BOISE, Idaho — An out-of-state advocacy group has introduced a resolution criticizing Idaho’s medical education partnership known as WWAMI, prompting pushback from physicians who say the proposal misrepresents how the program operates.
The resolution is being pushed by Do No Harm, a Virginia-based advocacy group, and follows lawmakers’ review of Idaho’s medical education system during the 2025 legislative session. That review included legislation that examined how and where future doctors are trained in the state.
WATCH: Idaho doctors respond to resolution criticizing the WWAMI program
The resolution calls on the University of Washington, which oversees the WWAMI program, to formally pledge that it complies with Idaho law when educating and admitting medical students.
Physicians involved with the program say the resolution suggests WWAMI is teaching or prioritizing topics that violate Idaho law, including claims tied to diversity requirements or controversial medical practices. Doctors say those claims are false.
“What I will say is this is a resolution that is in search of a problem,” said Dr. Frank Batcha, a family physician in Hailey and an assistant clinical dean with Idaho WWAMI.
Batcha said WWAMI already operates within Idaho law and follows the same core medical curriculum required of medical schools nationwide.
“We already comply with Idaho law from that standpoint,” Batcha said. “So it’s sort of, I think, for lack of a better word, kind of a publicity stunt that puts WWAMI in the crosshairs.”
He added that WWAMI’s curriculum is designed to prepare students to pass national licensing exams, not to practice medicine outside the bounds of state law.
“Our clinical curriculum is the same clinical curriculum that all medical schools in the United States have to adhere to,” Batcha said.
Physicians say the timing of the resolution is especially concerning as Idaho faces a severe shortage of doctors. Idaho currently ranks last in the nation for physicians per capita, and doctors say WWAMI plays a key role in training and retaining physicians in the state.
“So we know that if the students do training here in Idaho, that there’s a really high probability that they’re going to come back and practice here in Idaho,” Batcha said.
Lawmakers and the public will have an opportunity to learn more about WWAMI next week at the Idaho State Capitol, where Gov. Brad Little is expected to sign a proclamation recognizing more than 50 years of the program’s partnership to train physicians for Idaho communities.
