UCSF ranks fifth in new "U.S. News" survey on best medical schools
The UCSF School of Medicine ranks fifth among all medical schools in the nation in a new survey on “America’s Best Graduate Schools” conducted by “U.S. News & World Report.”
Medical schools were assessed for both the quality of their research training and primary care training. The UCSF School of Medicine ranks fifth in both categories. It is one of only two universities in the country—along with the University of Washington—to rank in the top 10 in both categories. Both are public universities.
The UCSF medical school also ranks among the top 10 in all of its clinical specialty programs that were ranked in the new survey.
The rankings are reported online by U.S. News magazine today (April 23, 2009) at http://www.usnews.com/grad. They will be published in the May issue of the magazine available on newsstands April 28.
The new rankings do not include nursing and pharmacy school programs, which U.S. News also surveys but not on an annual basis. The most recent ranking for “best” nursing schools was reported in 2007 and for “best” pharmacy schools in 2008. In those surveys, the UCSF School of Nursing ranked second and the UCSF School of Pharmacy was first. U.S. News does not conduct a survey of dental schools.
The most recent rankings for all graduate schools that are part of the survey process also are represented in the U.S. News Media Group’s 2010 edition of the guidebook “America’s Best Graduate Schools.” This year’s edition includes new rankings for a variety of PhD programs, as well as the first ranking of part-time law school programs. That guidebook will be available for purchase April 28.
The new medical school rankings are based on two types of data: expert opinions about program quality and statistical indicators that measure the quality of a school’s faculty, research and students. These data are derived from surveys conducted in 2008 of more than 1,200 medical schools and 11,000 academics and professionals, according to the magazine.
“Once again, the UCSF School of Medicine has been recognized as one of the foremost medical training programs in the country,” said Sam Hawgood, MB BS, the school’s interim dean. “Our unique position among the top five schools in the U.S. both in medical research and in primary care reflects the excellence of our teaching and the breadth of experience we offer our students.”
The new rankings for the UCSF School of Medicine specialty programs, according to the survey, are:
• AIDS – 1
• Women’s health – 2
• Internal medicine – 3
• Drug/alcohol abuse – 5
• Family medicine – 6
• Geriatrics – 9
• Pediatrics – 10
The medical school rankings are based on assessments of research activity and primary-care programs by deans and senior faculty, admission acceptance rates and faculty resources. Specialty rankings were based on ratings by medical school deans and senior faculty at peer schools.
The UCSF School of Medicine is one of five medical schools in the 10-campus University of California system and its faculty and medical students support the UCSF Medical Center, which routinely ranks in the top 10 medical centers nationwide in outside surveys. The UCSF schools of dentistry, nursing and pharmacy also routinely rank among the premier schools in their fields in education and research funding.
UCSF is a leading university dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care. For further information, please visit http://www.ucsf.edu.