In most countries, it is the state that has been taking over the support of universities and of teaching hospitals, a trend that has accelerated rapidly over the past 25 years to meet the expanding needs of higher education and of health care. In medicine the problem of university autonomy is further complicated by the long-standing custom that license to practice, and even the curriculum that qualifies for this license, are regulated on a national or regional scale by some external body. Twenty-five years ago, most of the medical schools included in this survey received no significant financial support from the state, while today most are wholly dependent on the state for their survival. The purpose of this survey was to determine how the medical schools and their teaching hospitals are faring under these changed circumstances. The report is based mainly on the United States, Britain, Canada, Sweden, and Australia; a brief account of New Zealand, the Republic of Ireland, Denmark, Norway, and Finland is given in the appendixes. The topics discussed include operation expenses, capital expenditures, medical research and peer review, regulation of professional standards, medical schools, medical manpower, teaching hospitals, laboratory services in teaching hospitals, family practice and community medicine, undergraduate curriculum, and postgraduate education. (Author/MSE)