WWHAT's IN AN ACRONYM?

Commentary from Stephen Joel Guggenheim, M.D.
Director, Montana WWAMI Medical Education Program
 

The renaming of WAMI as WWAMI with Wyoming's entry in the program has generated a great deal of interest. Although we have emphasized that this does not change the pronunciation of our name, some have nevertheless complained that it is causing too much stuttering.

WIMWA and WAMWI were never really considered because they sounded like baby-talk. It has been suggested that we could have enhanced our image by going to WAWMI (pronounced as it looks) which has a more eastern, Ivy League sound to it.

In addition to this somewhat patrician possibility, we could have gone with a theological/philosophical option. Using the letter "Y" for Wyoming (It is phonetically correct!) we could have been WYAMI (Why am I?).

Of course the greatest lost opportunity was the failure to get Hawaii into the program when this might have been possible in the 70s (WWHAMI). By now we would have been "double whammy."

When he's not writing humorous essays, pathologist Steve Guggenheim is a violist with the Bozeman Symphony Orchestra, the Intermountain Opera and The Montana Ballet.

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Reprint history:
Reprinted with permission from the WWAMI-Montana Web site.
Reprinted with permission of the Ed. (Leila Gray <leilag@u.washington.edu>)
University of Washington School of Medicine
Online Faculty News Service
Vol. 1, No. 16
Friday, Oct. 24, 1997

Posted on Wednesday, July 23, 2008