ISU seeks 'green light' on medical degree program

BOISE — Idaho State University President Arthur Vailas says his plan to create a medical degree program will go before the state Board of Education next year and if it passes, could accept students as soon as 2012.

Vailas is plowing ahead with ambitious plans to offer Idaho's first medical degree program, despite an order by Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter this week to cut another 3 percent from state budgets already whittled down by 1 percent in September.

"At some point, somebody has to give us the green light," Vailas told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

Idaho is among a handful of states without a medical school. In January, the state Board of Education is expected to consider a detailed proposal to create a medical degree program on the Pocatello campus.

The program would require $21 million in startup money, which the university plans to cover with a loan, and would plan to enroll 60 medical students each year beginning as soon as 2012, Vailas said.

"We're not asking the state for money," he said.

Vailas will, however, ask the board that governs higher education at Idaho public colleges and universities for permission to begin the accreditation process with the nationally recognized Liaison Committee on Medical Education.

Under the Idaho State plan, the school would train medical students through existing health science courses during their first two years. Students would spend their last two years at clinical sites in Idaho for hands-on training.

The state now sends medical students to train as doctors in Seattle through a cooperative program that reserves spots for Idaho, Wyoming, Alaska and Montana at the University of Washington School of Medicine. The program, known as WWAMI, reserves seats for 20 students from Idaho.

While both the University of Idaho and Boise State University are in favor of expanding WWAMI rather than building a medical school, the governor told a legislative committee this year he was "terribly disappointed" in the program because the state hasn't been able to retain enough doctors from Idaho.

Meanwhile, Vailas has been trying to interest lawmakers in creating a medical program on the Pocatello campus since his first public speech as university president in 2006.

The school has a statewide mission to provide health and science education, said Vailas, a former NASA researcher and National Institute of Health fellow who was chosen for the presidency largely on the basis of his medical credentials.