Senate Education Committee advances HB 368 to study Idaho medical education, keeps WWAMI seats discretionary

At a meeting of the Idaho Senate Education Committee, members voted to advance House Bill 368 to the fourteenth order of business for possible amendment after testimony from medical educators, students and state officials about Idaho’s physician shortage and medical training capacity.

The bill as introduced would have required the state-funded WWAMI (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, Idaho) medical education program to decrease by at least 10 funded student positions beginning in the 2027–2028 academic year; the amendment the committee is considering would change that requirement from a mandatory decrease (“shall”) to discretionary language (“may”) and direct the State Board of Education to convene a work group to develop an Idaho undergraduate medical education expansion plan.

The bill sponsor, Representative Dustin Manwaring, told the committee the amendment is intended to give the State Board and the work group flexibility to evaluate all program partners—WWAMI, the University of Utah program, ICOM and Idaho institutions—against a set of factors including the state’s physician shortage, quality of programs, in‑state use of funds and the number of residency placements produced. "These are the factors that we're suggesting as we're evaluating WWAMI and those 10…