NEWS

Delaware lawmakers restore medical school funding

Matthew Albright, and Jen Rini
The News Journal

Faced with loud outcry from the medical community, Delaware lawmakers Tuesday restored funds to three programs that provide a supply of doctors and dentists to the state.

A Sunday News Journal story detailed how the cuts, which amounted to about $2.9 million, would have left current Delaware medical students without crucial tuition assistance. The cuts also would have put prospective students here at a disadvantage when applying to out-of-state medical schools that typically give preference to in-state candidates.

About 170 students enrolled in medical, dental and veterinary programs would have been impacted by the cuts.

On Tuesday, lawmakers on the budget-writing Joint Finance Committee added about $1.9 million for the programs in its proposed $45.8 million "grants in aid" bill to nonprofits. That was enough money to continue to fund current students only.

Sen. Harris McDowell, D-Wilmington, chair of the Joint Finance Committee, said lawmakers misunderstood what they were cutting when they originally eliminated funding for the programs.

“We thought we were only paying for the slots, not the people,” McDowell said.

The General Assembly still needs to sign off on the measure by Thursday.

Dr. Bob Thompson, president of the Delaware Veterinary Medical Association, was happy to hear that at least part of the money was restored.

"I'm glad to see they put it back in the budget because it was like pulling the carpet out underneath these students who already made a commitment to medical school," Thompson said.

The Delaware Institute of Medical Information and Research program holds 20 spots at Thomas Jefferson University’s Sidney Kimmel Medical College in Philadelphia for Delaware students in addition to five slots for local students at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. The program also provides student loan repayment and tuition reimbursement.

A similar program called the Delaware Institute for Dental Education and Research reserves five seats for dental students at Temple University’s Maurice H. Kornberg School of Dentistry.

A third program aimed at helping prospective veterinarians, called the Delaware Institute for Veterinary Medicine Education, provides in-state tuition rates for Delaware students to attend Oklahoma State University's College of Veterinary Medicine and the University of Georgia's College of Veterinary Medicine.

Delaware is one of five states without a medical school, so these programs helped attract doctors to the First State by introducing them to local residency programs, said Dr. Dorothy Moore, president of the Medical Society of Delaware.

"This is how we are going to develop our future physicians and future physician workforce," Moore said.

Experts say that a lot of doctors will practice where they train. So having Delaware students get their medical degrees nearby, then possibly getting additional training at Christiana Care Health System, adds to the likelihood they will stay here.

Thompson, for instance, participated in the veterinary program in the 1980s and now is the owner of Lums Pond Animal Hospital.

Moore sent a letter on behalf of the Medical Society with the support of 16 medical organizations to all 62 members of the General Assembly urging lawmakers to rethink the cuts.

The society, she said, will push to see that the program is funded for the next year as well. It is too valuable for the state to lose, she said. Currently, 200 doctors in Delaware are beneficiaries of one of the programs.

"This is really a very valuable tool for us as a small state and, certainly, we would like to see it funded in the future as it has been for the past several years," Moore said.

"It would be somewhat disheartening to know this would be the end of it. It might be short-sighted."

McDowell acknowledged that the JFC had eliminated future slots.

“That’s something we’ll have to face next year,” he said.

Jen Rini can be reached at (302)324-2386 or jrini@delawareonline.com. Follow @JenRini on Twitter.