Native News
A $25 Million Donation is Aimed at Solving Critical Physician Shortage in Native and Rural Communities
A $25 million donation to the University of Washington School of Medicine Medical Student Education Program will establish a scholarship program to increase the number of physicians serving Native and rural communities.
Philanthropists William and Carolyn Franke and their family have made a $25 million gift to create the Franke Medical Student Scholars Program. The program will fund scholarships, student support, and education programs for medical students committed to serving rural and Native communities in Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho. The states are collectively known as the WWAMI region, which is home to more than half a million Native people.
The donation is thought to be the largest single financial gift to rural healthcare.
$20 million will cover half of the medical school tuition for approximately 30 students. $4.5 million will establish the Franke Family Endowed Fund for Excellence to bolster student recruitment and retention, as well as activities to support graduates practicing in rural communities across the region. These efforts include the formation of the W.A. Franke Rural Medical Education Summit. The remaining $500,000 will seed the Franke Family Excellence Fund to provide immediate support for the summit.
The WWAMI region has one of the country’s most severe primary-care physician shortages. The region ranks 50th in physicians per capita.
People in Native communities and rural communities often must travel great distances for the medical care they need.
“Aspiring rural physicians face significant and growing barriers to pursuing medical education, completing their degree and returning to practice rural medicine,” Dr. Tim Dellit, CEO of UW Medicine and dean of the UW School of Medicine, said in a press release. “The Franke family’s extraordinary generosity will help reduce many of these barriers to allow our students to pursue their dreams, not their debt.”