VUSM ranked among nation’s top programs
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine has once again been ranked among the best medical schools in the nation by U.S. News and World Report. The magazine placed VUSM 17 out of 125 accredited medical schools in the United States this week in their annual scoring of graduate and professional schools.
“We are happy to once again be recognized as one of the premier medical schools in the nation,” said Harry R. Jacobson, M.D., vice chancellor for Health Affairs. “Our school's success also goes far beyond the numbers used to calculate these rankings — it can be seen in the quality of our students, their research, community involvement and residency placement; the faculty who are devoted clinicians, researchers and teachers; and the administration, who are continuously focused on improving the school — its curriculum, programs and diversity — to offer an even better educational experience for our students.”
The School of Medicine has consistently held a position among the top 20 medical schools in the nation over the past 15 years. Despite falling two places from last year, Steven G. Gabbe, M.D., dean of the School of Medicine, said he was pleased that the school improved in each of the areas that the rankings take into consideration.
“For those who are here every day and witness first-hand the accomplishments of our students and faculty — in patient care, education and research — we know just how great a place this is, and that can be difficult to capture in an assessment done by a questionnaire,” Gabbe said.
“While we are happy to be ranked among the best in the nation, we're even happier that out of our current first-year class, more students who could have gone to schools ranked above us chose to come to Vanderbilt instead — because of the friendly and supportive culture, scholarship opportunities, the success of our students in the match, and the strengths of our curriculum.”
U.S. News ranks schools on a weighted average of different indicators, such as research activity, peer assessment, student selectivity and faculty resources.
The top 20 research medical schools in the United States according to the magazine are:
1 — Harvard University
2 — Johns Hopkins University
3 — Washington University in St. Louis
4 — University of Pennsylvania
5 — University of California- San Francisco
6 — Duke University
7 — University of Washington
8 — Stanford University
9 — University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
10 — Columbia U. Col. Of Physicians and Surgeons
11 — University of California-Los Angeles; Yale University (tie)
13 — Baylor College of Medicine
14 — Cornell University; University of California-San Diego (tie)
16 — University of Pittsburgh
17 — Vanderbilt University; U. of Texas Southwestern Medical Center-Dallas (tie)
19 — University of Chicago
20 — Case Western Reserve University; Emory University; Northwestern University (tie).