Applicant Information

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Residency Requirements

To be eligible for the Wyoming WWAMI Medical Education Program, you or your parent or legal guardian must be a legal resident of Wyoming for five continuous years preceding matriculation into medical school. You must make application to the University of Wyoming for residency certification.
The UWSOM can only consider your application if you have been officially certified as a Wyoming resident. Simply indicating Wyoming as your state of residence on the AMCAS application is not sufficient.

Applications for residency certification may be obtained after May 1 from:
The Preprofessional Advising Office
College of Health Sciences
University of Wyoming
Health Sciences Center, Room 110
Dept 3432, 1000 E. University Ave.
Laramie, WY 82071-3432
Telephone: 307-766-6704
e-mail: preprof.hs@uwyo.edu

The application may also be downloaded here:
WWAMI Application for Certification
October 15, 2010
is the deadline for submitting the
Wyoming Residency Certification application
for matriculation in the fall semester of 2009.

Those received after the deadline will not be accepted.

Academics: Preparing for Admission to the
University of Washington School of Medicine

The premedical course requirements must be completed before matriculating and preferably before applying. Undergraduate or post/baccalaureate required courses must be completed in the United States at a college or university accredited by the appropriate regional accrediting body. Courses must include a minimum of: 
 

• Social Sciences or Humanities - four semesters or six quarters. 
• Chemistry and Biology - six semesters or nine quarters. The subject matter in these courses must include general chemistry, general biology, biochemistry, molecular genetics and cell biology/cell physiology. 
• Physics - two semesters or three quarters; OR one semester or two quarters of physics, plus one semester or two quarters of calculus or linear algebra.

The following courses are recommended, but not required: 

• Ethics 
• Anatomy or comparative anatomy 
• Human or mammalian physiology 
• Embryology

Courses such as evolution, ecology, biodiversity, nutrition, environmental sciences, astronomy and atmospheric sciences will not satisfy the prerequisites. The biochemistry course for first-year medical students focuses on molecular mechanisms central to human health and disease. It is taught with the assumption that participants have already mastered the fundamentals of biochemistry, including molecular genetics, structure and activity of proteins, and metabolism.

Under exceptional circumstances, some course requirements may be waived for individuals with unusual achievements and academic promise. All candidates should demonstrate substantial academic ability in their major field as well as in the required science courses. Candidates should be proficient in the use of the English language, basic mathematics, personal computing and information technologies.

All entrants in recent years have fulfilled requirements for a bachelor's degree. No specific major is advised. A broad background in the humanities and liberal arts is encouraged.
 

NOTE: Course requirements have changed from the 2009 admissions. Please click here for further details.

MCAT

Applicants must submit scores from the 2008, 2009, or 2010 Medical College Admission Test (MCAT). This exam must be taken no later than Sept. 30 of the year prior to possible matriculation. The University of Wyoming offers a 2 credit course in preparing for the MCAT. Please contact Craig Vaske (cvaske@uwyo.edu) for more information.

Application Process
If you are considering attending the Wyoming WWAMI Medical Education Program and you meet the residency requirement, you must follow these procedures:

1. One year prior to the time you plan to begin medical school, you should apply for residency certification through the University of Wyoming Preprofessional Advising Office.
2. Submit an application to the American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS). List the University of Washington School of Medicine (UWSOM) as one of the medical schools to which you are applying. UWSOM requires application through this service. The application is available May 1 on their web site. AMCAS has several deadline dates. Pay close attention to the deadline date set by the University of Washington.

Residency Requirement
To be eligible for the Wyoming WWAMI Medical Education Program, you or your parent or legal guardian must be a legal resident of Wyoming for five continuous years preceding matriculation into medical school. You must make application to the University of Wyoming for residency certification.
The UWSOM can only consider your application if you have been officially certified as a Wyoming resident. Simply indicating Wyoming as your state of residence on the AMCAS application is not sufficient.

Applications for residency certification may be obtained after May 1 from:
The Preprofessional Advising Office
College of Health Sciences
University of Wyoming
Health Sciences Center, Room 110
Dept 3432, 1000 E. University Ave.
Laramie, WY 82071-3432
Telephone: 307-766-6704
e-mail: preprof.hs@uwyo.edu

The application may also be downloaded here:
WWAMI Application for Certification
October 15, 2009
is the deadline for submitting the
Wyoming Residency Certification application
for matriculation in the fall semester of 2009.

Those received after the deadline will not be accepted.

