15 Best Medical Schools to Study Surgery in the US.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the need for surgeons is predicted to rise by 18 percent. In the United States, there were approximately 700,000 surgeons employed, with another 125,000 surgeons predicted to be needed in the following ten years. With ages averaging around $90 per hour, there is clearly a financial incentive to pursue a career as a surgeon.

If you are still unsure about your decision to pursue a career in medicine, the statistics given above is enough reason. Although it takes long years of study and hard work to be a surgeon, it is interesting to know that the career is rewarding in the long run.

I bet you don’t want to choose just any school to pursue your passion. The quality of education and training you receive will make you stand out among the rest. So, I have done my research and carefully listed the best medical schools for surgery.

Here are the 15 Best medical Schools for Surgery in the US

  1. Harvard Medical School (Cambridge, MA)
  2. New York University Grossman School of Medicine (New York, NY)
  3. Duke University School of Medicine (Durham, NC)
  4. Stanford University School of Medicine (Stanford, CA)
  5. University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine (San Francisco, CA)
  6. Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (New York, NY)
  7. Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (Baltimore, MD)
  8. University of Washington School of Medicine (Seattle, WA)
  9. Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA)
  10.  Yale School of Medicine (New Haven, CT)
  11.  Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine (Rochester, MN)
  12. Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis (St. Louis, MO)
  13. University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine (Pittsburgh, PA)
  14.  Vanderbilt University School of Medicine (Nashville, TN)
  15.  Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine (Chicago, IL)
  16.  University of Michigan Medical School (Ann Arbor, MI)

Harvard Medical School (Cambridge, MA)

Harvard Medical School was established in 1782, located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. The institution has over the years improved human health by innovating in their roles as physicians, mentors and scholars.

It is on record that more than 11,000 people collaborate in the Faculty of Medicine to push the boundaries of knowledge in labs, classrooms, and clinics. This has piloted educational models and also developed new curricula to address emerging needs in health care.

Harvard Medical School has an acceptance rate of 3.7% and the Undergraduate tuition and fees is estimated at 46,000 USD. This indicates that you have to be an exceptional student to be offered admission in HMS.

HMS offers students an opportunity to learn from some of the best doctors in the world. They have a long list of medical achievements, including the development of artificial skin for burn victims, the first successful reattachment of a severed limb, and the introduction of insulin to treat diabetes.

New York University Grossman School of Medicine (New York, NY)

New York University Grossman School of Medicine was established in 1841. It is part of NYU Langone Health, which was named after Kenneth Langone, the investment banker and financial backer of Home Depot.

The Grossman School has a long history of fostering scientific breakthroughs. Avram Hershko shared the 2004 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discovering the ubiquitin system in protein degradation. Julius Axelrod won the 1970 Nobel Prize in Medicine for his research.

NYU Grossman is a medical school at New York University that has a very low acceptance rate. Only 2.2% of applicants are accepted to NYU Grossman, so it’s definitely one of the most competitive schools.

Duke University School of Medicine (Durham, NC)

Duke University School of Medicine is ranked among the best medical schools in the nation. They pride themselves on being an inclusive community of outstanding learners, investigators, clinicians, and staff.

The Duke Clinical Research Institute is the most diverse academic clinical research organization, conducting phase I to phase IV trials across the spectrum of diseases. They provide researchers with 100,000+ patient registries for data collection.

The school takes pride in a lot of achievements. Duke University in 1965 was the first to train people in Physician Assistant, and it’s still ranked number one in the country. It is also one of the original and most well-known locations for the Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA). 

Stanford University School of Medicine (Stanford, CA)

Stanford University was California’s first medical school. Its origins can be traced back to the University of the Pacific’s Medical Department, which was founded in San Francisco in 1858.

The School of Medicine offers a strong graduate program in biosciences, with a focus on cell biology, genetics, genomics, and bioinformatics, as well as neurology and neurobiology.

The Precision Health era has arrived at Stanford Medicine. Stanford Medicine is known for its quality patient care. It’s also where the first successful human heart transplant in the country and the first combined heart-lung transplant in the world took place.

Some of the notable alumni of the school are Physician and paralympian Cheri Blauwet, former director of the world’s first sleep medicine clinic Alexander A. Clerk, and heart transplant pioneer Randall B. Griepp.

