WWAMI Student Travel

Track Program Travel

Curriculum Department’s WWAMI Track Program page

Your Track site is your official duty station. Travel from your Foundations site to your Track site at the beginning of the Clinical Phase is not reimbursable, nor is the cost of your housing at your Track site.

Whenever you take a required clinical rotation somewhere other than your official duty station, the School will pay or reimburse your travel costs and will provide lodgings or reimburse your lodging costs. At almost every non-Seattle clerkship site, the housing will be arranged for you. There is an entry on this page regarding clerkship housing for Seattle clerkships.

Vehicle Rental

The School will reimburse you to rent a vehicle in non-Alaska WWAMI states if you are an Alaska Track student. Students in other Tracks are expected to provide their own vehicles.

Alaska Track students are not required to have vehicles for rotations in Seattle, as Seattle has a good public transportation system, but a rental vehicle for required Seattle rotations will be reimbursed for Alaska Track students.

See here for the UW’s policies regarding car rental, and information about the UW’s Enterprise and National contracts.

Student Housing for WWAMI Track Students

at Required Clerkships in Seattle

NOTE: THE FOLLOWING POLICIES ALSO APPLY TO STUDENTS COMING TO SEATTLE FOR REQUIRED EXAMS, INCLUDING OSCES

There is no temporary housing on campus for UW Medical School students on required rotations.

Medical students on required rotations in Seattle have the choice to stay at the Extended Stay America in Northgate or Extended Stay America in Bellevue (the School will directly pay for this lodging), or at any other commercial lodging facility (the SOM will reimburse students up to $80/day at these locations).

The Extended Stay hotels in Northgate and Bellevue are designed especially for longer stays with studios offering fully-equipped kitchens with refrigerator, stovetop, microwave, coffee maker, cooking utensils, dishes, and cutlery. There is wireless internet access available in all rooms and a coin-operated laundry facility on the premises that is open 24 hours.

Some things that you may want to consider are that Extended Stay in Northgate (13300 Stone Ave N) is not completely a non-smoking hotel and may become noisy when at full capacity. There are guests from several local human service agencies who rent these rooms as short-term lodging.

The Extended Stay in Downtown Bellevue (11400 Main Street) is a completely non-smoking facility, located just off of I-405 about halfway between 520 and I-90. The commute from the east side can be long at rush hour.

King County Metro bus stops are within walking distance of both Extended Stay hotels.

To arrange lodging at one of these hotels, students should contact their Regional WWAMI office at least a month before the start of their Seattle rotation. The Regional WWAMI office will make the reservation and arrange for payment by the School. Note that the School will pay for only room charges and taxes. All other hotel charges must be paid by the student.

For students who choose NOT to lodge at the Extended Stay in Northgate or Bellevue, there are variety of options to choose from with different price points and proximity to campus; SoM will provide reimbursement up to $80/day. Please note that the UW SoM neither endorse the lodging options, nor assumes responsibility or liability for accuracy of material contained therein, or services provided from these lodging options:

Students are not limited to these options, but in order for the School to pay for it, all lodging must take place in a commercial lodging facility. The UW defines a commercial lodging facility as “A business, non-profit or governmental entity that provides lodging accommodations for a fee. A commercial lodging facility other than a hotel must be supported by a tax ID number or a published advertisement. The facility must be available to the general public to qualify as commercial lodging (i.e. listed with a rental agency, newspaper ad, etc.). Reimbursements for lodging at private residence not supported by a tax ID number or a rental listing are not allowed under State and University policies and procedures.” AirBnB and VRBO are considered commercial lodging facilities. Students must present an invoice from the commercial lodging facility in order to receive reimbursement for their housing expenses.