The same 156 medical schools were surveyed at the same time for the primary care rankings; 118 schools provided the data needed to calculate those rankings.
Both rankings are based on a weighted average of indicators, which are outlined below. The medical school research model is based on eight indicators, and the primary care model is based on seven indicators.
Four of the data indicators are used in both the research and primary care ranking models. They are the student selectivity admissions statistics (MCAT, GPA and acceptance rate) and faculty-to-student ratio. The medical school research model factors in research activity; the medical school primary care model adds a measure of the proportion of graduates entering primary care specialties.
[See the Best Medical Schools rankings.]
Quality assessment (weighted by 0.40)
Peer assessment score (0.20 for the research medical school model; 0.25 for the primary care medical school model): In fall 2014, medical and osteopathic school deans, deans of academic affairs and heads of internal medicine or the directors of admissions were asked to rate programs on a scale from 1 (marginal) to 5 (outstanding). Survey populations were asked to rate program quality for both research and primary care programs separately on a single survey instrument.
Those individuals who did not know enough about a school to evaluate it fairly were asked to mark "don't know." A school's score is the average rating of all the respondents who rated it. Responses of "don't know" counted neither for nor against a school. About 30 percent of those surveyed responded.
Assessment score by residency directors (0.20 for the research medical school model; 0.15 for the primary care medical school model): In fall 2014, residency program directors were also asked to rate programs using the same 5-point scale on two separate survey instruments.
One survey dealt with research and was sent to a sample of residency program directors in fields outside primary care, including surgery, psychiatry and radiology. The other survey involved primary care and was sent to residency directors designated by schools as involved in clinical practice.
Survey recipients were asked to rate programs on a scale from 1 (marginal) to 5 (outstanding). Those individuals who did not know enough about a program to evaluate it fairly were asked to mark "don't know."
A school's score is the average rating of all the respondents who rated it. Responses of "don't know" counted neither for nor against a school.
For the purpose of calculating this year's rankings, the residency director surveys for the three most recent years were averaged and weighted by 0.20 in the research model and by 0.15 in primary care.
For the second year in a row, the medical schools themselves supplied the names of all of the residency program directors who were sent either of the residency program director surveys. Assessment data were collected by Ipsos Public Affairs.
Research activity (weighted by 0.30 in the research medical school model only; not used in the primary care medical school ranking model): In the rankings of research medical schools, the weighting of the total dollar amount of grants awarded by the National Institutes of Health and of NIH grant funding per faculty member was set so that each accounts for 0.15 of the overall score.
Total research activity (0.15): This is measured by the total dollar amount of National Institutes of Health research grants awarded to the medical school and its affiliated hospitals, averaged for 2013 and 2014. An asterisk next to this data point indicates that the medical school did not include grants to any affiliated hospitals in its 2014 total.
Average research activity per faculty member (0.15): This is measured by the dollar amount of National Institutes of Health research grants awarded to the medical school and its affiliated hospitals per full-time faculty member, averaged over 2013 and 2014. Both full-time basic sciences and clinical faculty were used in the faculty count. An asterisk next to this data point indicates that the medical school did not include grants to any affiliated hospitals in its 2014 total.
Primary care rate (0.30 in the primary care medical school model only; not used in research medical school ranking model): The percentage of a school's M.D. or D.O. graduates entering primary care residencies in the fields of family practice, pediatrics and internal medicine was averaged over 2012, 2013 and 2014.
Student selectivity (0.20 in the research medical school model; 0.15 in the primary care medical school model)
Median MCAT total score (0.13 in the research medical school model; 0.0975 in the primary care medical school model): This is the median total Medical College Admission Test score of the 2014 entering class.
Median undergraduate GPA (0.06 in the research medical school model; 0.045 in the primary care medical school model): This is the median undergraduate grade-point average of the 2014 entering class.
Acceptance rate (0.01 in the research medical school model; 0.0075 in the primary care medical school model): This is the proportion of applicants to the 2014 entering class who were offered admission.
Faculty resources (0.10 in the research medical school model; 0.15 in the primary care medical school model): Faculty resources were measured as the ratio of full-time science and full-time clinical faculty to full-time M.D. or D.O. students in 2014.
Overall rank
Indicators were standardized about their means, and standardized scores were weighted, totaled and rescaled so that the top school received 100; other schools received their percentage of the top score.
Specialty rankings: These rankings are based solely on ratings by medical school deans and senior faculty from the list of schools surveyed. They each identified up to 10 schools offering the best programs in each specialty area. Those receiving the most nominations in the top 10 appear in the rankings.
Those schools receiving the most votes in each specialty are numerically ranked in descending order based on the number of nominations they received, as long as the school or program received seven or more nominations in that specialty area. This means that schools ranked at the bottom of each specialty ranking have received seven nominations.
Rank Not Published: Rank Not Published means that U.S. News did calculate a numerical ranking for that school or program, but decided for editorial reasons that since the school or program ranked below the U.S. News cutoff that U.S. News would not publish the ranking for that school or program.
U.S. News will supply schools/programs listed as Rank Not Published with their numerical rankings, if they submit a request following the procedures listed in the Information for School Officials.
Schools/programs marked as Ranked Not Published are listed alphabetically. For both research medical schools and primary care medical schools, we have numerically ranked the top three-fourths of the schools. The bottom quarter of the research medical schools and primary care medical schools are listed as Rank Not Published.
Unranked: Unranked means that U.S. News did not calculate a numerical ranking for that school or program. The school or program did not supply U.S. News with enough key statistical data to be numerically ranked by U.S. News. Schools or programs marked as Unranked are listed alphabetically and are listed below those marked as Rank Not Published.