WICHE Doctors
Walking through the UND medical school’s parking lot, you might notice some Montana and Wyoming license plates in the student section.
While most of the medical students at the UND School of Medicine and Health Sciences are from North Dakota, a few in each class hail from our neighbors to the west. They participate in the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE)’s Professional Student Exchange Program. These WICHE students, as they are called, attend medical school here because their states do not have medical schools.
“The WICHE program is an amazing opportunity for folks from states that don’t have a medical school,” said Ashley Beller, a fourth-year medical student at UND originally from Missoula, MT.
“Without this program, I couldn’t have gone to medical school.”
What IS WICHE?
What: Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE)’s Professional Student Exchange Program
States: Montana and Wyoming
Programs: Medicine, physical therapy, occupational therapy, graduate nursing
2005-06 academic year: Three medical students and nine physical therapy students
Payments to UND: $176,000 in support fees this year |
How it Works
In the late ‘80s when times were tight, the North Dakota State Board of Higher Education asked the medical school to start accepting WICHE students, and in turn, their out-of-state tuition dollars.
“Having WICHE students has its financial advantages,” said Judy DeMers, (BSN ’66), associate dean for student affairs and admissions at the UND medical school. “Home states pay about $100,000 per student over the fours years they are here.”
Because state budgets are tight, some WICHE students may not receive this help for tuition payments, and pay out-of-state tuition from their own pockets until they are able to establish North Dakota residency.
Students from Montana and Wyoming who want to go to medical school first apply to participate in the WICHE’s Professional Student Exchange Program.
Once they are in, they go through the competitive application process in the very same way as their future classmates from North Dakota.
“The addition of WICHE students has been really great,” said DeMers. “As an applicant base, they make getting into the school more competitive, giving us better students. As medical students, their backgrounds are just different enough that they bring varied life experiences. They give us a more diversified student body.”
Once they are in, they are just one of the gang.
“Being a WICHE student isn’t really any different than any one else, except for the application process,” Beller said.
In addition to the UND medical school, WICHE students are also welcome at state medical schools in Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon and Utah. Often students enroll in the WICHE program, hoping to go elsewhere for the medical education, until they interview at UND.
“I was very impressed with UND’s patient-centered learning curriculum,” said Beller. “Plus, everyone here is so nice. They are friendly and very pro-student. They really want you to succeed.”
Robin Hape, M.D. ’02, a fifth-year resident-physician in the UND medical school’s surgery residency program, agrees.
“When I applied to UND, my wife and I thought it would be a good back-up plan,” remembers Hape, who grew up in Yellowstone National Park on the Wyoming/Montana border. “But after my interview, we decided that UND was our number-one choice.”
“I wouldn’t go anywhere else,” said Jerry Eckardt, a third year medical student from Cody, WY, who was also set on UND after his interview.
“I loved the curriculum, the professors and all the opportunities available here.”
Two-Way Street
In addition to medicine, UND also accepts WICHE students in the programs of occupational therapy, physical therapy and graduate nursing through the Professional Student Exchange Program.
“WICHE was my ticket to UND, but it’s the ride that’s really worth the while.”
Robin Hape, M.D.
UND fifth-year resident-physician, surgery, Grand Forks |
Through the program, UND received three medical students and nine physical therapy students who were funded by other WICHE states in the 2005-06 academic year as well as some $176,000 in support fees. In addition, each student pays for resident tuition, room and board, and incidental student expenses. The school accepts even more WICHE students, who pay their own way, without the help of their home states.
Hape, who plans to stay in the Grand Forks area after completing
residency training, couldn’t be happier with his education at the UND School of Medicine and Health Sciences.
“WICHE was my ticket to UND,” said Hape, “but it’s the ride that’s
really worth the while.”
- Amanda Scurry
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