Medical school remains first on U.S. News’ primary care list

	Dr. Howard Willson of Thermopolis, Wyo., is one of the many clinical faculty members who teach medical students in small towns throughout the region. Photo by Doug Plummer.

The UW School of Medicine has again ranked as the nation’s top primary-care medical school in U.S. News & World Report’s annual survey of graduate and professional schools. (See rankings story on page one.)

The magazine’s researchers compared the nation’s medical schools on several factors, including student selectivity, percentage of graduates entering primary care, faculty/student ratios, and reputation. Reputation was based on the results of a questionnaire sent to the country’s medical school deans, senior faculty, and residency program directors.

“I’m pleased that the high quality of the UW medical school’s students and faculty, and the opinion of our colleagues throughout the country, has led to this ranking,” said Dr. Paul G. Ramsey, vice president for medical affairs and dean of the School of Medicine.

He noted, “Our faculty at the UW Academic Medical Center, including basic scientists, specialists and primary-care providers, are highly dedicated to the education and training of new physicians. In addition, our partner universities, community physicians and other health professionals practicing in the five states in the WWAMI Program of regionalized medical education — Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, Idaho and Alaska — have contributed greatly to the quality of education our medical students receive. Our faculty in neighboring states, as well as those close by, provide educational experiences that encourage medical students to consider entering practices where they are most needed — in rural areas, in the inner city, or working with populations who otherwise would not be able to obtain adequate health care.”

In the category including all medical schools, Harvard ranked first and the UW ninth. In fiscal year 1998, Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania were the only medical schools to receive more National Institutes of Health (NIH) research funding than the UW, a public institution. The UW medical school is third in NIH research funding in the nation. In comparing federal funding for medical schools, U. S. News lists that the faculty of the UW School of Medicine received $244 million in federal research grants in fiscal year 1998. In addition to this federal funding for their research programs, UW medical faculty also received $34.7 million from private foundations and industry during the 1997-98 fiscal year.

In addition to the No. 1 rankings in family medicine and rural medicine, UW School of Medicine programs ranked No. 4 in women’s health care, No. 5 in teaching about AIDS, No. 6 in geriatrics, tied for No. 6 in pediatrics, ranked No. 7 in internal medicine, and and tied for No. 7 in teaching about drug and alcohol abuse. It ranked in the top 10 in all of the eight specialty categories included in the U. S. News & World Report survey.

In the rankings of graduate programs in biological sciences, the medical school’s Ph.D. program in microbiology ranked No. 7.