Ian Engerbretson, MD ’24

Growing up in Moscow, Idaho, I always knew I wanted to work in healthcare. I was that weird kid who liked going to the doctor and getting shots. There was just something impressive about the medical environment, and I was enamored with any school subject related to health science.

When it came time to make a decision about college, I chose nursing because it seemed really exciting. I remember being part of a code blue at the hospital where I was a CNA (certified nursing assistant) and the nurses were running around the bed starting IVs and giving medications, and I thought, “Oh, I want to do that too.” It looked more fun than being the doctor standing at the foot of the bed trying to figure out what was wrong.

I graduated from nursing school in 2015 and worked in the ICU at Saint Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Lewiston, Idaho, for six years. Eventually, I became an EMT, too, because I was thinking about becoming a flight nurse. But as I became more competent as a nurse, I realized that I wanted to further develop those skills and learn how to ultimately diagnose the illness, which I think is really the crux of being a physician. I also saw firsthand how the rural communities in Idaho desperately needed more doctors.

As a husband and the father of two small children at the time, it wasn’t only my decision, though. When I came home one day, saying, “Yeah, I think I need to go to med school,” my wife just said, “Okay, let’s do it.” And she was just all aboard, which is such a blessing.

Discovering a tight-knit community

I’d always known about the WWAMI (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho) program, and my brother-in-law was able to become a doctor through it, so once I got my prerequisites done, I applied to the University of Washington School of Medicine with the goal of coming back to Moscow to practice.

When I was working as a nurse, our hospital was a catchall for patients from rural areas. It was challenging to discharge people to environments where you knew they wouldn’t have consistent access to follow-ups because even primary care was too far away, which could impact their health outcomes. But they want to live in rural areas, which I understand because I’m not a city boy, either.

Which is why my wife and I want to go back to Moscow. We just love the community, the small-town feel of being connected with everyone, and I’m excited about the prospect of building long-term relationships with patients and having a big impact on their lives.

Scholarships make dreams come true

With four kids now under the age of six, I don’t know how medical school would have been possible without scholarships. They’ve been a godsend. I received the Laura Moore Cunningham Endowed Scholarship for Idaho Medical Students, and I was really touched by the idea that someone created a scholarship for a student like me.

Scholarships have helped me offset the cost of things like supplemental educational materials that are so essential but can cost hundreds of dollars. I just finished my second board exam, and scholarship money was crucial in helping me get a good score. And there are unexpected things that come up — when you apply to medical school, you don’t think about travel costs, but participating in WWAMI, you travel quite a bit.

It might sound a little cliché, but a scholarship donor really is making someone’s dream come true. Restarting my career and going back to school seemed insurmountable when I first started thinking about it. My brother-in-law was very encouraging and told me not to be scared of all the “what ifs.” Taking on this kind of debt was a huge “what if.” And I think a lot of physicians choose to practice in a metropolitan area because the compensation is higher.

For a long time, I’ve dreamed about becoming a doctor in a rural area to help solve the physician shortage. My whole family and I are so grateful for the gift of scholarships, which are helping to bring this dream to fruition.

As told to Nicole Beattie