Dean's Message
The following is an abbreviated version of the dean’s 2003 State of the Medical School address

Donald E. Wilson, MD, MACP, The John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor and Dean

We are now just four years away from the medical school’s bicentennial celebration. I confess that when I came here in 1991, 2007 was the furthest thing from my mind. But now it is rapidly approaching. Having now been dean here for 11 years, I found that there are only 10 deans in our nation of 126 medical schools who have served longer at their current position.

Working together, Maryland’s faculty, staff and students have made our school one of the premier medical schools in the country, and I am proud of our progress. Two thousand two was such an exciting year that it was difficult to select just a few items for inclusion in this report.

Our faculty, students and 2,500 staff are the heart and soul of this institution. There were 1,024 full-time faculty in the medical school in 2002, compared to 991 in 2001. Twenty-four of our faculty are in allied health departments, 135 in basic science departments and 865 in clinical departments. One third of our faculty are women, and 7 percent are under-represented minorities.

The AAMC in a recent report acknowledged our success in recruiting and retaining women, particularly in tenured or tenure-track positions. At Maryland, the percentage of women promoted to senior positions and receiving tenure is well above national averages. In addition, the number of women division heads and chairs also exceeds national averages. Three of our department chairs and seven of our associate/assistant deans are women. We are also national leaders in the inclusion of minorities as faculty and as leaders such as associate deans and department chairs. Indeed, I believe that our diversity has contributed greatly to our overall success.

There were 2,891 applicants for our current first-year class of 150 medical students, compared to 3,055 in 2001. Nationally, medical school applications decreased by nearly six percent last year—the sixth year in a row of decline. Our decline of 5.4 percent was similar. Applications for our 2003 entering class are up 14 percent to 3,283, with applications nationally showing a slight increase.

In FY 2002, our total revenues were $479.1 million, compared to $417.3 million in FY 2001. Research grants and contracts (at 50.5 percent) now provide over half of our revenues. Clinical income as a percent of our revenues has declined to 26 percent. Tuition fees were 2.5 percent of our revenues, and state appropriations were only eight percent. In 2001, the average public medical school received 28 percent of its revenue from grants, 33 percent from clinical practice and 16 percent from state appropriations. Private schools received 35 percent of income from grants, 35 percent from clinical practice and twice the public rate (six percent) from gifts. Both public and private schools received 14 percent of their revenues from affiliated hospitals, compared to 10 percent for our school. Our profile looks more like a private medical school rather than a public school. Our research income percentage is higher than both public and private schools; our practice income percentage is lower than both, and our state support is half that for the average public medical school. When you compare our state support with that of our selected peer public medical schools, we rank near the bottom in state support per student. In fact, we now rank last when looking at state funding for general operations.

Private gifts to the medical school reached a record $25.9 million during FY 2002. I am pleased to report that during the first six months of this year, we raised 24 percent more than during the comparable period last year.
Nearly 90 percent of the cash received through philanthropy last year was used to provide direct support to the various departments and programs in the medical school. Our annual income from philanthropy now exceeds our tuition income.

In 2002 we completed a very successful system-wide campaign, the New Century Medicine Campaign. The original goal set for the medical school was $65 million, and we raised a total of $90.1 million. Endowing chairs and professorships has been an important objective for our fund-raising efforts, and there are now a total of 30 named chairs and professorships in the School of Medicine.

External research funding has more than tripled since 1991. In FY 2002 our research funding reached $241.7 million, a 20 percent increase over FY 2001. I want to emphasize that most of this growth has been the result of increased research productivity per faculty member. In 1991 each faculty member on average generated $91,000 in research funds, while in 2002, that amount increased to a remarkable $236,000. According to the latest data available from the AAMC (2000–2001), reporting pure research expenditures—not revenues, the School of Medicine ranked ninth among 76 public medical schools. Further, our clinical faculty ranked fifth in research expenditures per faculty member in public medical schools and tenth among all 126 schools, public and private.

We have all heard a lot about bioterrorism during the past year. It should come as no surprise that the medical school is heavily involved in bioterrorism research. In addition to research on an anthrax vaccine, we participated in research to determine whether the nation’s existing smallpox vaccine could be diluted and still be effective (it can). We currently have a clinical trial underway to determine whether smaller doses and diluted vaccinations can be successfully given to adults with a previous vaccination. We are the lead institution for the mid-Atlantic consortium that has applied to the NIH to become a regional center of excellence for biodefense and emerging infectious diseases research.

Howard H. Goldman, MD, PhD, professor, department of psychiatry, is the most recent medical school faculty member elected to the prestigious Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academy of Sciences, bringing the school’s membership to 10.

Mordecai P. Blaustein, MD, professor and chair of the department of physiology, was the 2002 Research Lecturer of the Year at the University of Maryland Baltimore.

Maureen Black, PhD and Howard Dubowitz, MD, professors in the department of pediatrics, are recipients of the 2002–2003 University System of Maryland Regents’ Faculty Award for Excellence in Inter-Institutional Collaboration.

Robert C. Gallo, MD, professor, departments of medicine and microbiology & immunology, and director of the institute of human virology, was awarded the 2001 World Health Award at the Imperial Hofburg Palace, in Vienna, Austria. The award, recognizing “extraordinary scientific research which revolutionizes medicine and for discoveries that improve our lives,” was presented by former Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, a Nobel Prize recipient and president of Men’s World Day.

Reuben Mezrich, MD, PhD, became the John Dennis Professor and Chair of the Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine. Dr. Mezrich comes to us from Harvard Medical School and the Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston. Dr. Mezrich, whose PhD is in electrical engineering, was also a faculty member at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Hugh E. Mighty, MD, MBA, an expert in high-risk pregnancy and critical care obstetrics, has been named chair of the department of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences. Dr. Mighty is one of the few physicians in the country who is board-certified in both maternal-fetal medicine and critical care medicine. He previously served as interim chair.

William F. Regine, MD, has been named chair of the department of radiation oncology. We recruited Dr. Regine from the University of Kentucky, where he was professor of radiation medicine and neurosurgery, and vice chairman of the department of radiation medicine. He was also co-director of the gamma knife radiosurgery program.

We have one of the best faculties in the country and, with the completion of Health Science Facilities II, will also have one of the best physical plants. We have outstanding students and dedicated staff. Our collective challenge will be to manage our human and physical resources as efficiently as possible, in order to have the necessary funds for strategic investment for our future. Enhancing this great medical school will require all of our efforts.

We will face continued pressure on our resources as we pursue our goals of growing our research base, investing in our information technology infrastructure, and improving core facilities and educational programs. Is our appetite too large? I don’t think so! When you stand still, you actually go backwards as the world passes you by.

It has been my pleasure to provide a very brief look at some of our remarkable accomplishments in 2002. I want to express my gratitude to all of you for your dedication and support over these last eleven years. Let us collectively look forward to another great year.