Spokane Experience 2026
A faculty-led alternative spring break trip offering real-world insights from and connections to industry, government, and non-profit organizations.
Your degree does not define your potential.
Opportunities abound in today’s complex society, but how does an anthropologist become a data scientist? Can biology help you pursue a career in customer support? What skills does an English major use to become a business leader?
The Spokane Experience is designed to foster curiosity and prime you for possibilities yet unknown.
Student Cohort: 12–15 Undergraduate Students (all majors welcome)
Deadline: October 31
Faculty Lead
Henry Evans, Associate Dean
henry.evans1@wsu.edu
Rishi Sharma, Director of Business Development
rishi.sharma1@wsu.edu
Theme: Building a Healthy City – Perspectives from Across the Healthcare Ecosystem
Tuesday, March 17 – Wednesday, March 18
Healthcare is not confined to hospital walls or medical clinics. The health of a city is shaped daily by a wide range of people nurses, physicians, scientists, public health officers, community health workers, pharmacists, social workers, nonprofit leaders, engineers, policy makers, and innovators in industry. Each brings a unique perspective, skill set, and role in advancing community well-being.
The Spokane Experience 2026 invites students to explore how different healthcare employees spanning clinical providers, administrators, public health officials, and industry professionals work together, sometimes directly and sometimes parallel, to address the diverse needs of a community.
Students will see firsthand:
- Public Health Leadership: How local agencies monitor population health, prepare for emergencies, address social/environmental factors like housing, food access, clean air, and safe spaces, and create preventive programs.
- Community Health & Outreach: How nonprofit health workers and social service providers address food insecurity, environmental hygiene, and access to healthcare; and how they promote healthy lifestyles through policy, programs, and public campaigns.
- Clinical Frontlines: How hospital staff and specialists provide direct patient care while balancing public health responsibilities.
- Academia, Industry & Innovation: How academic research institutes, pharmaceutical manufacturers, biotech startups, health insurance companies, and utility providers integrate safety, sustainability, and wellness into their operations. How they make communities healthier by developing and scaling new treatments, digital health tools, and preventive technologies; partnering with public health agencies; investing in workforce training; and supporting research that addresses local health challenges.
Through site visits, conversations, and reflections, participants will connect the dots between these different roles, gaining a deep understanding that community health is a shared responsibility built on collaboration across professions, sectors, and perspectives.
This theme encourages students to think beyond job titles and to see healthcare as an interconnected ecosystem one where their own academic background and future career, regardless of major, can make a meaningful contribution to building a healthier city.
Program Overview
The Spokane Experience is a faculty-led alternative spring break trip that connects WSU students with leaders in healthcare, civic organizations, industry, and nonprofits working to improve the health of the Spokane community.
In a two-days event, students will
- Engage directly with professionals and policymakers.
- Understand how health is defined and measured in different sectors.
- Explore the challenges and opportunities in building a healthy city.
- Discover career pathways they may not have been previously considered.
All students selected for the Spokane Experience must:
- Be enrolled as a full-time WSU undergraduate student (any campus)
- Be an admitted student in a bachelor’s degree program offered by the College of Arts and Sciences.
- Be on time for and participate in all of the planned Spokane Experience activities.
The Spokane Experience is supported by generous alumni donors and there is no cost to participate. Lunch and activity transportation (as needed) will be provided each day. Participants will be responsible for arranging their own transportation, accommodation, and other meals and will receive a stipend of $400 in advance of the trip to use for this purpose.
Each cohort will be designed to include a broad scope of academic pursuits and personal experiences.
To apply, you’ll need:
- Your current resume in a Word or PDF format.
- Name and email for two WSU references (faculty or staff members). A third non-WSU reference may also be provided (optional).
The application includes several short-answer questions (each 100 words or less). We recommend you create your responses in advance and then copy-and-paste them in the application. The questions are:
- What interests you in the Spokane Experience and what do you want to gain from the experience?
- What does the phrase “Building a Healthy Community” mean to you and who do you think is most responsible for a community’s health.
- How do you see your studies at WSU connecting with fields and career opportunities outside of your major? How do you see the Spokane Experience helping you make those connections?
- Have you been to Spokane or live there? What is your sense of Spokane’s health as a community?
Deadline: October 31
Questions?
Henry Evans, Associate Dean
henry.evans1@wsu.edu
Rishi Sharma, Director of Business Development
rishi.sharma1@wsu.edu