{"id":14698,"date":"2013-01-11T14:08:18","date_gmt":"2013-01-11T21:08:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/?p=14698"},"modified":"2013-01-11T14:08:18","modified_gmt":"2013-01-11T21:08:18","slug":"gov-otter-acknowledges-idahos-doctor-shortage-proposes-one-step-toward-a-fix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/2013\/01\/11\/gov-otter-acknowledges-idahos-doctor-shortage-proposes-one-step-toward-a-fix\/","title":{"rendered":"Gov. Otter Acknowledges Idaho&#8217;s Doctor Shortage, Proposes One Step Toward A Fix"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_14708\"  class=\"wp-caption module image left\" style=\"max-width: 300px;\"><a class=\"fancybox\" title=\"Gov. Otter delivered his State of the State speech Monday, Jan. 7, 2013.\" href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/files\/2013\/01\/UyhMg.AuSt_.36.jpeg\" rel=\"\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-14708\" title=\"Butch Otter \" src=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/files\/2013\/01\/UyhMg.AuSt_.36-300x215.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"215\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Joe Jaszewski \/ Idaho Statesman<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gov. Otter delivered his State of the State speech Monday, Jan. 7, 2013.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>As we reported earlier this week, Gov. C.L. &#8220;Butch&#8221; Otter showed his support to Idaho&#8217;s medical educators and doctors by including <a title=\"Gov. Otter Advocates For Expanding Idaho\u2019s Medical Education Opportunities\" href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/2013\/01\/07\/gov-otter-advocates-for-expanding-idahos-medical-education-opportunities\/\" target=\"_blank\">money for additional access to med school<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Otter&#8217;s budget proposal includes funding for five additional seats at the University of Washington Medical School, <a title=\"WWAMI: Idaho\u2019s Medical School\" href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/topic\/wwami\/\" target=\"_blank\">the WWAMI program<\/a>. That would expand the opportunity for Idaho med school students from 20 slots to 25. Otter&#8217;s proposal also includes $109,000 for Boise&#8217;s internal medical residency.<!--more--><\/p>\n<div class=\"related-content alignleft\"><h4 class=\"related-header\">Related<\/h4><div class=\"links\"><h5>Posts<\/h5><ul><li class=\"link\"><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/2012\/09\/26\/idaho-lawmakers-will-be-asked-to-fund-five-additional-wwami-seats\/\">Idaho Lawmakers Will Be Asked To Fund Five Additional WWAMI Seats<\/a><\/li><li class=\"link\"><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/maps\/map-how-the-number-of-idaho-doctors-stacks-up-to-other-states\/\">Map: How The Number Of Idaho Doctors Stacks Up To Other States<\/a><\/li><li class=\"link\"><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/2012\/10\/02\/why-idahos-doctor-shortage-wont-be-easy-to-solve\/\">Why Idaho&#8217;s Doctor Shortage Won&#8217;t Be Easy To Solve<\/a><\/li><li class=\"link\"><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/2012\/10\/03\/what-north-dakota-can-show-idaho-about-training-rural-doctors\/\">What North Dakota Can Show Idaho About Training Rural Doctors<\/a><\/li><li class=\"link\"><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/2012\/10\/04\/how-idaho-is-trying-to-boost-its-number-of-doctors\/\">How Idaho Is Trying To Boost Its Number Of Doctors<\/a><\/li><li class=\"link\"><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/2012\/10\/08\/comparing-doctor-shortages-in-small-states\/\">Comparing Doctor Shortages In Small States<\/a><\/li><li class=\"link\"><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/2012\/10\/12\/as-idahos-doctor-workforce-ages-who-is-stepping-up-to-replace-them\/\">As Idaho&#8217;s Doctor Workforce Ages, Who Is Stepping Up To Replace Them?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div><div class=\"topics\"><h5>Topics<\/h5><p class=\"topic\"><img class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/files\/2012\/09\/92063909.jpg\" height=\"60\" width=\"60\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/topic\/wwami\/\">WWAMI: Idaho&#8217;s Medical School<\/a><\/p><p class=\"topic\"><img class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/files\/2012\/09\/Smither-Petrie.jpg\" height=\"60\" width=\"60\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/topic\/doctor-shortage\/\">Understanding Idaho&#8217;s Doctor Shortage<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<p>Idaho doesn&#8217;t have its own medical school. Instead, the state pays the difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition for 20 Idaho med students each year to attend the University of Washington. Another eight slots are available at the University of Utah. That&#8217;s been the solution to Idaho&#8217;s lack of a med school since the 1970s. But since the <a title=\"WWAMI: Idaho\u2019s Medical School\" href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/topic\/wwami\/\" target=\"_blank\">WWAMI program<\/a> was created, Idaho&#8217;s population has more than doubled.<\/p>\n<p>The need for doctors in Idaho is apparent in data. As we reported last fall, Idaho has <a title=\"Why Idaho\u2019s Doctor Shortage Won\u2019t Be Easy To Solve\" href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/2012\/10\/02\/why-idahos-doctor-shortage-wont-be-easy-to-solve\/\" target=\"_blank\">fewer doctors per capita<\/a> than every state in the country except Mississippi. Plus, 42 percent of Idaho&#8217;s physicians are <a title=\"As Idaho\u2019s Doctor Workforce Ages, Who Is Stepping Up To Replace Them?\" href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/2012\/10\/12\/as-idahos-doctor-workforce-ages-who-is-stepping-up-to-replace-them\/\" target=\"_blank\">55 or older<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Currently, Idaho spends about $5 million each year to pay for participation in WWAMI and Idaho&#8217;s various residency programs. University of Washington&#8217;s vice dean for regional affairs Suzanne Allen says medical educators in the state are very pleased that Gov. Otter recognized Idaho&#8217;s <a title=\"Understanding Idaho\u2019s Doctor Shortage\" href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/topic\/doctor-shortage\/\" target=\"_blank\">physician shortage<\/a>, and the need for educational support.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Medical education is a pipeline,&#8221; says Allen. In order to function, residency programs and medical school programs need to work in concert, she says.<\/p>\n<p>Still, Gov. Otter&#8217;s budget is only a suggestion. State legislators have final say.<\/p>\n<p>Idaho&#8217;s doctor shortage, and Gov. Otter&#8217;s financial support for expanding med school opportunities is the subject of a segment on tonight&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/idahoptv.org\/idreports\/\" target=\"_blank\">Idaho Reports on Idaho Public Television<\/a>. Tune in at 8:00 p.m. MT\/PT, Sunday at 10:30 a.m. MT\/PT or listen Sunday evening at 7:00 p.m. on <a href=\"http:\/\/boisestatepublicradio.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Boise State Public Radio<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As we reported earlier this week, Gov. C.L. &#8220;Butch&#8221; Otter showed his support to Idaho&#8217;s medical educators and doctors by including money for additional access to med school. Otter&#8217;s budget proposal includes funding for five additional seats at the University of Washington Medical School, the WWAMI program. That would expand the opportunity for Idaho med [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":14708,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[15],"tags":[210,27,183,188],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14698"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14698"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14698\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}