What makes the best medical schools in the US — you know, the best?
Harvard, Yale, and Columbia; these names are constantly spotlighted when this question comes up, but what do these schools actually have in common?
According to Med School Insiders, one of them is the length of training. Medical education in the US lasts 10 to 12 years, and the best universities allow you to take this time to explore different fields before committing to a sole career.
St. George’s University School of Medicine points out that another pillar is high academic standards. Here, the average GPA and the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) scores required by different schools determine which are at the top of the ranks.
When it comes to the medical curriculum, a 2016 study from the University of Tasmania states that the best medical schools deliver curriculums that incorporate a wide range of pedagogical methods, from large lectures to small, interactive groups working on a case- or problem-based learning model.
Lastly, cutting-edge facilities, with abundant access to clinical experience, are a given.
But if you’re not convinced about attending some of the best medical schools in the US and the world, here’s a definitive argument on why you should.
The start of US medical schools’ climb to the top of global rankings
The world’s first vaccine was created to treat smallpox — one of the most devastating diseases known to humanity, which caused millions of deaths before it was eradicated, as summarised by the World Health Organisation.
In the 1700s, Boston, a city in the US, faced repeated smallpox outbreaks throughout the decades. From the 1775 to 1782 epidemic, it was estimated that nearly 130,000 people on the continent died.
Reprieve came in 1799 at the Harvard School of Medicine — one of the best medical schools in the US today — by faculty member Benjamin Waterhouse.
Waterhouse had been educated throughout Europe. Namely, he had studied medicine in England, Scotland’s University of Edinburgh Medical School, and Leiden University in The Netherlands before returning to the US to join the newly established Harvard School of Medicine as one of three professors.
It was through Waterhouse’s contacts from abroad that he got a hold of a publication from English physicist Edward Jenner.
In 1978, Jenner pioneered the concept of vaccines and created the world’s first for smallpox. This research gave Waterhouse the means to resolve the US epidemic, spurring the widespread acceptance of the vaccine in the country.
Centuries have passed, and medical innovations at Harvard School of Medicine have only grown in scale.
The first public demonstration of a surgical operation on a patient under anaesthesia was conducted by the hands of the school’s first dean, John Collins Warren, in 1846. The Moseley Professor of Surgery, Eliot Cutler, performed the world’s first-ever successful heart valve surgery in 1923. An exact century later, researchers discovered how the sex hormone estrogen could lead to an unconventional development of breast cancer.
Institutions like the Harvard School of Medicine, which has long shaped the healthcare landscape in the US, position the nation as a pinnacle in medical education.
Here, expert educators lead the way in cutting-edge research and discoveries.
It is an exclusive club — not just anyone can access them.
Fun fact: the US leads other countries in getting regulatory approval for new drugs and medical devices. Source: AFP
What acceptance rates look like at the best medical schools in the US
According to the UK-based Times Higher Education, the University of Washington (UW) ranks 15th in the world for “interdisciplinary scientific research,” — so it’s a prime spot for aspiring medical students to be prepped for an intense career. It’s home to one of the best medical schools in the US, the UW School of Medicine, which is connected to four hospital campuses in Seattle.
With an acceptance rate of just 5.42%, you need to be among the best of the best to be enrolled — and very ideally, you’ll want to be someone from the states of Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho (WWAMI).
On the school’s website, they state that to support the physician workforce needs of the WWAMI region, most of those accepted — 96%, to be exact — into the programmes are from those regions. However, they do accept applicants from outside these specific states, though expect things to be far more competitive.
For the MD programme, of the 1,238 out-of-region applications made, only 251 matriculated — a whopping 20.27%.
For international students, the chances of joining the UW School of Medicine are non-existent.
“We do not accept international or Canadian students,” writes the school. “Applicants with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status who reside in a WWAMI state and who are legally authorised and recognised by their state’s residency office as a resident for WWAMI educational purposes will be considered for admission.”
