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Posted July 11, 2013

The Top Medical Schools in the World

There are some medical schools that are highly regarded and they hold this esteem for many different reasons. It may be that they have well known or accomplished alumni, their programs may have unparalleled excellence, or they may be hard to gain admission to. Any of these factors can attribute to the world's perception of the school and its graduates. You may, or may not know, that annually a ranking of schools is published by Academic Rankings of World Universities, and their listing is based on the research completed by the Center for World-Class Universities of Shanghai Jiao Tong University. They base their ranking on many factors, which are, according to their website,

” ...institutions are ranked according to their academic or research performance in each broad subject field. Ranking indicators include alumni and staff winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals, Highly Cited Researchers, articles indexed in Science Citation Index-Expanded (SCIE) and Social Science Citation Index (SSCI). Two new indicators were introduced, one is the percentage of articles published in the top 20% journals of each field, and the other is the engineering research expenditure.

For each indicator, the highest scoring institution is assigned a score of 100, and other institutions are calculated as a percentage of the top score. The distribution of data for each indicator is examined for any significant distorting effect and standard statistical techniques are used to adjust the indicator if necessary.

Scores for each indicator are weighted to arrive at a final overall score for an institution. The highest scoring institution is assigned a total score of 100, and other institutions are calculated as a percentage of the top total score. The scores are then placed in descending order ."

So without further ado, here are the top ten medical schools on the list.

The Top 10 The United States of America managed to dominate the top 10 of the list by holding nine spots. The UK managed to sneak in at position eight however, and keep them from dominating the entire top of the list.
 

  1. The number one position on the list is held by Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, with a perfect score. Harvard is a top rate university in many areas of study, which along with medicine, include business and law. Most employers throughout the world hold a Harvard Degree in high regard.
     
  2. In the second place is the University of California in San Francisco, California. The school scored 87.5, which could have been much higher had they not remained scoreless in the area of alumni.
     
  3. The third best medical school in the world is the University of Washington in the state that is home to the American Capital, Washington D.C.
     
  4. Fourth place was awarded to John Hopkins University. They had a high score in publishing and are well noted as a research mecca.
     
  5. Columbia University is fifth. This is no surprise as the school received good ratings in all areas that were evaluated for this ranking.
     

The sixth through tenth positions are held by (in order of ranking) The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center-Dallas, the University of California-Los Angeles, Cambridge University in the UK , and Stanford University which is another prestigious American ivy league name.

It is easy to see that the first part of the list is populated by schools whose education is very highly valued and is looked upon favourably in the world of employers. When you are considering an institution for your postgraduate medical degree a top school may have more to offer in the way of experience, learning opportunities, research programs and hands on training. It is definitely in your interest to consider a school's reputation, ranking, and its degree’s desirability. The quality and ranking of the school you attend can directly correlate with how easy or difficult it is for you to find employment.

 

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