The Top Ten Medical Schools

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Medical school rankings, like other school rankings are always a point of contention among medical students and especially among medical schools. Different schools would be vying for the top spot, citing world-class facilities, top-notch faculty and numerous research publications. Ultimately, however, there is no medical school, famous or not, who has a monopoly on providing an unbeatable medical education. That is why medical school rankings are separated into two lists: best medical schools in terms of research and best medical school in terms of primary care. Research pertains to the school’s capacity to invest in and produce medical knowledge while primary care refers to the training of medical students regarding precisely that, primary care, or treating and caring for the patients.

There are however, the so-called big winners. These winners top the research and primary care or rank in both the lists. These include the University of Washington, who heads the list of best medical school in terms of primary care, Harvard, which topped the best medical school list in terms of research, and University of California, San Francisco and University of Washington which are the only schools to make it to both primary care and research.

Here are the lists of best medical schools in the United States, for research and primary care separately.

Top 10 medical schools (research)

1. Harvard University
2. Johns Hopkins University
Washington University in St. Louis
4. Duke University
University of Pennsylvania
6. University of California San Francisco
7. Columbia U. College of Physicians and Surgeons
8. Stanford University
University of Michigan Ann Arbor
10. Yale University

Top 10 medical schools (primary care)

1. University of Washington
2. Oregon Health & Science University
3. University of California San Francisco
4. Mich. State U. Coll. of Osteopathic Medicine
5. University of Minnesota Duluth
6. University of California San Diego
University of New Mexico
University of Wisconsin Madison
9. University of Iowa (Roy J. & Lucille A. Carver)
University of Minnesota Twin Cities
University of Rochester

Harvard Medical School is probably the most prestigious medical school in the United States. In fact, it is perhaps the most prestigious school, period. It was founded in the eighteenth century and boasts of credentials beyond other medical schools. Its two centuries of work have produced Nobel Prize winners, spearheaded the development of the most modern technologies and pioneered breakthroughs in almost every aspect of medicine and science. Their acceptance rate is only about 5% and students need an average MCAT score of 11.7.

Not to be outdone is the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, which s another excellent research medical school. Founded in 1893, it also boasts of the same honors and qualifications like Harvard. Also included in the top medical schools list are Duke Medical School and Stanford University.

Going to medical school is no joke. It requires a serious commitment on your part. It requires an involvement on all levels of the person: the emotional, physical, intellectual and financial level. The cost of obtaining a medical degree can be $200,000 at the most, if you count living expenses. In fact, the average medical graduate accumulates as much as $100,000 in debt, not factoring the student loans. The priciest medical school is Tuft Medical School at approximately $44,000 a year simply for tuition. A more modest tuition is in Eastern Virginia Medical School at $24,000 a year. Many students opt, or are forced to enroll in less expensive schools. Public medical schools are generally much cheaper. The largest medical school in terms of students enrolling is the University of Illinois. As many as 1400 students go to that university, while the Mayo medical clinic has only about 150 students. Students considering family practice, general pediatrics or general medicine consider schools that send most of their graduates on to primary care residency programs like the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine.