Context: Scope of practice is an important factor in both training and recruiting rural family physicians. Purpose: To assess rural Idaho family physicians' scope of practice and to examine variations in scope of practice across variables such as gender, age and employment status. Methods: A survey instrument was developed based on a literature…

During 1974-1978, a six-week senior clerkship was completed by 234 students in six WAMI (Washington, Alaska, Montana, Idaho) family practices. The average student saw 56 percent of diagnoses common in family practice, and performed 26 percent of common procedures. Despite wide regional variation, few differences were seen among the sites. (MSE)

To address problems of geographic and specialty distribution of physicians in the states of Washington, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho, the University of Washington School of Medicine developed a regional program of graduate medical education. The program is centrally coordinated by the school's associate dean for clinical affairs. (Author/MLW)

Rural areas have difficulty attracting physicians, and they also send fewer students to medical schools than do urban areas. A program at the University of Washington's medical school known as WAMI--for Washington, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho--is trying to combat that problem. (MLW)

In an effort to make the geographic distribution of physicians closer to the distribution of the population as a whole, in 1971 the states of Washington, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho (WAMI) established the WAMI Program. The results of the first seven years of the program are described. (Author/MLW)