Medical schools reeling as state funds dip

Underserved patient populations are likely to be the biggest losers.

By Myrle Croasdale, AMNews staff. Feb. 17, 2003.

In the wake of state budget woes across the country, publicly funded medical schools are considering a variety of options for making ends meet. They include raising tuition, cutting research funding and freezing faculty hiring.

School administrators say they'll do their best to protect medical education this year but they aren't optimistic about maintaining the quality of training and research if the budget downturn persists.

Seventy-three medical schools out of the 124 allopathic four-year programs in the United States are considered public. Many raised tuition in 2002 because of budget pressures, and more increases are slated for fiscal year 2003.

California, which is facing a $35 billion shortfall, has a history of protecting its medical education system, but this year that's impossible, said Gerald Levey, MD, provost for medical science at the University of California, Los Angeles, and dean of the David Geffen School of Medicine.

While one year will be tough, a pattern of cuts could be crippling, he said. "What's of deep concern to myself and all academic [administrators] in California is the magnitude of budget cuts to the state next year, the year after and who knows how long into the future," Dr. Levey said. "When things stabilize, we tend to not get the cuts back."

All of the University of California system's five medical schools have already raised student fees to cover a mid-2002 cut from the state.

Dr. Levey said the UCLA medical school is considering raising student fees $1,200 for fiscal 2003. Research has already been affected. But, Dr. Levey said he is committed to expanding the school's research portfolio to help address state budget cuts.