Fortunately, there aren’t too many of these cases to brace yourself for.
While getting accepted as an international student to some of the best medical schools in the US is no easy task, with only 325 of 1,890 applicants to Doctor of Medicine (MD) programmes accepted back in 2019, the payoff is worth it.
Today, more than ever, there are plenty of opportunities for international students to build their careers in the US.
With a shortage of healthcare workers in the nation, more non-citizens are picking up careers as physicians after passing the medical licensing exam.
After all, in a country where surgeons earn more than US$400,000 per year, depending on their speciality, or where physicians in primary care earn an average of US$260,000, the prospects are well worth the trouble.
It takes about 10 to 12 years to become a doctor in the US, whereas it’d take an average of only six years in other countries. Source: AFP
The other challenges of getting into the best medical schools in the US
Even if you’re attending the best medical schools in the US, it’s no secret the journey is long, taxing, and expensive.
The average student takes 10 to 12 years to complete their degree: four years of undergrad, four years of medical school, and three to seven years of a residency programme.
Before entering medical school, you must pass the MCAT, which comprises five hours of multiple-choice questions.
The journey starts, of course, with your undergraduate degree. Many universities across the US offer pre-med tracks where students complete their chosen major alongside a set of core classes needed to fulfil the application requirements for a medical programme post-graduation.
Today, you’ll find pre-med students majoring in humanities subjects like English and history to build a more well-rounded and unique skill set. More than half of medical students go for a biological sciences major, as they naturally have more overlaps with medicine.
Once you’re in your junior year of undergrad, you’ll encounter the daunting task of applying to medical school. This is the year that most students complete their MCAT exams and, subsequently, submit their applications, awaiting interviews and acceptance through senior year.
While that usually means a four-year medical programme, institutions today offer a quicker, cost-saving alternative to get your career rolling — accelerated medical degrees.
Schools like New York University, Columbia University, and the Medical College of Wisconsin offer accelerated programmes where you’ll earn one of two benefits: a shorter programme length or starting your residency and training earlier. It’s an experience that grants you a medical education in a shorter time frame without compromising quality and innovation.
After nearly a decade, the journey ends with a residency programme, where you’ll gain work experience in a clinic or hospital.
In the US, it’s a much more flexible experience as students get to explore different specialisations across medicine before committing to a one-track career path.
The best medical schools in the US, ranked from the hardest to easiest to get into
The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine is currently ranked #2 for research by the US News and World Report. Source: AFP
Postgraduate
Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Acceptance rate: 5.62%
You can’t spell out the best medical schools in the US without including the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. It’s constantly ranked among the best, where students thrive as innovators, caregivers, healers, and more within the university and the more extensive Johns Hopkins Health System and Hospital.
Here, students, graduates, residents, and fellows learn from the best on the daily. Take the Director of the Vascular Programme at the Johns Hopkins Institute for Cell Engineering, Dr. Gregg Semenza, for example — he was awarded a Lasker Award in 2016 and a Nobel Prize in 2019 for his ground-breaking discovery in the laboratory of hypoxia inducible factor 1 or HIF-1.
The curriculum stands out too. Aside from integrating operations and planning between the school and the hospital, they have also pushed medicine forward through its Genes to Society curriculum. This model is based on the Human Genome Project and looks at how health and diseases are affected by the environment and the variability of the genotype alongside social, cultural, and psychological variables.
Students at UCSF are working to improve the state of healthcare through research and real-world practice. Source: AFP
University of California, San Francisco
Acceptance rate: 1.8%
At the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), students at the School of Medicine experience what it’s like to be in one of the top five schools for quality research training and quality primary training, according to the US News and World Report.
This is further supported by the school’s commitment to advancing health worldwide through Differences Matter, an initiative designed to make UCSF a university home to people with diverse identities and backgrounds, all of whom are committed to advancing equity, belonging, and anti-oppression in medicine and science. Currently, 35% of students come from underrepresented groups in medicine — among the highest percentages compared to the best medical schools in the US.
