University of Washington School of Medicine – Montana WWAMI/TRUST
The TRUST (Targeted Rural UnderServed Track) program, started in 2008, provides Montana WWAMI students with a longitudinal continuity connection between rural/underserved communities, TRUST preceptors and their patients. After completing the TRUST admission process, the 12 Montana TRUST scholars are matched with continuity communities in Montana and benefit from the expertise of physician preceptors over the course of their medical school career.
TRUST helps generate a physician workforce specifically trained for underserved areas. Involvement with existing UW programs, such as the Rural Underserved Opportunities Program (RUOP) and the WWAMI Rural Integrated Training Experience (WRITE), in addition to unique curricular elements, allow TRUST scholars to immerse themselves in the care of the rural and underserved. Montana has eleven TRUST communities starting with our small-city underserved location in Butte, to two American Indian communities in Hardin and Ronan/Polson, to the eight rural training sites located in Anaconda, Dillon, Glasgow, Hamilton, Lewistown, Libby, Livingston, and Miles City. TRUST contains several TRUST community/clinical components during the medical school training, that provides opportunities to reinvigorate the students during the robust didactic training:
Jay Erickson, MD Assistant Dean for Regional Affairs, Assistant Clinical Dean, WWAMI Montana. Clinical Professor jerick@uw.edu Tel: 406-862-3810 Lisa Benzel Montana WWAMI TRUST and RUOP Director lisabenz@uw.edu Tel: 406-660-0246 |
A TRUST class on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation during the American Indian Medical Experience (AIME)
Orin Hansen, MD, is a former TRUST Scholar in Hardin, who returned to practice at his TRUST site
Kena Lackman, MD, is a former TRUST Scholar in Miles City, who recently signed to practice at St. Luke’s in Ronan
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