The United States of America is among the top education providers globally, with Medicine as one of its highly esteemed fields of study. Medical students in the country need to study and train for almost ten years, ensuring that they are fully equipped to provide top-notch health and clinical services.
Studying Medicine in the US starts with completing a four-year undergraduate pre-medical degree and passing the MCAT (Medical College Admission Test). Upon acceptance, medical students undergo four years of medical education and training, taking the United States Medical Licensing Examination’s initial portion in their second year. Their clinical experience occurs during the last two years in medical school, followed by three to seven years of hospital residency or clerkship.
With this much work cut out for aspiring doctors, it is crucial to choose only the country’s best education providers. This article lists the five best medical schools in the United States.
Can Foreigners Study in Medical Schools in the United States?
Yes, medical schools in the United States accept foreign applicants. The universities in the country have different admission requirements for international students. Vanderbilt University is one of the US universities that have international admission in its medical school.
It encourages applicants with an undergraduate degree outside the United States to take at least one year of coursework in an accredited institution before applying to its medical school. It further emphasizes that students from non-English speaking universities outside the US may benefit from studying first in any North American accredited universities.
What is the most prestigious medical school in the United States?
Harvard Medical School of Harvard University is the most prestigious in the United States and among the top medical schools worldwide, based on multiple ranking institutions. It ranked 1st in QS Top Universities ranking by subject Life Sciences and Medicine for 2021, marking its fifth consecutive year. It also ranked 1st in ShanghaiRanking’s Global Ranking of Academic Subjects for Clinical Medicine in 2020, and 2nd in Times Higher Education 2021 ranking by clinical and health subject.
Best Medical Schools in the United States
1. Harvard University – Harvard Medical School
Established in 1782, Harvard Medical School has come a long way to prove its invaluable work in global health and is the top medical school in the United States. The school pioneered educational models and provided innovative curricula to address the changing needs in health care. Research has always been an unmatched contribution of the school, starting with introducing the smallpox vaccine in 1799 and through the years winning ten Nobel prizes, shared among its 16 researchers.
By 2020, the school houses over 11,000 faculty and enrolls over 700 medical students from varying cultural backgrounds. The campus centers the Longwood Medical Area in Boston, where world-renowned hospitals and research institutions surround the iconic Harvard Medical School quadrangle. Aside from its MD program, the school, in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, offers the MD-PhD program, allowing students to pursue both degree courses in eight years.
2. Stanford University – Stanford School of Medicine
In 1908, Stanford adopted Cooper Medical College in San Francisco and became the university’s school of Medicine, and, in 1958, joined the main campus in Palo Alto, California. With its long tradition of pioneering research, innovative teaching protocols, and practical clinical therapies, the school became a biomedical revolution leader. QS Top Universities ranked it at 3rd for Life Sciences and Medicine ranking in 2021 and 5th for Times Higher Education 2021 ranking by clinical and health subjects.
While modest in size, this top medical school in the United States currently employs over 2,400 Basic Science and Clinical Science full-time faculty, with over 480 MD and MD-Ph.D. candidates. The school sits on the 8,100-acre campus of Stanford University, close to world-class hospitals and the Silicon Valley tech corridor. Its strategic location allows the school to combine research and health care to push real-world innovation.
3. John Hopkins University – School of Medicine
John Hopkins University School of Medicine, founded in 1893, is one of the best medical schools in the United States. This premier learning institution brought excellence standards in health care, education, and research in the United States and worldwide. The university’s 2021 QS Ranking by subject is at 5th place, while Times Higher Education ranked it at 8th. It also has 38 Nobel laureates, 18 of which are alumni and the School of Medicine faculty.
The John Hopkins School of Medicine has over 3,200 full-time faculty members and more than 1,270 medical and doctoral students. It shares the Baltimore campus with its teaching hospitals, The John Hopkins Hospital and John Hopkins Bayview Medical Center.
4. University of California San Francisco – School of Medicine
The UCSF School of Medicine, founded in 1864 as Toland Medical College, consistently joins among the top medical schools in the United States. With its four-fold mission of education, research, patient care, and public service, it continues to advance human health. The school is also one of the most preferred medical schools in the country, with over 7,300 received applications and 161 entering MD students in 2020.
There are over 2,700 full-time faculty in the UCSF School of Medicine, with the main campus at Parnassus Heights, adjacent to the UCSF Medical Center. Besides the university hospital, medical training occurs in its partner hospitals.
5. University of California Los Angeles – David Geffen School of Medicine
The University of California Board of Regents formed the medical school in 1945. The school changed its name in 2002, after Mr. David Geffen, a media tycoon, gave a massive and unrestricted $200 million endowment, allowing the school to compete with leading medical institutions globally. In 2008, the university opened the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center to serve as the university hospital, providing clinical training to its medical students.
David Geffen School of Medicine has over 3,000 full-time faculty and over 770 medical students in its Westwood and Santa Monica campuses. Besides the MD program, it offers an eight-year MD/Ph.D. program and a five-year dual MD and Master’s program. Medical students receive training at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, Sta. Monical UCLA Medical Center and other affiliated hospitals in California.
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