finding common ground:
saying "yes and!" to diverse perspectives and equitable practices

about the theme

For this conference, we want to celebrate the many ways that WGEA members are working toward “Finding Common Ground” within and across communities. Our theme borrows principles from improv theater to provide a language for discussing the attitudes and skills that allow collaborative exchange and advancement.* We invite you to say “yes and” to sharing experiences and programs that reflect commitment to attunement, affirmation and advancement within and among social, cultural, and ideological communities and along the continuum of medical education.

about the host

Nearly fifty years ago, the University of Washington School of Medicine formed a unique partnership with the states of Washington, Alaska, Montana and Idaho, adding Wyoming in 1996, to provide innovative and cost-effective medical education to this region known as WWAMI. UW medical students have access to a variety of settings for clinical training: from a busy Level I trauma center in Seattle, WA, to a small primary care clinic in Libby, MT, to working with Alaska Natives in Anchorage, AK. Because of the WWAMI program, the UW School of Medicine has been identified as a top medical school for primary care education, as well as family medicine and rural medicine training.

​

* Fu, B. Common Ground: Frameworks for Teaching Improvisational Ability in Medical Education. Teach Learn Med. 2019:31(3):342-55.
https://doi.org/10.1080/10401334.2018.1537880.