to pursue her dream after her initial applications into medical school were rejected.
"It's really important that WSU has a program like Wy'east to get Native people involved in medicine because I know a lot of Native people who are interested in working in health care," she said. "It's hard because they don't ever see a Native doctor."
Packham had applied to medical schools after studying microbiology at Brigham Young University. While she wasn't accepted, two of the schools WSU and OHSU referred her to the Wy'east program.
As a result, Packham said her first year at WSU felt like review after learning much of the material in Wy'east, which due to the conditional acceptance provided a "low-stakes environment" for her to learn.
"That really helped me have a mindset of just trying my best and not being a perfectionist about things," she said, "because the point of school, the point of medical school, is to keep failing until you really understand the coursework and the medical skills. That shift with Wy'east really helped."
Read this article:
- "Shift Happens" - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Getting Started With Your Personal Statement - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- I started this blog 1 year ago. I'm ready to become a medical doctor. - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Poll Results: "What is your GPA?" - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Why Ross University School of Medicine? - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Why Ross University? (Continued) - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Filling out applications with the last 4 years in mind. - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- "Active and Passive Euthanasia" - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- 300 Word Personal Statement - First Draft - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- 300 Word Personal Statement - 2nd Draft - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- "Where did you do EMT training at?" - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- "is this jonathan that went to brazil in the summer of 2006?" - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- First Application is Away - Ross University - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- AMCAS—The American Medical College Application Service - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- The Student Doctor Network - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Crime Incident - Public Safety Announcement: STUDENTS - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- AMCAS Deadlines & Delays - Answered - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Headstart on Secondary Applications - The Student Doctor Network - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- The Complete Medical School & Admissions Guide - Revisited - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Interview Status - Ross University - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Finished my first interview. - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- "You have a 95% chance of acceptance..." - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- "I was just wondering if I have to go to medical school i will have to start college allover again." - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Interview Feedback - Allopathic Medical Schools - Ross University School of Medicine (Dominica Caribbean) - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- ACCEPTED! - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Step 1 Revisited - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- A Few More Thoughts On Moving - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Update - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Closing In - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Internet/Computer Hell - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Back On The Net - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- 1 More Day - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Loan Deferment Blog - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Graduated! - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- What Happened? - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Interesting Case - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- What Made Me Stupid? - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Blah. - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Call - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Medicine in the Media - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Was Medical School Worth It? - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Off I Go... - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Is It Worth It, Part 2 - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Oriented - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- GLBT in Medical School - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- GLBT in Residency Applications - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- I Survived - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Reflections on the First Week - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- All Good Things Must End - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- The Lone Coyote is Back - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Pre-med student switches gears to teach in Chicago school - Chicago Tribune - March 8th, 2010 [March 8th, 2010]
- Old-school barbecue coming to spot near Fort Worth medical district - Fort Worth Star Telegram - March 8th, 2010 [March 8th, 2010]
- Nursing home drug use puts many at risk - Boston Globe - March 8th, 2010 [March 8th, 2010]
- Dr. Anita Figueredo, first female surgeon in San Diego, dies at 93 - Los Angeles Times - March 8th, 2010 [March 8th, 2010]
- Stimulus funds pay for monkey research in NC - MiamiHerald.com - March 8th, 2010 [March 8th, 2010]
- Medicine as an economic engine - Buffalo News - March 8th, 2010 [March 8th, 2010]
- UM medical school feels the squeeze - MiamiHerald.com - March 8th, 2010 [March 8th, 2010]
- HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL ADVISER Bell's palsy not as serious as it appears - Detroit Free Press - March 8th, 2010 [March 8th, 2010]
- Baylor medical school works to get back on track - Houston Chronicle - March 8th, 2010 [March 8th, 2010]
- From community college to Amherst College and Yale Medical School - WalletPop (blog) - March 8th, 2010 [March 8th, 2010]
- Man questions merit of coke monkey study - UPI.com - March 8th, 2010 [March 8th, 2010]
- School Board has questions it wants answered about onsite medical clinic - Terre Haute Tribune Star - March 9th, 2010 [March 9th, 2010]
- Stimulus Funds Pay for Monkey Research - NewsMax.com - March 9th, 2010 [March 9th, 2010]
- Babylon schools head: Teen's collapse unrelated to athletics - Newsday (subscription) - March 9th, 2010 [March 9th, 2010]
- Cost Of Medical School Rises In Recession - NPR - March 9th, 2010 [March 9th, 2010]
- Flu Shots in Children Help People of All Ages - New York Times - March 9th, 2010 [March 9th, 2010]
- A prescription for improving science education - Scope (blog) - March 9th, 2010 [March 9th, 2010]
- Live kidney donors do not die sooner: study - Reuters - March 9th, 2010 [March 9th, 2010]
- UW football player suspended after alleged assault - Seattle Post Intelligencer - March 10th, 2010 [March 10th, 2010]
- More Comparative Studies Needed to Guide Physicians Study finds less than a ... - ModernMedicine - March 10th, 2010 [March 10th, 2010]
- Conservationists worry about Mo. med school plan - KOAM-TV - March 10th, 2010 [March 10th, 2010]
- Dr. William D. Lynn - Baltimore Sun - March 10th, 2010 [March 10th, 2010]
- Suspect in North Dallas shootings became reclusive after parents died, family says - Dallas Morning News - March 10th, 2010 [March 10th, 2010]
- Drinkers Gain Less Weight - Harvard Crimson - March 10th, 2010 [March 10th, 2010]
- Long-Term Health Risks Low for Kidney Donors - WebMD - March 10th, 2010 [March 10th, 2010]
- School resource officer remains in critical condition - Middletown Journal - March 10th, 2010 [March 10th, 2010]
- New Lucian Leape Institute Report Finds That U.S. Medical Schools Are Falling ... - PR Newswire (press release) - March 10th, 2010 [March 10th, 2010]
- Dual degrees program expands for Mayo Medical School students - Post-Bulletin - March 10th, 2010 [March 10th, 2010]
- Comparative Effectiveness Research is a Must - TopNews United States - March 10th, 2010 [March 10th, 2010]
- Long Beach OKs medical pot ordinance - Contra Costa Times - March 10th, 2010 [March 10th, 2010]