A Cost Analysis of the Proposed MD Program at UNTHSC

Spending More Texas $$$ and Getting Less


The University of North Texas (UNT) is attempting to place a second medical school (UNTMD) on the same campus as their already established nationally recognized medical school, the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine (TCOM). The existing medical school has produced more than 3,000 physicians, most of whom practice primary care in Texas. If the Texas Legislature allows this UNT power grab, it will waste state money and harm TCOM’s cost effective production of highest quality physicians.

FACT: The cost to educate an M.D. medical student is much higher than the cost to educate a D.O. medical student.

In a study published in 1997, researchers found that the direct cost of educating a typical medical student ranged from $40,000 to $50,000 per year. When considering the overall costs (including all resources used in support of medical education), the total rises to between $72,000 and $93,000 per student per year.¹

Another study, which focused on the costs of educating MD medical students at Virginia Commonwealth University in the mid-1990s, found that the cost per student was just below $70,000 per year.²

In testimony before the Texas Senate Higher Education Subcommittee in 2008, Dr. Nancy Dickey noted that the cost to educate a medical student is $75,000 per year, with the state covering $50,000 of that cost per year. The cost per year during residency training is $100,000, with the state covering only about $5,000.³

A study conducted in 1994-95 assessed the costs of educating undergraduate medical students at the University of Texas-Houston Medical School using a cost-modeling process. The study, published in 1997, found that the four-year cost of educating a class of 200 students exceeded $82,692,280. The totals include instructional costs (i.e., costs related to direct-contact); educational costs (i.e., instructional costs plus the costs of general supervision); and milieu costs (the first two categories plus research). These totals were $43,993 in instructional costs; $57,370 in educational costs; and $90,660 in milieu costs. The total real costs, therefore, came to $192,023 per student per year in 1997.⁴

Michigan State University is the only campus in the nation which houses both a DO school (known as COM=College of Osteopathic Medicine) and an MD school (CHM=College of Human Medicine). Michigan State University has been the example that UNTMD proponents refer to as a model because of the successful co-existence of the two medical schools. A direct comparison of operating costs between the two schools is therefore highly relevant.

• The COM’s budget for 2008-09 was approximately $19 million for a total of 963 students enrolled in 2009⁵ or  $19,730 average cost per student per year.
• The CHM budget for 2008-09 was approximately $33 million for total 550 students in 2009⁶ or $60,000 per year per student.

The shocking difference in costs between MD and DO medical students is due to LCME (the certifying body for MD medical schools), the infrastructure-related requirement.⁷

In testimony to UNT Board of Regents in December 2009, William Strampel, D.O., Dean of the Michigan COM noted that 10 DO students rotating at Traverse City, Michigan cost the COM $60,000. The same number of MD students rotating at the same location cost $690,000 per year.⁸

High quality, cost effective and responsive to the medical needs of Texans; why change that?

1 Jones, Robert, and David Korn. “On the Cost of Educating a Medical Student.” Academic Medicine, Volume 72, No. 3, March 1997.

2 Goodwin, Margarette C., et al. “A Pilot Study of the Cost of Educating Undergraduate Medical Students at Virginia Commonwealth University.” Academic Medicine, Volume 72, No. 3, March 1997.

3 Nancy Dickey, MD, testimony to Texas Senate Higher Education Committee, June 25, 2008.

4 Franzini, Luisa, et al. “Using a Cost-construction Model to Assess the Cost of Educating Undergraduate Medical Students at the University of Texas-Houston Medical School.” Academic Medicine, Vol. 72, No. 3 (March 1997).

5 Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine. Accessed October 1, 2010. URL: http://www.aacom.org/resources/bookstore/cib/Documents/2011cib/2011cib-msucom.pdf

6 Wilkins, Emily. “Filling the gap.” State News.com. April 29, 2010. Accessed October 1, 2010. URL: http://www.statenews.com/index.php/m/article/2010/04/4bd90558514ad

7 E-mail communication with Dr. William Strampel, Dean, Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine, August 31, 2010.

8 William Strampel, Dean, Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine.