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UI Carver College of Medicine ranks among 2024 ‘Best Graduate Schools’ by U.S. News

Date: Thursday, May 11, 2023

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Medical school ranks in 7 categories; 2 programs remain in top 5 nationally

In its 2024 edition of “Best Graduate Schools,” U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine in the following categories:

  • Physician Assistant: No. 2 
  • Primary Care: No. 19 
  • Most Graduates Practicing in Rural Areas: No. 37
  • Research: No. 44 
  • Most Graduates Practicing in Primary Care Fields: No. 76 
  • Most Diverse Medical Schools: No. 92 
  • Most Graduates Practicing in Medically Underserved Areas: No. 94 
Congratulations and thank you!

UI Carver College of Medicine is once again ranked as one of the best graduate schools in the United States.  Thank you for educating the next generation of health care professionals.

The Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science keeps its No. 4 position from the 2021 rankings (released in 2020). Updated rankings for physical therapy programs were not compiled for the 2024 “Best Graduate Schools” listings. 

The “Best Graduate Schools” rankings can inform decision-making when it comes to choosing a medical school.

“The U.S. News rankings are one indicator of excellence of the University of Iowa’s medical education, training, and research,” says Brooks Jackson, MD, MBA, UI vice president for medical affairs and the Tyrone D. Artz Dean of the Carver College of Medicine. “I’m pleased our outstanding faculty, staff, and students continue to be recognized among the nation’s best medical education and research programs.

Methodology for ‘Best Medical Schools’ rankings

U.S. News surveyed 192 medical and osteopathic schools accredited in 2023 by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education or the American Osteopathic Association. This data and third-party statistics were used to calculate the overall rankings, eight medical field specialty rankings, and four diversity and practice rankings. 

Of those schools surveyed in fall 2022 and early 2023, 130 were ranked. For some ranking factors, U.S. News substituted survey data reported the previous year from medical schools that declined to participate in the latest edition.  

U.S. News produced two distinct medical school rankings for research and primary care.  

The research rankings were based partly on four indicators: research activity as defined by the total dollar amount of federal grants and contracts for fiscal year 2020; total federal research activity per full-time faculty members during the 2020-21 academic year; total dollar amount of National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants for fiscal year 2022; and total NIH research grants per faculty member, calculated as the FY2021 NIH dollar amounts divided by a school’s 2020-21 full-time faculty. 

The primary care rankings were based partly on two indicators: a medical school’s 2014-16 graduates practicing in primary care specialties as of 2022 and a medical school’s percentages of graduates entering primary care residency training programs, averaged over 2020, 2021, and 2022. 

The research and primary care rankings also incorporated qualitative assessments: peer assessment scores from deans, residency directors, and other collegiate leaders; student selectivity as defined by a school’s median MCAT (Medical College Admission Test) score, median undergraduate grade-point average, acceptance rate, and faculty resources. 

The most diverse medical schools ranking is based on a medical school’s total enrollment of underrepresented minority students (URM) and the ratio of a school’s URM to state or national numbers. 

The rankings in rural medicine, primary care practice, and medically underserved areas are based on the percentage of a medical school’s 2014-2016 graduates practicing in these categories.