Alumni and Student News

Pride in PreMat
PreMat — a prematriculation program for first-year medical students — is sponsored by the UW School of Medicine’s Office of Multicultural Affairs. The program gives students the academic and social support they need to facilitate a smooth transition into medical school. David Acosta, M.D., Res. ’91, the dean of multicultural affairs, instructors Andy Farr, Ph.D., and Charles H. (Chip) Muller, M.D., Ph.D., Res. ’82, and program coordinator Mary Walls, MPH, congratulate the students on completing their histology course.

Photo courtesy of the Office of Multicultural Affairs, UW Medicine

Our WWAMI Students
Medical students at the University of Alaska in Anchorage pose in the Alaska Native Medical Center. Every year, 20 students begin their first year of medical school in Alaska — part of the WWAMI program’s work in creating educational opportunities in a five-state region.

Photo courtesy of the WWAMI-Alaska program

The WWAMI students — all from Montana, either in their third or fourth year of medical school — take a break from work and study to relax at a gathering in Missoula. Missoula is one of more than 100 sites in WWAMI where medical students undertake training. Pictured in the green shirt: Douglas S. Paauw, M.D., Res. ’98, ’99, internal medicine faculty.

Photo courtesy of the WWAMI-Montana program

Dinner With a Doctor
Jane A. Lester, M.D. ’86, Res. ’90, (second from left), hosts students Jaqui Foss, Kelly Fong and Lacey Irwin at a Student-Alumni Informational Dinner (SAID) in February. Interested in participating in SAID? Or in other programs where alumni help students with advice or a place to stay (and more)? Contact us at medalum@uw.edu, 206.685.1875 or toll free 1.866.633.2586.

Photo courtesy of Jane Lester, M.D.

Lifetime Achievement
Franklin Newman, M.A., Ph.D., above, a founder and former director of the Montana WWAMI program, was awarded the UW School of Medicine’s Lifetime Achievement Award for his work on behalf of the program. The award was presented on Oct. 7, 2011; Newman passed away shortly thereafter, on Nov. 11. Pictured above, from left to right: Dr. Newman, Jay Erickson, M.D., Res. ’90, assistant clinical dean for Montana, and Martin Teintze, Ph.D., interim director and assistant dean of Montana WWAMI’s first-year program.

Photo courtesy of the Office of Regional Affairs, UW Medicine

The Road to Browning
Last fall, first-year students from the Montana WWAMI site visited with schoolchildren in Browning, Mont., (part of the Blackfeet Reservation). Raima Amin and Justin Shinn, at right, used a circulatorysystem chart to interest the kids in anatomy. Read more about their trip.

Photo: Martin Teintze, Ph.D.