A task force that has studied whether it's feasible to establish a four-year medical school in Spokane has concluded that such a school is feasible, says Brian Pitcher, chancellor of Washington State University Spokane and a member of the task force.

Meanwhile, a second task force that has evaluated whether there's adequate support in the medical community for clerkships for third- and fourth-year medical students has found an impressive degree of support for them here, Pitcher says. In such clerkships, medical students study in rotation under practitioners in 10 different types of medicine.

The task forces, which met here Dec. 1 to discuss their findings, will present those findings formally to the University of Washington Medical School and to the provost at WSU by the end of the year, he says. Dr. Tom Norris, vice dean for academic affairs at the UW School of Medicine, chaired both panels.

"There is a verifiable need, both nationally and within Eastern Washington," to educate more doctors, Pitcher says.

The task forces' reports to the colleges are scheduled to be done just before the Legislature convenes in January, for a session in which it will address a $2.6 billion hole in the state budget.

UW President Mark Emmert and WSU President Elson Floyd signaled strongly on Oct. 14 at the annual meeting of Greater Spokane Incorporated here that they support developing a four-year medical school in Spokane. It's expected that the two universities will make a formal recommendation to the Legislature a year later, before it begins its 2011 session.

The two task forces recognize that the state's resources already are stretched thin, Pitcher says.

"These are very difficult financial times," he says. "We're feeling that."

Still, he says, "Now is the time to plan for more medical education. The budget will not always be tight."

Some of the burden for funding a medical school here would fall on the health-care industry and the federal government, both of which, like state government, have an interest in increasing medical education, Pitcher says.

"There is a private funding component that we're working on," he says. "Our federal partners are working on it," Pitcher adds, noting that GSI, which has made establishing a four-year medical school here its top priority, already has contacted Washington U.S. Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell and U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers to seek their help in finding federal money for such a project.

Several CEOs here, including Scott Morris, of Avista Corp.; Peter Stanton, of Washington Trust Bank; Tom Quigley, of Kiemle & Hagood Co.; and Mike Senske, of Pearson Packaging Systems; along with Cowles Co. Chairwoman Betsy Cowles and GSI President Rich Hadley, have served on the task force.

Emmert, asked at GSI's annual meeting when a full four years of medical education should be available here, said, "As soon as possible. It's certainly a common goal that we all have to create all four years of medical education here in Spokane. It makes great sense for the state of Washington. We as a state pretty much grossly 'underproduce' in all fields of health care, but (with) medicine and dentistry (graduates) and others in particular. Expanding here in Spokane is the obvious place to do it. We have a handful of obstacles, some of which are financial, some of which are organizational, to overcome, but they're hardly daunting tasks in my mind."

Said Floyd, "We will engage very soon on a market study to see how many students we can have here in a second year."

Pitcher says that the size of the sought-after new medical school "is a piece that's not really settled yet in terms of what's going to be reported in the recommendation," although task force members believe "there's a need long term for 120 students per class."

In 2008, the Riverpoint Campus here became the fifth location where first-year UW medical students could take medical school courses under the WWAMI program, which stands for Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho, the five states from which the students come. The students receive their second year of education at the UW Medical School, in Seattle, then receive their clinical education across the five states.

The question, Pitcher says, is "how do you step up to 120" students in each class here, and if the conclusion is that should be done gradually, the question then is how many students should be added and when. "There'll be a lot of pros and cons to evaluate, and the politics, and the cost."

It cost $71,000 to add each of the 20 first-year students here in 2008, but cost figures haven't been completed yet for adding students in a four-year school, Pitcher says. Five faculty members were hired when the 20 first-year students were brought here, he says.

The school would be "a collaboration between the two research universities," he says. "WSU would provide the staffing for the basic science part of the curriculum," basically in the first and second years, Pitcher says. "U of W would provide the staff for the clinical part," or the third and fourth years.

The task force that explored the clerkship questions polled more than 1,000 doctors here through the Spokane County Medical Society to see if they would help with clerkships for third- and fourth-year medical students, says Dr. John McCarthy, a WWAMI assistant dean of regional affairs here who served on the clerkship task force. About a third of the physicians responded, he says.

"A significant number of those who aren't currently teaching said, 'We want to,'" McCarthy says. "The conclusion would be that we should be able to do the training for all of our students here," but there aren't enough clerkships in Eastern Washington yet to train the 20 first-year WWAMI students here and the 20 at WSU's campus in Pullman, he says. An effort needs to be made to develop a culture of medical education in Spokane, McCarthy says.

McCarthy adds, "We would like to have as many first-year residencies (in Eastern Washington) as we do graduating seniors from medical school. That has implications at the federal level. GME (or graduate medical education) slots are federally funded, and there's a lock on them."

While the state budget is tight, "there's a very small proportion of state dollars that go into a medical school," McCarthy says. The rest of the money comes from the federal government, private dollars, and tuition paid by students, he says.

Pitcher says the task force reports will address the cost to students of attending a four-year medical school here, and also will address recruiting students who would be interested in staying in the region long term as physicians.

Creation of a four-year medical school would have a significant economic-development impact here, Pitcher says.

"This is a project that will bring significant jobs to Spokane"—and that also would bolster medical research here, including at hospitals, he says.

"There is not an intent to create a university research hospital," Pitcher says. "There is an intent to create a partnership with the current hospital system. Much of that clinical research could happen in these hospitals."

The UW School of Medicine is a nationally recognized medical school, Pitcher says. "They bring the brand; they bring the experience." Yet, both the UW and WSU have strong science faculties, considerable fund-raising capability, and a commitment to work together, he says, adding, "The UW has been engaged as a faithful, willing partner."