Review of US medical school finances, 1998-1999

Based on data from the Annual Medical School Questionnaire of the Liaison C ommittee on Medical Education, to which 100% of the 125 accredited allopath ic US medical schools responded, we found that revenue supporting programs and activities of the 125 accredited medical schools in the United States t otaled $39761 million in 1998-1999, Three sources accounted for 79.3% of to tal revenues: practice plans ($13 724 million; 34.5%), grants and contracts ($11982 million; 30.1%), and hospital support ($5814 million; 14.6%), In t he aggregate, total revenues increased by 7.4% between 1997-1998 and 1998-1 999, a consequence at least in part due to a 2.9% increase in the number of full-time faculty, The largest increase in dollar amount came from grants and contracts ($1101 million; 10.2% increase), Revenue increases were not e venly distributed across the schools, Increases of 10% or more in key reven ue sources-practice plans and hospital support-were reported by approximate ly one fourth of all schools, Another one fourth reported decreases in thes e same sources.