Year one of the Mellam Family Foundation grant, a two-year, $50,000 award, helped expand the supply of future rural physicians through the Rural/Urban Underserved Opportunities Program (RUOP). The Mellam Project uses the WWAMI program network and Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) to reach out to a selected number of rural high school students and Native American youth in the region.

• Western Washington
  UW medical and health sciences graduate students visited three rural high schools in LaConner, Nooksak, and Eatonville, Wash. At each school the UW students gave presentations on college life, academic preparation and career-choice decisions in the variety of health sciences
• Eastern Washington and Idaho
  Medical students taught Moscow (Idaho) High School students organ system anatomy and physiology in relation to substance abuse issues. The UW students also presented an HIV/AIDS/STD awareness curriculum to the entire student body at Pullman High School in Washington. Junior and senior high-school students from several rural schools worked at paid summer internships, often alongside RUOP medical students acting as mentors.
• Wyoming
  The program purchased 100 copies of the National Health Council publication, "300 Ways to Put Your Talent to Work in the Health Field." Copies were distributed to six high schools in Fremont County, Wyo. as well as to local physicians who may have patients interested in health careers. The Wyoming program also coordinated tours and career discussions for high school students at two hospitals in Fremont County, and sent 92 students to Casper Health Career day.
• Alaska
  WWAMI and AHEC faculty and staff visited Nome, Shishmaref, Homer, Cold Bay, Kodiac, and Dutch Harbor, Alaska, to discuss health careers and opportunities with high school students. Students from Shishmaref, Wales and St. Mary's also received support for travel and participation in the University of Alaska's WWAMI-sponsored summer medical education U-DOC enrichment program.
• Montana
  Mellam funds focused specifically on attracting American Indian students into health careers and health activities, including public school education workshops for fifth and sixth graders, supporting WWAMI medical students participating in local health fairs and developing resource materials for community health centers.