Social Medical Schools

U.S. News and World Report’s traditional rankings for medical schools have failed to address social mission as a factor in their rubric, according  to a new survey in the Annals of Internal Medicine. The study shows that the traditional top medical schools poorly neglect important considerations like producing a sufficient number of minority physicians and adequately distributing doctors in underserved areas.

The analysis was based on responses from 60,043 physicians in active practice who bhad graduated from medical school between the years 1999 and 2001.

Top-ranked private medical schools like Columbia, University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins, Duke, Northwestern, and Stanford all were in the survey’s bottom twenty. However, schools with the highest “social mission” scores include three historically black colleges (Morehouse College, Meharry Medical College, and Howard University) as well as public schools like University of Kansas, Michigan State University, and the University of Mississippi.

The Obama Health Care Plan will induct nearly 32 million newly-insured patients into the American health care system, with new, highly-trained physicians needed more than ever in traditionally underserved areas. The new health care plan will also create a much higher demand for primary care physicians and general practitioners rather than specialists alone. Let’s hope that medical schools heed the report to ensure care for all in the U.S.!