A pilot qualitative study called The challenges of meeting societal need in medical education was carried out to shed light on why Canadian medical schools have been slow to make the necessary changes to their education and research activities in order to improve their social responsiveness. The purpose of this paper is to focus in particular on how Ontario medical schools have dealt with recent funding cutbacks. In this paper, I argue that the funding cutbacks to Ontario medical schools have actually advantaged and prioritized the research mission of Ontario medical schools and have had adverse effects on the mission of education within an institution that tends to subordinate educational values.