Economic Incentives of Faculty Practice

Abstract

MANY factors influence what medical schools, teaching hospitals, and clinical faculty do. As in every sphere of human activity, however, economic incentives are important determinants.^1-3After World War II, a major economic incentive for medical schools was emerging federal largesse in support of biomedical research. Since the 1960s, however, a growing economic incentive has been revenue from patient care by full-time clinical faculty. Growing public support of medical research has had a profound and mostly positive influence on the financing of medical schools, the number and interests of faculty, and the education and training of young physicians.^4,5While this research support expanded the number of full-time medical school faculty, it also progressively reduced the proportion of physicians in private practice who contributed to patient care and training programs. It changed faculty attitudes toward medical schools by causing them to identify more with extramural funding sources than with their