UCSF Ranks Among Nation's Best Medical, Pharmacy Schools in U.S. News Survey

Newswise UCSFs School of Pharmacy ranked first in its field this year, while its School of Medicine tied for third place nationwide, according to a new survey conducted by U.S. News & World Report.

Results are published in the magazines 2013 issue of Americas Best Graduate Schools, which appeared online today at http://www.usnews.com and will be available on newsstands on April 3.

The survey ranks medical schools according to the quality of training in both research and primary care. The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), has the only school of medicine in the nation that ranks in the top five in both categories a tie for third place in primary care, alongside Oregon Health and Science University, and fifth place for research.

The new report also includes last years rankings for schools of nursing, in which UCSF ranked fourth overall and first in training family nurse practitioners and clinical nurses in medical/surgical and psychiatric specialties. U.S. News does not rank dentistry schools.

Students in the health science professions are entering a world of tremendous change and opportunity, ranging from our growing understanding of the molecular basis of disease to team-based health clinics, said UCSF Chancellor Susan Desmond-Hellmann, MD, MPH. These rankings reflect the level of excellence in education that students will need to meet those opportunities as leaders in their fields.

The pharmacy ranking applied to UCSFs four-year Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) program, which admits 122 students each year for clinical training in pharmacy. The school also runs five PhD programs in the quantitative biosciences through the UCSF Graduate Division.

Our goal has always been to push the boundaries of pharmacy education and to recruit the kind of student who will be tomorrows professional leaders, said Mary Anne Koda-Kimble, PharmD, dean of the UCSF School of Pharmacy. The result is a student body that is beyond compare. The world desperately needs the advances these students will make toward new, effective, safe therapeutics for patients.

The university ranked in the top 10 in all medical specialty areas in which it was assessed. Among those, UCSF ranked first for its medical program in AIDS, second in Womens Health and third in both family- and internal medicine.

Being once again recognized among the nations top medical schools reflects the success of our innovative education programs, which thrive in an extraordinarily collaborative research and patient care environment, said Sam Hawgood, MBBS, dean of the UCSF School of Medicine.

According to the magazine, the overall medical school rankings are based on two types of data: surveys sent last fall to medical school deans and administrators, and statistical indicators provided by 126 medical schools fully accredited in by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, as well as by the 20 schools of osteopathic medicine fully accredited by the American Osteopathic Association.

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UCSF Ranks Among Nation's Best Medical, Pharmacy Schools in U.S. News Survey