Committee advances bill to add medical school seats, direct state plan while preserving WWAMI partnership

House Bill 368, which would expand Idaho's undergraduate medical education capacity and direct the State Board of Education to produce a medical education growth plan, advanced out of the Idaho House Committee on Education on a due-pass vote.

Representative Dustin Manwaring, state representative for District 29 and sponsor of House Bill 368, told the committee Idaho "faces a critical need for more physicians, particularly in rural and underserved areas." He said the bill would add 30 new non‑WWAMI seats leading to a net increase of 20 state‑sponsored medical school seats, bringing the total to 70.

The bill directs the State Board of Education to prepare a medical education plan this year that would inform how new seats are added and where training occurs. "This bill adds those net 20 seats, 30 non‑WWAMI and then the second part ... directs the state board of education this year to create a medical education plan," Manwaring said during his presentation.

Why it matters: Idaho ranks near the bottom among states for physicians per capita, and committee members and witnesses framed the proposal as an effort to strengthen the pipeline of doctors who train and remain in Idaho. Manwaring and witnesses cited current arrangements with WWAMI (the Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, Idaho regional medical education program) and new partnerships…