THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 

              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.



DATE: Monday, December 25, 1995              TAG: 9512250068

SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 

DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE                    LENGTH: Short :   32 lines

U.VA. WANTS MORE FUNDING FOR MEDICAL TRAINING

University of Virginia officials say they will ask the General Assembly to increase state medical education spending by $10.4 million over the next two years.

The university's medical school dean said the school will take its plea to legislators because the request was not included in Gov. George F. Allen's 1996-98 budget.

School officials say the state will need to pick up more of the tab for training medical students as market-oriented reforms in health care threaten to cut the amount of money U.Va. doctors take in.

The $10.4 million would help offset anticipated losses in clinical revenue, which could drop by up to 25 percent in the next five years, officials said.

As clinical revenues drop, doctors will have an incentive to spend more time with patients and less time with students, said Dr. Robert M. Carey, dean of the U.Va. School of Medicine.

If the state doesn't increase the amount of money it contributes, officials said, the doctors will be placed at a competitive disadvantage with private physicians who don't have to worry about finding time to teach students. by CNB