An anonymous donation estimated at $50 million will help fund senior-year clinical tuition for students in the University of Washington’s medical laboratory science undergraduate program.
The gift will support annual disbursements to cover tuition for students’ senior-year clinical rotations in perpetuity, with the total value expected to surpass $50 million over the next 50 years, according to a Dec. 1 news release from Seattle-based UW Medicine.
“This donor’s selfless generosity will allow us to reduce the debt burden for our students and attract more young people to the field to ensure that our region has the skilled laboratory workforce that is so critical to high-quality, timely patient care,” Tim Dellit, MD, CEO of UW Medicine and dean of the UW School of Medicine, said in the release.
The gift will cover in-state tuition during clinical rotations and support program expansion. UW Medicine said it plans to grow enrollment in the Bachelor of Science degree program from 70 to 100 students over the next decade. Currently, 35 students are completing their senior-year clinical rotations.
Graduates of the program help address a growing workforce shortage in laboratory medicine across the five-state WWAMI (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, Idaho) region. Only two programs in Washington offer baccalaureate-level degrees in this field, UW Medicine said.
UW Medicine comprises multiple organizations, including Airlift Northwest, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Harborview Medical Center, UW Medical Center, UW Medicine Primary Care, UW Physicians and the UW School of Medicine.
