April 28, 2005
Dr. Deb Harper heads eastern Washington clinical training programs
Spokane pediatrician Dr. Deborah J. “Deb” Harper has become the assistant dean for the WWAMI Clinical Phase/Eastern Washington for the University of Washington (UW) School of Medicine. She will be based in Spokane.
WWAMI is an acronym for Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho. These states share resources to provide publicly supported medical education across the five-state region and to train new physicians for practice in the region. WWAMI particularly prepares future doctors to meet the needs of rural and medically underserved populations.
As assistant dean, Harper oversees UW medical student training programs and residency programs taking place in many cities and towns across eastern Washington. Harper succeeds Dr. Philip Cleveland, who has retired from the post.
In the WWAMI states, community physicians and other health-care professionals teach UW medical students about patient care in their offices and in local hospitals. The UW’s regionalized medical education program is regarded as the nation’s best for teaching medical students about primary care, rural health, and family medicine. It is among the top 10 in educating medical students about internal medicine, women’s health care, care of the elderly, pediatrics, AIDS, and drug and alcohol abuse treatment.
Harper’s goal for her new position is to improve access to quality medical care for all people, both urban and rural, of the region. She also hopes to improve medical student training opportunities in the Inland Northwest, and maintain the excellence of medical education in eastern Washington to UW medical students.
Harper has taught medical students in Spokane since 1985, and has directed the pediatrics clerkship for third-year UW medical students in Spokane for five years. She also has train physician assistants through the UW MEDEX program and nurse practitioners in local nursing school programs. She is now the associate medical director of the MEDEX Program in Spokane.
Harper practices pediatrics at Group Health in Spokane, and has been a consultant physician on child neglect and abuse prevention programs. She has been president of the Spokane County Medical Society, and is a member of the Executive Committee of the Washington State Medical Association.
