Senate Bill 5228

 Update as of May 25, 2023 

In 2021, the Washington State Legislature enacted a law addressing disproportionate health outcomes by building a foundation of equity in medical training, codified in RCW 28B.10.698 and RCW 28B.10.699. Pursuant to RCW 28B.10.699 the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine has developed the following goal. 

Goal

The Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine will strive to enroll students that reflect the diverse population of the state of Washington with a special focus on populations that are underrepresented in the medical profession. 

Method

The College of Medicine is deploying a series of strategies to meet this goal. 

• Blinding MCAT and GPAs once threshold combinations have been met as partial requirements to receive a secondary application (these metrics are not seen by anyone in making admissions or interview decisions) so that we are solely focusing on attributes and experiences that most align with our mission including those who come from or have served rural and underserved communities. 
• Executing pathway programs that serve to historically underrepresented groups in medicine 
  • RISE Summer Academy is a partnership with OHSU and UC Davis School of Medicine and hosted by WSU Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine and the WSU Spokane Native American Health Sciences office. This program hosts Native American aspiring physicians who plan to apply to medical school in 1-3 years. 
    • Forty-five scholars have successfully completed the RISE Summer Academy. Two have enrolled in medical school at WSU or elsewhere. 
  • RISE Wy’east Pathway includes the same partnership as above. This pathway includes conditional acceptance for WSU Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine to select up to 4 Native American scholars each year to attend the post-baccalaureate program at OHSU and enroll at WSU’s College of Medicine. 
    • Five WSU scholars successfully completed the Wy’east Pathway. One has enrolled in medical school at WSU. 
    • Preparing to launch an extension of the Wy’east pathway in 2024 to be Washington State focused. Name to be determined in partnership with tribes in Washington. 
  • Dare to Dream is a high school pathway that serves high achieving migrant high schools to expose them to the health professions including medicine. 
    • 65 migratory youth in high school have completed Dare to Dream Health Sciences Academy. 
• Continuing to seek opportunities to partner with entities and institutions to create initiatives that support and recruit underrepresented students. 
  • Partnered with the Washington State BIPOC Health Careers Ecosystem to support and recruit underrepresented students into health professions. 
  • The College of Medicine continues to enroll diverse and mission-aligned applicants including those underrepresented in medicine (URiM; Black/African American, American Indian Alaska Native, and Hispanic) with 17.5% of the most recently enrolled MD class identifying as URiM. 
• Recruitment efforts at Washington community colleges and institutions that serve higher numbers of students underrepresented in medicine. 
  • We continue to strengthen partnerships with community colleges and institutions in Washington State. 
• Schedule individual meetings for applicants invited to interview who identify as 
  • American Indian Alaska Native and/or an enrolled tribal member with the Director of Native American Health Sciences to discuss the support provided to Native American students at the Health Sciences campus. 
• Provide all applicants with the opportunity to conduct mock interviews with our medical students, allowing applicants to choose a Student Interest Group that aligns with their identity, including Student National Medical Association and the Latino Medical Student Association. 
  • About 50% of all applicants interviewed with the WSU College of Medicine have participated in mock interviews in the past three cycles. 
• Annual Inclusive Excellence Scholar in Residence (now known as the Health Justice and Belonging) program focused on diversity, health justice, and belonging accessible to future students with opportunities to meet, learn from, and build connections with current medical school students, residents, providers, and health organizations. 
  • 372 students, staff, faculty, community members from across Washington and beyond attended the 2023 Health Equity and Public Good Conference.