Betty K. Adams, M.D. - Paul G. Ramsey, M.D. Endowed Scholarship in Medicine
EST. 2015
Please address your letter to:
Dr. Betty Adams
Betty K. Adams, M.D. received her medical degree from the University of Washington School of Medicine in 1956. Dr. Adams interned at the Deaconess Hospital in Spokane and remained in eastern Washington for the following forty years as a physician at Washington State University’s Student Health Service. During her tenure at WSU, Dr. Adams saw the Student Health Service grow as more physicians joined the practice and WWAMMI (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho) students came to campus. She served as the director from 1979 until 1988, when she continued her work there as a full-time clinician until her retirement in 1996.
Throughout her career, Dr. Adams was an active member of the Pacific Coast College Health Association, an organization with membership from three coastal states along with Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Alaska, Hawaii, British Columbia and Alberta. Her peers chose her as president of this group in 1986 and presented her with their highest service award in 1995.
While Dr. Adams admits to missing her work upon first retiring, she has found that she now has more time for other activities important to her. She is active in her community, serving on the WSU Institutional Review Board as well as four other community boards and participating in the Kiwanis club. She also enjoys traveling and has visited all but three U.S. states as well as many foreign countries. Dr. Adams also spends time each year on a family farm in Missouri where she and her cousin manage cows and calves.
When asked about her experience as a student and clinician, Dr. Adams shared the following:
“I continue to think medicine is the number one profession and I am so lucky to have been a part of it. My number two profession is teaching and I’ve been lucky to have been involved there too — if for a much lesser extent. It has been gratifying to watch my medical school alma mater grow and flourish.”
