Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine

The Washington State University School of Medicine was established by the WSU board of regents in 2015, after the state legislature amended a 1917 statute that gave the University of Washington in Seattle the exclusive right as a public institution to grant degrees in medicine in the state.[2][3]

The creation of a medical school at Washington State University was opposed by the University of Washington; both WSU and UW issued contradictory reports in 2014 as to the viability of a second public medical school in the state. The increasingly acrimonious debate between the two institutions was described as a "feud" in media reports and state senator Andy Hill chastised the two schools for forcing the legislature to "become the parent in this dispute."[4][5][6] Confusion created by the unexpected resignation of UW president Michael K. Young, however, largely muted the University of Washington's opposition to the project.[4]

In July 2015, the board of regents announced their intention to name the medical school after the late WSU president Elson Floyd; the name was officially changed to the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine that September.[7] After a national search, Dr. John Tomkowiak was selected as dean.[8]

In February 2016, the Liaison Committee on Medical Education granted the school candidate status, the first in a multistep process toward accreditation.[9] In October 2016, Washington State University announced that the LCME had granted preliminary accreditation to the school.[10]

In August 2016, the Spokane Teaching Health Clinic on campus opened. It is intended to provide experiential learning to pharmacy and nursing students and was created by a consortium of WSU, Empire Health Foundation, and Providence Health Care to gain support for more federal residency positions in Spokane.[11]

On August 18, 2017, the school held its white coat ceremony for the inaugural class of 60 students. The school uses a community-based model of medical education, training physicians for the first two years on the WSU Spokane campus, then distributing the class across four regional campuses located in: Everett, Spokane, Tri-Cities, and Vancouver.[12]

In the first two years, students study the foundational sciences for medicine, integrated with the fundamentals of clinical practice.

Students begin their education with a two-week intensive training program; learning the basics of taking patient history, taking vital signs, conducting a physical exam, and other fundamentals clinical skills. After completing the training program, students travel to their assigned regional site to complete the first of three, one-week clinical "intersessions." These clinical experiences are continued at the beginning of every quarter during years one and two, and are also where students will complete their third- and fourth-year clinical clerkships.[13]

After returning to the Spokane campus in the fourth week, students begin their first curriculum block, anatomy and histology. Students split their time between classroom instruction, cadaver lab, and self-directed learning through weekly small group case-based-learning sessions.[14]

Not far from the WSU Spokane campus, Sacred Heart Medical Center has long had a relationship with the WSU College of Pharmacy and as clinical partner it hosts a residency program that offers a teaching certificate.[15]

• List of medical schools in the United States
• WWAMI Regional Medical Education Program
• University of Washington School of Medicine

• Official website