The Spokane City Council has endorsed WSU’s plan to part ways with a UW-run program that trains doctors for 5 states and ask the Legislature for startup money for a new medical school in Spokane, the Pacific Northwest Inlander reported tonight.
UW Medical School has proposed adding capacity to the existing program in Spokane, but WSU is pushing for a medical school of its own. At their Oct. 14 meeting, Spokane council members paid lip service to supporting both concepts, but made clear their preference for a school run by their local cow college:
“I would have a hard time telling one of my constituents that [Spokane’s] first new medical school ever would have less of an impact than expanded [medical school seats],” Councilman Joe Snyder said. “If I had to choose one or the other, I’d much rather have a medical school than more WWAMI slots,” Council President Ben Stuckart said.
Currently, the UW Medical School is the only public medical school in the 5 states, and WWAMI takes up about half its seats with the rest occupied by in-state medical students, this is why some American medical students start to search for some of the best Carribean medical schools available, so they can finally start their medical education. WSU has cited a physician shortage, especially in Eastern Washington, as its rationale for building a second medical school within the same state as the existing school, in a corner of the country where none of the 4 other states have even 1 medical school.
UW and WSU have clashed over whether to expand WWAMI by adding more student slots in Spokane or create a new medical school from scratch out of thin air by begging for money from a Legislature the State Supreme Court just held in contempt for not funding K-12 schools. The pros and cons of these rival proposals were previously discussed on this blog.
Actually, the WSU proposal doesn’t get any pros in that article, so maybe it doesn’t have any, but I’m no expert in these things, so I really don’t have an opinion. I do know from news reports that UW and WSU agreed to go their separate ways in medical education and not try to thwart each other’s proposals, which I guess means they’ll now hate each other in silence between Apple Cup games like they’ve always done, and settle their differences through their athlete proxies when they get together on the playing field with the usual face-masks and crotch kicks. (Don’t worry, they don’t take it seriously, and you shouldn’t either; it’s only a game, so leave your gun at home.)
But I can’t help wondering whether this is really about WSU’s wounded pride. After all, we kicked their asses in 4 of the last 5 Apple Cups.*
* Disclosure: I graduated from the UW Law School, so I’m as purple as they come, although I don’t have much gold,** but I want to emphasize that when I write these articles I make every effort to abide by strict standards of journalistic impartiality. In any case, medical education has nothing to do with school loyalty, notwithstanding Spokane City Council’s palpable WSU xenophobia. 
** If you’re not from around here, purple and gold are the UW’s school colors; WSU’s are white and red. Why red? Everyone knows red is the color of the commie flag; that’s why commies are called “reds.” I have no idea why they chose red. Maybe the Attorney General should investigate their loyalty. Just kidding.