Originally published October 31, 2014 at 11:35 AM | Page modified October 31, 2014 at 8:03 PM

The cheapest, fastest way to increase the number of doctors in the eastern part of the state is to allow the University of Washingtons medical-school program to expand in Spokane, a study commissioned by the UW says.

The study is the latest salvo between the states two research universities, UW and Washington State University, which are both vying for money from the state Legislature to create new medical-school slots in Spokane.

Underscoring the UWs interest in Eastern Washington, UW President Michael Young and UW Regent Orin Smith both flew to Spokane Thursday to have dinner with some community leaders and breakfast with other leaders on Friday before announcing the results of the study at a morning news conference.

WSU wants to build a new medical school from scratch in that city, the same place that the UW wants to expand an existing satellite program. Although both universities say their relationship has not become acrimonious, the two schools dissolved a medical-school partnership last month and announced they would pursue separate paths to address the physician shortage.

Theres little debate about the need.

Only about 120 Washington residents are accepted each year into the UW School of Medicine, the states only public medical-school program although six times that many apply. Both universities, and many medical professionals, agree that Washington should be sending more of its students to medical school as part of a strategy to increase the number of primary-care doctors in rural and underserved areas of the state.

The UW report, written by research firm Tripp Umbach, says that the UWs plan to double the size of its Spokane program would be the most cost-effective option, and could be done rapidly.

I think theres been an avalanche of misinformation and misunderstanding this (study) addressed a lot of that, Young said in an interview later Friday.

He said some leaders dont realize that the UW is already doing medical-school training in Spokane for 40 students, and is on a clear pathway to add 40 more. Under the current program, students can spend all four years of their medical-school education in Spokane no training needs to be done in Seattle.

See the rest here:

UW study fuels debate on who should train doctors in Spokane