UW calls WSU medical school study flawed – Mon, 15 Sep 2014 PST

The University of Washington on Monday criticized as seriously flawed a feasibility study supporting a second public medical school that would be established in Spokane by Washington State University. WSU commissioned the study, released last week, that concluded WSU could educate medical students at a lower cost than UW. That conclusion is based on the UW School of Medicine receiving about $94.6 million in state funding in 2011. The WSU consultants preparing the study simply divided that $94.6 million figure by 440 medical students to arrive at a per-student cost to the state of $215,000. UW regent

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The University of Washington on Monday criticized as seriously flawed a feasibility study supporting a second public medical school that would be established in Spokane by Washington State University.

WSU commissioned the study, released last week, that concluded WSU could educate medical students at a lower cost than UW.

That conclusion is based on the UW School of Medicine receiving about $94.6 million in state funding in 2011. The WSU consultants preparing the study simply divided that $94.6 million figure by 440 medical students to arrive at a per-student cost to the state of $215,000.

UW regent Orin Smith called those findings an unfortunate and extremely misleading error in the report intended to guide state lawmakers who will be asked to weigh the merits of a second state-funded medical school

In a sharply worded letter to WSU Regent Mike Worthy regarding the report, Smith noted that the $94.6 million includes federal research funds and student tuition, not just state funds. Furthermore, the blend of state, federal and private money funds the work of some 4,500 people throughout the UW medical school system not just the 440 medical students.

Smith said a more realistic figure is $70,000 per student in state support plus tuition.

Using that formula, the WSU study estimated it would cost the state about $60,000 per student at a WSU-run medical school in Spokane after a 10-year phase-in to enrollment of 120 students per class, said WSU Spokane Chancellor Lisa Brown. She noted medical schools use different funding models to arrive at state cost per student estimates.

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UW calls WSU medical school study flawed - Mon, 15 Sep 2014 PST

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