Idaho should consider several options to address its physicians’ shortage, according to a working group that has been studying the problem since summer.
The menu includes expanding its 50-year partnership with the University of Washington’s medical school, and purchasing a private, for-profit medical school in Meridian.
“The plan described here is immediately actionable in the near term,” according to a draft of the working group report, released by the State Board of Education late Monday afternoon.
The State Board of Education will take public comments on the medical education plan through Dec. 12, at comments@edu.idaho.gov.
The report, in finished form, is due to Gov. Brad Little and the Legislature on Jan. 2 — just 10 days before the start of the 2026 legislative session. Lawmakers are likely to debate medical education programs again in 2026, and where the state should spend taxpayer dollars on subsidized medical school seats.
The working group report doesn’t set out a specific blueprint. It instead lays out — and does not rule out — the alternatives on the table.
WWAMI. Here, the working group does make a recommendation. It says Idaho should “invest in additional seats” with Washington’s WWAMI program, which takes in students from its member states, Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho. WWAMI now sets aside 40 medical school seats for Idaho students per year; Idaho subsidizes their tuition, at a cost of $7.6 million this year.
WWAMI expansion could be a touchy topic, however. A 2025 state law calls for subsidizing 10 new medical school seats per year for three years — but none at WWAMI, which has accepted Idaho students since 1972. That same law says the state might, or might not, scale back its WWAMI seats.
WWAMI and the University of Idaho have pushed for maintaining their existing partnership, or expanding it.
University of Utah. The report says the state has two options for expanding its partnership with Utah’s medical school.
Idaho could subsidize additional seats at Utah’s Salt Lake City campus. Utah now sets aside 10 seats per year, at a cost of $3.1 million a year.
The working group also addresses a proposed partnership with the U of I, which would convert space at its downtown Boise campus for Utah medical school seats. The U of I-Utah partnership could accept an initial class of 30 students in 2028, but at a cost: $11.5 million in startup expenses and $8.5 million to remodel space.
Seats at ICOM. For the first time, Idaho could subsidize seats at the Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine. ICOM has proposed a $35,000-a-year tuition subsidy for some of its Idaho students. And the report notes that ICOM, founded in 2016, has grown to help meet the regional demand for doctors. “Unlike Idaho’s public partnerships, ICOM receives no direct state funding, yet its graduates increasingly serve Idaho’s healthcare system.”
An ICOM purchase. The working group also points out that ICOM could be on the market — and points to a recent consultant’s report that recommends the state purchase the school. The working group report does not recommend a purchase outright, but instead calls it a possibility.
As Idaho Education News reported first last week, a consultant hired by Idaho State University recommended a public acquisition of ICOM, despite the unknown costs. The report used a placeholder number, $250 million, to weigh the pros and cons of an ICOM purchase or starting up a new public medical school from scratch.
The working group’s co-chairs said the state needs to fund additional medical school seats, while building in-state clinical training spots and residencies for medical school graduates.
“Idaho’s physician workforce challenge is solvable with a disciplined, Idaho-centered approach,” wrote Sen. Dave Lent, R-Idaho Falls, and Rep. Dustin Manwaring, R-Pocatello.