Those attending the UCSF School of Medicine will also encounter and familiarise themselves with the Bridges Curriculum. Here, compassion, accountability, and expertise are at the forefront of your learning. Interprofessional team-based care, measurement and continuous improvement, and continuous learning through inquiry are highlighted too.
Duke University School of Medicine
Acceptance rate: 1.44%
At Duke University School of Medicine, the MD programme is research-led. Here, students adopt the core values of humanism — where healthcare treatment is patient-centred and provided with the utmost empathy, respect, and honesty.
Guided by award-winning faculty members such as 2015 Nobel laureate in Chemistry,
Paul Modrich, students get to experience core clinical clerkships in their second year and focus on “scholarly investigation” through their third, where they’re getting their hands deep in advanced biomedical research.
Your learnings will centre around Duke’s Patient FIRST curriculum — FIRST being an acronym for Foundations, Immersion, Research, Social/Structural Drivers, and Transformation. This prepares future physicians to address the evolving needs of patients and communities by teaching how community health impacts individual health and how to have effective conversations with patients from diverse backgrounds.
Undergraduate
A team of Rochester researchers has developed a new way to detect cancer cells with a “liquid biopsy” designed to be simpler, faster, and more informational than current methods#URochesterResearch @WilmotCancer https://t.co/oABH6dRoHl
— University of Rochester (@UofR) November 7, 2024
University of Rochester
Acceptance rate: 36%
There’s no shortage of research opportunities for pre-med students at the University of Rochester — a benefit of being close to the University of Rochester Medical Centre (URMC), home to more than US$1.3 billion in biomedical research funding.
Their work is nothing short of revolutionary. When the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) announced the top five research discoveries in modern oncology, scientists from the Wilmot Cancer Institute — part of URMC — participated in two. One was the discovery of the first human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine for cervical cancer. The other is developing anti-nausea drugs that assist chemotherapy patients in getting through cancer treatment without all its symptoms.
Here, students on the pre-med track undertake research experiences, clinical volunteering, and networking with the faculty and admissions staff at the School of Medicine and Dentistry.
In the Rochester Early Medical Scholars (REMS) programme, a select few of their pre-med students experience a more streamlined eight years of their bachelor’s and MD programmes. They receive a conditional guarantee of admission to the School of Medicine and Dentistry at URochester, which includes an exemption from the MCAT examinations.
Case Western Reserve University
Acceptance rate: 5.9%
At CWRU, a small private research university in Cleveland, Ohio, there’s no limit to how far your healthcare career may grow — even as an undergraduate student.
Some of them, who have majored in chemistry, economics, English, anthropology, and more while on the pre-med track, have paved their way into the best medical schools in the US. Think New York University, Johns Hopkins University, Duke University, Emory University, and more.
Here, 86% of the undergraduate students on the pre-med track participate in research projects in collaboration with world-class healthcare professionals across CWRU’s nationally-ranked affiliations. One of their affiliations is University Hospitals, home to the University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Centre and a nationally-ranked biomedical research centre.
Boston University
Acceptance rate: 4%
The universities that serve as the best medical schools in the US often host quality pre-med tracks for undergraduate students, training them for the next step. One of them is Boston University, which is home to the pioneering Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine.
Akin to many undergraduate programmes in the US, pre-med at BU is a non-major route which students can design to befit their chosen healthcare professions. Here, students choose from the College of Arts & Sciences, the Sargent College of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences, and the College of Engineering.
Students pursuing pre-med at BU are also privy to a unique opportunity in the spring of their second year: the Modular Medical/Dental Integrated Curriculum (MMEDIC). Founded in 1977, it’s an integrated curriculum that binds the undergraduate experience with preclinical courses in medical and dental science, public health, philosophy, and medical anthropology.
The best part? Students here receive early acceptance to the Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, where you’re prepared to tackle the professional school curriculum.