Acceptance Process
Once you have been certified as a Wyoming resident, the Preprofessional Advising Office will forward your name to the UWSOM Admissions Office. UWSOM will review your AMCAS application based on their admissions requirements. You may receive a request from UWSOM for supplemental information. If so, you must respond according to their deadline. After your application is complete, the Admissions Office may invite you for an interview. All interviews take place in Seattle. Offers of acceptance are issued by UWSOM.

Accepting an offer from UWSOM for one of the sixteen seats offered to Wyoming residents carries with it a contractual obligation. You must sign a contract to reimburse the University of Wyoming for the educational costs (plus interest) expended on your behalf, or return to the state after completion of a residency program to practice medicine for a period of three years, at which time your contractual obligation is canceled.

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What are my chances of being accepted as a Wyoming WWAMI student?

Like essentially all U.S. medical schools, our application process is competitive, but at present we have rates of acceptance that are considerably higher than those of U.S. medical schools in general or even than other states within the WWAMI program. These impressive numbers are due in part to our close and ongoing relationships with the applicants. In the most recent three years (2006 - 2008 entering classes), our ratio of applicants to students accepted has been 2 to 1. The lowest ratios for other WWAMI states are 3 or 4 to 1. Washington and Alaska have ratios of 5 to 1. Nationwide the ratios are 2.4 to 1 (cite). Of course, our acceptance rates are even higher for students with GPA and MCAT scores near our averages.

University of Washington School of Medicine applicants who were offered positions for the fall of 2007 had a mean GPA of 3.69 and the following mean MCAT scores: Verbal 10.5, Physical Sciences 10.7, Biological Sciences 11.1, and a mode of "Q" in the Writing Sample. It is important to remember that these average scores rather than cut offs. The admission decision is based on the entire application; and the interview is also a very important part of the application process.

All entrants in recent years have fulfilled requirements for a bachelor's degree. No specific major is advised. A broad background in the humanities and liberal arts is encouraged.

Some of the above data regarding UWSOM application information is taken from the University of Washington School of Medicine website:

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How much does a Wyoming WWAMI medical school education cost?

For the entering class of 2009, the Wyoming WWAMI medical students and their families pay $12,000 a year for 4 years to cover tuition and registration fees to the University of Washington School of Medicine (UWSOM). The State of Wyoming pays the difference between the student's annual payment and the UWSOM tuition costs (between $47,000 and $69,000 per year of medical school).

Following completion of a residency program, if the student returns to Wyoming to practice medicine for three years, he or she will have completed the contract. If the student does not return to Wyoming to practice, then he or she is required to pay back the amount of money owed on the contract. (Wyoming WWAMI students who graduated medical school in 2008, owed approximately $145,000 plus interest if they decide not to return to Wyoming to practice medicine.)

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Where do I receive my Medical Education?

Overall, students receive an excellent medical education at the number one ranked Primary Care Medical School in 2008, the University of Washington School of Medicine (US News and World Report)

Year 1 is spent at the University of Wyoming, in Laramie, WY. The course curriculum consists of basic science courses and clinical medicine courses in a small class setting (16: 1 student/faculty ratio ); and one-on-one clinical experience with a local, primary care physician.

Year 2 is spent at the University of Washington School of Medicine, in Seattle, WA. The basic science course curriculum continues with the 'organ systems' courses, and continuation of clinical medicine courses.

Years 3 and 4 are the clerkship years. Wyoming WWAMI students can take their required and elective clinical rotations in communities in any of the 5 WWAMI states (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho). This means that Wyoming WWAMI students have an opportunity to spend the majority of their medical education within the state of Wyoming!

After graduating from the UWSOM, Wyoming WWAMI students attend residency programs in their chosen field of medicine programs across the U.S. Residency programs take anywhere from 3 to 6 years to complete, depending on the program and level of specialty.

 

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Must Wyoming WWAMI graduates specialize in a particular area of medicine?

No. There are 85 Wyoming WWAMI graduates who are either currently in residency, or graduated from a residency program. Residency programs allow graduates to receive additional training in a specific area of medical practice. There are two family medicine programs located within the state of Wyoming, and Wyoming WWAMI graduates can also pursue any other specialty around the country. The following is a list of the specialties of our past graduates:

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Do former Wyoming WWAMI students return to Wyoming to practice medicine?

Yes! As of fall 2009, 63% of those eligible to return to Wyoming have come back to our state to practice medicine. The new physicians are state-wide, settling in Buffalo, Casper, Cheyenne, Cody, Douglas, Evanston, Gillette, Jackson, Lander, Laramie, Powell, and Sheridan.

Last Updated on 11/4/2009 12:29:35 PM