Medical students show they have the WRITE stuff

Every year, Sandpoint welcomes a medical student into our community through a very special program. This year we are lucky enough to have two — Pamela and Luke Durling, a young married couple in their third year of medical school at the University of Washington School of Medicine.

This program brings students from their medical school in Seattle into rural areas to get experience in a small town.

The program covers the states of Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho (WWAMI), and is called WWAMI Rural Integrated Training Experience, or the WRITE program.

Participation in the WRITE program is encouraged if students have an interest in one day practicing medicine in a rural area. As all of us know here in Sandpoint, medical care in an area like ours is very different than that found in the cities.

Pam and Luke Durling are no strangers to rural areas, however. They both grew up in Montana, Pam in Lewistown (central Montana), and Luke in the Bitterroot Valley. They met at school in Bozeman, Montana, where they were both pre-med students at Montana State University.

Both of them discovered their passion for medicine at an early age, and after four years of undergraduate work and nearly three years of medical school, their enthusiasm has not been dampened. Luke is thinking that his specialty may be surgery, while Pam loves all aspects of medicine and has not been able to narrow down a specialty yet.

When asked what their medical school experience is like, so far, Pam explains, "The first two years of school are mostly book learning and learning how to do proper exams and talk to patients. After that, it's more hands-on."

"The beginning of our third year was spent doing in-patient work in Seattle's major hospitals," Luke continues. "Now we're focusing on outpatient work here in Sandpoint."

The twenty-week WRITE program works out so that the students get the best of both worlds. They gain experience working with patients in a large city environment, while at school in Seattle, and then get to learn what patient care and resources are like in a rural setting.

While in Sandpoint, the students spend the twenty weeks of their program working with different practices around town.

They work closely with Dr. Leedy and Dr. Meulenberg of Family Health Center, as well as spending a few weeks with Sandpoint Women's Health, Sandpoint Pediatrics, Dr. Iddins (a local psychiatrist) and Dr. Cipriano of Sandpoint Orthopedics.

Since their arrival in February, the students have helped deliver babies, assisted in surgeries, had office visits with patients, attended lectures, and done rounds and worked in the Emergency Department at Bonner General, to name a few. Far from being overwhelmed, the two seem to thrive in Sandpoint, enjoying our slower paced atmosphere, where doctors are able to spend more quality time with their patients.

As part of the program, each of the WRITE students will be involved in a community project. Pam is working with an occupational therapist to provide free home safety assessments, and installing home safety equipment where needed. Luke's project will allow Daily Bee readers to get to know him a little bit better. He will be writing a series of articles on cardiovascular health that will be featured in Wednesday's Health Beat. (His first article will appear next week.)

After completing their training here in Sandpoint this June, the couple will return to Seattle, where they will begin their fourth and final year of medical school. You never know, maybe we'll see them back here one day when they decide where they want to settle in and practice medicine.