David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA places among nation’s best, draws top students

By any measure, the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA is among the nation’s best, with extraordinarily talented faculty, top-notch facilities and strong alignment with a leading clinical enterprise, among other attributes.

In the annual assessment of medical schools released March 29, 2021, by U.S. News & World Report, the Geffen School of Medicine placed in the top 10 in six of eight specialties, reflecting broad excellence in medical education as assessed by deans and senior faculty nationally.

In the assessment’s Diversity Index – a new measurement based on enrollment of underrepresented minorities – UCLA’s medical school placed #9, above most peer institutions.

In 2020, our medical school received more than $590 million in research grants from the National Institutes of Health – second highest in the nation.

Competition for student admission to UCLA’s medical school has never been greater – more than 11,700 applicants for only 175 newly available spots in 2020 – and residencies remain highly coveted.

Some may be surprised to see the Geffen School of Medicine ranked #21 in research by U.S. News, compared to #6 last year. (The primary care ranking was #12, compared to #11.)

The reason has to do largely with U.S. News & World Report’s new methodology affecting how 2019 research funding and expenditures are reported and factored into the assessment, resulting in a significant reduction in what is included.

While rankings provide imprecise measures of quality, they do offer a valuable tool that informs the Geffen School of Medicine’s culture of continuous improvement.

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