History

The Board of Regents officially designates WSU Spokane as the university’s health sciences campus, the first step in creating an interprofessional hub for medical education and research in eastern Washington.

A new $80 million Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences Building opens on the Spokane campus, providing 125,000 square feet for interprofessional education, clinical simulation, and medical research. The College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences completes its move from Pullman to Spokane.

With bipartisan support in the state legislature, on April 1, 2015, Washington Governor Jay Inslee signs into law a bill that gives WSU the authority to create an independently accredited medical school in Spokane. After Elson S. Floyd dies of complications from colon cancer later that year, the WSU Board of Regents votes to rename the College of Medical Sciences in his honor. Dr. John Tomkowiak, a veteran of community-based medical education, joins the college as our inaugural dean.

The college welcomes our inaugural class of 60 medical students. The departments of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology and Speech and Hearing Sciences are incorporated into the college, creating an interprofessional learning environment of future physicians, registered dietitians, speech language pathologists, and other health care professionals.

Our inaugural class of medical students relocate to regional medical campuses across the state to begin hands-on training in Washington hospitals and clinics. The college welcomes 80 new medical students in its largest and most diverse class to date, setting the standard for future cohorts of Coug Docs. Affiliate nonprofit Range Community Clinic unveils its first William A. Crosetto Mobile Health Care Unit to bring health care to Washington’s rural and underserved areas. The college is named an Apple Distinguished School in recognition of its digital curriculum and innovative approach to medical education.

Following our first Match Day, we celebrate the graduation of our first Coug doctors alongside their peers in NEP and SHS. The college launches its first residency program, the Internal Medicine Residency Program–Everett, expanding postgraduate training opportunities and bringing more physicians to practice in Washington. The MD program receives full accreditation.

The Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences opens the Autism and Neurodevelopmental Program and its onsite clinic, the first of its kind in eastern Washington. The college launches the Healthcare Administration and Leadership program in partnership with the WSU Carson College of Business and expands opportunities for pediatricians to train in eastern Washington with the launch of the Pediatric Residency Program–Spokane, a partnership with Providence Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital. WSU Spokane celebrates the newly renovated Medicine Building, which provides 113,000 square feet for upgraded flexible learning spaces, a student collaboration hub, testing center, and more. Dr. James Record is appointed dean of the college.

The college marks its 10th anniversary, celebrating a decade of homegrown health care and more than 1,000 health professions graduates in 10 years. We launch our first fellowship program, the Critical Care Medicine Fellowship–Everett, to train more specialists in-state, and a new pathway program to support enrolled Tribal members who aspire to become physicians. WSU is selected to receive the Washington State Medical Association’s first full-ride medical student scholarship. The Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences celebrates 100 years of history and new opportunities for clinical initiatives under the College of Medicine. A new joint degree program and research collaboration between the Department of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology and College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences addresses the intersection of agriculture, nutrition, and human health. Our Continuing Medical Education program receives full accreditation.