President's Testimony

• While I am proud of our progress, challenges remain.  I am very grateful for the State of Maryland's support, however it is important that you know that our faculty salaries are not competitive.  This is causing problems with recruitment and retention of the very best faculty who literally can go anywhere.  When a faculty member with a $5 million annual research program or clinical practice leaves, so do the jobs that research generates for Maryland's economy.
  
  
• Meeting Maryland's health care needs continues to be very challenging.  Recent studies by MHEC and the Maryland Hospital Association point to severe and growing shortages of dentists and physicians, particularly in rural areas and in the inner city.  While we are doing what we can by, for example, bringing dental services to Medicaid and uninsured patients in Cecil County and increasing enrollment in our MD program this year, these shortages have multiple causes.  Finding workable solutions for Maryland's citizens will be difficult absent major reforms in health care at the national level.
  
  
• Social workers are also in very short supply, even as the need for child welfare workers, gerentological specialists, community development workers and social policy theorists expands exponentially.  While our school has made major strides under the creative leadership of our new dean, unless and until underlying social stresses and low salaries are addressed this state will continue to see a shortage of social workers, and a parallel shortage of attorneys willing to work in public service arenas.
  
  
• Last, but not least, are the challenges faced by researchers due to shortfalls in the NIH budget.  Our faculty have been remarkably successful -- our medical school ranks 11th in the nation -- in garnering NIH funds, but that budget is flat or declining.  As you saw in the time-line for Alba Therapeutics, early and sustained investment in research is critical if we are to see cures for cancer, diabetes and other dread diseases.
  
  
• In that regard, while I am grateful that our capital budget includes funds for the desperately needed Pharmacy Addition, I can't help but remind everyone of our serious shortage of research space.
  
  

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