REVIEW OF US MEDICAL-SCHOOL FINANCES, 1996-1997

Based on data from the Annual Medical School Questionnaire of the Liai son Committee on Medical Education, to which 100% of schools responded , the revenues that supported the programs and activities of the 125 a ccredited medical schools in the United States totaled $34 897 million in 1996-1997, A large proportion (78.9%) of these revenues was derive d from 3 sources: practice plans, grants and contracts, and hospital s upport. Both public and private medical schools, in aggregate, have co ntinued to experience growth throughout the last decade but at a progr essively slower rate, primarily because of a slowing in the growth of practice plan revenues. Federal revenues supporting research in public and private medical schools since 1992-1993 have grown at annualized, constant-dollar rates of 5.6% and 4%, respectively. Growth in state a nd local appropriations to public medical schools has tended to lag be hind inflation. Growth in reported revenues from endowments that are u sed to support programs at private medical schools is on the rise. The aggregate numbers mask considerable variation among schools with rega rd to changes in financing. A small, but appreciable, number of school s have witnessed a constant-dollar decline in their total practice pla n revenues since 1992-1993. The financial data reviewed in this report demonstrate the continued dependence of medical schools on faculty-ge nerated sources of revenue and confirm the perception that medical sch ools, as a group, are experiencing constraints on the growth of their enterprises.