| If you ask the typical person on the street to list the | | | | doctors coming from there are not excellent and |
| top medical schools chances are they will be able to | | | | highly qualified. |
| name at least a couple of them. US News ranks the | | | | One more detail: The Top Ten Lists are broken into |
| top ten medical schools each year. The criteria used | | | | Medical Schools of Research and Medical Schools of |
| includes: Peer Assessment Score, Assessment score | | | | Primary Care. The medical school rankings have |
| by residency directors, Average undergrad GPA, | | | | always been a point of concern for the schools as |
| Average MCAT score, Acceptance rate, NIH | | | | well as the students. In reality no single method for |
| research grants, NIH research grants per faculty | | | | determining ranking works perfectly. When the |
| member, Faculty/student ratio, Out-of-state tuition | | | | results are determined almost every institution feels it |
| and fees, and the total medical school enrollment. | | | | should have been ranked higher. By breaking the |
| Although the information gathered about those | | | | schools into two lists (research and primary care) the |
| institutions is important, it may not really determine | | | | problem is at least addressed but weaknesses in the |
| the quality of the doctor that attends that school. Or | | | | method still exist. |
| does it? | | | | Enough said - Now for the List! |
| First let's talk about the people that are concerned | | | | Research |
| with these rankings. It stands to reason that medical | | | | 1. Harvard University |
| schools care - particularly medical schools that rely on | | | | 2. Johns Hopkins University |
| private donation to fund expansion and education. | | | | 3. University of Pennsylvania |
| Obviously the schools with greater notoriety will | | | | 4. Washington University in St. Louis |
| receive more private funding. | | | | 5. University of California-San Francisco |
| Another likely group is that of medical students. | | | | 6. University of Washington |
| Although their future patients may not be concerned | | | | 7. Stanford University |
| with where the doctors learned their trade, (but | | | | 8. Duke University |
| rather, only that they know their stuff!), medical | | | | 9. Yale University |
| students know that when applying for residencies it | | | | 10. Baylor College of Medicine (TX) |
| does make a difference where you're coming from. | | | | Primary Care |
| If you are coming from a medical school on the Top | | | | 1. University of Washington |
| Ten List you'll be a residency program favorite. | | | | 2. University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill |
| The next - and last group of people to be discussed | | | | 3. University of Colorado-Denver and Health Sciences |
| (that are concerned with the Top Ten List) is very | | | | Center |
| likely a large group. This group includes the friends | | | | 4. Oregon Health and Science University |
| and relatives of the students that attend those | | | | 5. Michigan State University College of Osteopathic |
| schools. It seems that we all take pride in the | | | | Medicine |
| achievements of those we love and care about. | | | | 6. East Carolina University (Brody) (NC) |
| Before actually sharing the list it is important to clarify | | | | 7. University of Vermont |
| that it is possible that some excellent medical schools | | | | 8. University of California-San Francisco |
| may be missing. Just keep in mind that it's a matter | | | | 9. University of Wisconsin-Madison |
| of ranking and what characteristics are used to make | | | | 10. |
| it. It does not mean that if a school is ranked low the | | | | |