For the 10th consecutive year, the 91探花School of Medicine has ranked as the nation鈥檚 top primary-care medical school in U.S.News & World Report鈥檚 annual survey of graduate and professional schools. In the annual rankings, the 91探花School of Medicine also continues to be regarded as the best in the United States for teaching medical students about family medicine and about rural medicine.
The medical school鈥檚 clinical training programs take place in several towns and cities in western Washington, as well as at sites across eastern Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho (the WWAMI region). Physicians practicing in local communities volunteer to provide much of the training for 91探花medical students.
In the U.S. News鈥� analysis of National Institutes of Health (NIH) federal funding, the 91探花School of Medicine ranked first in the nation among public medical schools and second overall around the nation for receipt of federal funding. The 91探花School of Medicine received $431.5 million in NIH funding during 2002. The only medical school to receive more funding was Harvard.
U.S. News compared the nation鈥檚 medical schools on several factors, including student selectivity, percentage of graduates entering primary care, faculty/student ratios, National Institutes of Health (NIH) research grants, and reputation. Reputation was based on a peer assessment questionnaire sent to the country鈥檚 medical school deans, senior faculty members, and residency program directors. Medical school deans and senior faculty members from across the country were also surveyed on which medical schools had the best training programs in specific fields, such as family medicine.
鈥淭he dedication of our faculty and staff to clinical care, research and teaching, and the caliber of our graduates, have been reflected in these rankings year after year for a decade now. Everyone who is part of the 91探花School of Medicine is gratified for this recognition of all their hard work,鈥� said Dr. Paul G. Ramsey, vice president for medical affairs and dean of the 91探花School of Medicine. 鈥淲e also owe this honor to our public service efforts that are imbued with a spirit of collaboration with many institutions, agencies and individuals working together for the common good.鈥�
Along with rating medical schools generally, the survey measured reputations in teaching specific medical disciplines. The 91探花School of Medicine ranked No. 1 in family medicine and in rural medicine, No. 5 in teaching about AIDS, and tied for No. 5 in women鈥檚 health. The school ranked No. 6 in internal medicine and in geriatrics, and tied for No. 6 in pediatrics.
The UW鈥檚 graduate program in bioengineering, jointly administered by the College of Engineering and the School of Medicine, ranked No. 5.
The 91探花School of Medicine is part of 91探花Medicine, which also includes 91探花Medical Center, Harborview Medical Center, 91探花Physicians, 91探花Physicians Neighborhood Clinics, and the UW鈥檚 membership in the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance and the Children鈥檚 University Medical Group. 91探花Medicine has major academic and service affiliations with the Children鈥檚 Hospital and Regional Medical Center, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and the Veteran鈥檚 Administration Medical Centers in Seattle and Boise. The School of Medicine is consistently among the top five recipients of federal funding for biomedical research; its 1,600 regular faculty include four Nobel Laureates, 25 members of the National Academy of Sciences, and 26 members of the Institute of Medicine.
In November, the school received the Association of American Medical Colleges 2002 Award for Outstanding Community Service. The award, given annually to just one medical school in the country, honored efforts to ameliorate health-care inequities in remote small towns, in inner city neighborhoods, and among needy populations throughout the WWAMI region 鈥� as well as nationally and globally.