A lobby group is seeking to make state funding for Idaho's longest-running medical education program contingent on adopting policies that are against diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, programming.
But educators who run the program say they already follow state law that prohibits DEI in public education.
The program, known as WWAMI, stands for Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho. It is run through the University of Washington School of Medicine and focuses on bringing doctors to rural, western states.
Idaho has the lowest number of physicians per capita in the country. Since 1972, hundreds of doctors have graduated from WWAMI’s Idaho program, more than half of whom stayed to practice in the state.
One of those doctors is Robert McFarland. He practiced medicine for about 35 years in Coeur d’ Alene.
“ The goal is to train students who will return to Idaho, and who will serve where there is need in Idaho. And it's been very successful at that,” he said.
The proposition by the Virginia-based lobby group, “Do No Harm” “expresses concerns about the influence of DEI and gender ideology” according to the draft proposal.
Dr. Frank Batcha is the assistant clinical dean for the Idaho WWAMI program. He said there's nothing in the program, from classes to admission selections, that could be considered DEI, based on what this group is lobbying against.
“ Some of their ‘whereases’ is in this resolution are just blatantly erroneous,” he said.
The resolution, Batcha said, implies the medical program pushes a political ideology, which he said is untrue.
“ They talk about, I guess to sort of paraphrase, that we might be indoctrinating our students to some type of ideology,” Batcha said. “In reality, this looks like an attempt to enforce a single ideology that is acceptable to this group.”
Because both Washington and Idaho have laws prohibiting affirmative action, and Idaho specifically prohibits DEI in public education, Batcha said signing on to such an agreement would incorrectly implicate the WWAMI program in practices that are illegal in both Washington and Idaho.
The proposal would direct WWAMI to “review and revise admissions criteria to ensure Idaho applicants are evaluated solely on merit and professional qualifications,” which is something the program already does.
It would also require the program to “remove admissions prompts or evaluation tools that function as ideological inquiries or require affirmation of DEI-based or gender-ideology frameworks.”
“ We do not have those in place in the first place,” Batcha said.
Idaho WWAMI students spend their first two years training in-state before continuing their education in Washington state.
Batcha said at that point, they have the option to take elective courses on subjects like abortion and gender-affirming care. But those classes are not required, are not taught in Idaho, and are not paid for by state funds.
“ We don't have any electives here in Idaho that would train or require our students to do anything that would violate Idaho law,” he said.
Abortion is illegal in Idaho, and gender-affirming care is illegal in the state for minors.
McFarland, who served on Idaho’s WWAMI admissions committee, said he’s not sure how the program could be more compliant with Idaho laws. But, he said, he worries if the state adopts the resolution it could have a chilling effect on accepting well-qualified applicants.
He said if a student happens to be part of a minority group, or have interest in caring for underserved populations, such as the local refugee community in Boise, admissions committees shouldn’t have to worry that their selection will be perceived as DEI.
“If we admit a student who states that she wants to return to Idaho and included in her practice that group of people, that doesn't mean that we're biased toward the minority group,” he said.
McFarland also said he takes issue with an out-of-state lobbying group trying to influence medical education in Idaho.
“I don't know how an organization based in Virginia is qualified to talk about Idaho values,” he said. “But I've lived my whole life here. I was born in Idaho, and one of the chief values that I recognize is that we look out for our neighbors.”
So far, no legislators have attached their names to the resolution. A lawmaker would have to get involved to have the legislature formally consider it.