University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine (San Francisco, CA)

The UCSF School of Medicine is located at the base of Mount Sutro on the Parnassus Heights campus in San Francisco and it is the No. 1 medical school in the country for internal medicine and obstetrics & gynecology.

The UCSF School of Medicine, consistently ranked among the nation’s top medical schools, is distinguished by its outstanding faculty, which includes five (5) Nobel laureates, 101 members of the National Academy of Medicine, 64 members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and 51 members of the National Academy of Sciences.

Stanley Prusiner, a scientist at UCSF, discovered prions, a new disease-causing agent alongside bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites. For this, he won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1997.

Tuition fee at UCSF costs 36 USD,342 (in-state) and 48,587 USD (out-of-state) and has an acceptance rate of 16.3% as of 2020. You need to be highly qualified to gain admission to this premium school.

Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (New York, NY)

Founded in 1767, VP&S consistently ranks as one of the top medical schools in the nation. It’s known for its research-intensive program, which provides students with access to many resources and extensive clinical study through its partnership with New York.

VP&S attracts students from all backgrounds who genuinely care about people and have always been courageous. They have MCAT scores and grade point averages that are among the highest in the nation, and VP&S has one of the most diverse student bodies. 

Some of the school’s notable faculty members include scientists Richard Axel, Eric Kandel, and Joachim Frank, author and neurologist Oliver Sacks, and Pulitzer Prize winner Siddhartha Mukherjee.

Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (Baltimore, MD)

The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHUSOM), is located at Baltimore, Maryland and it was founded in 1893.

Hopkins, according to the Flexner Report, has served as a model for medical education in the United States. From 1991 until 2011, U.S. News & World Report recognized its main teaching hospital, Johns Hopkins Hospital, as the best hospital in the United States every year.

The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine was the first to admit women and it introduced rubber gloves, which provided a sterile approach to conducting surgical procedures. In addition, it has published The Harriet Lane Handbook, an indispensable tool for pediatricians, for over 60 years

University of Washington School of Medicine (Seattle, WA)

University of Washington School of Medicine (UWSOM) is a leader in rural medicine and primary care, it was founded in 1946. The school is recognized in Biomedical science training. 

UWSOM is a top-ranked and well-resourced research environment, which houses over 1,200 graduate students and 650 postdocs, and gets over $600 million in funding for biomedical research and scientist training each year.

One of the most distinctive medical education programs in the country is at the University of Washington School of Medicine. The curriculum focuses on tailoring medical education for students and ensuring that they have a thorough understanding of basic clinical skills and professionalism.

Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA)

The Perelman School of Medicine, which was founded in 1765 and is one of the seven Ivy League medical schools, is the oldest medical school in the United States.

The Perelman School of Medicine has a global reputation for innovation in areas such as leadership development and global health. Their ground-breaking curriculum established a new national standard for medical education. From the first day, the six-module MD program incorporates basic sciences and clinical practice.

Pediatric, psychiatric, obstetric and gynecologic, internal medicine, and anesthesiology specialists from UPenn dominate the top 5 positions in U.S. News’s specialty rankings.

 Yale School of Medicine (New Haven, CT)

Yale School of Medicine was founded in 1810 as the medical institution for Yale University.

The Yale School of Medicine employs the “Yale System” established by Dean Winternitz in the 1920s, wherein first- and second-year students are not ranked or graded among their classmates.

One of the school’s most notable features is its historical medical libraries Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library. It is one of the most historical and biggest modern libraries.

Worthy of note are the school’s notable faculty members; Patricia Goldman-Rakic, a pioneering neurobiologist, Brian Kobilka, a Nobel Prize-winning physiologist, and Alfred Gilman Sr., a pharmacologist who pioneered chemotherapy.

 Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine (Rochester, MN)

Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine was formerly known as Mayo Medical School. It is a research-oriented medical school having campuses in Rochester, Minnesota, as well as Arizona and Florida.

One of the major benefits of being a student is the Mayo Clinic Health System, which serves over 60 cities in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa. Students can conduct rotations at any of these hospitals, as well as the Mayo Clinic locations in Phoenix and Jacksonville. As a result, Mayo medical institutions employ at least 20% of graduating physicians.

Mayo Clinic School of Medicine (Alix) charges a 120 USD application fee. Its full-time tuition is 58,900 USD. Mayo Clinic School of Medicine (Alix) has a faculty-to-student ratio of 2.1:1. There are 899 full-time faculty members in the medical school.

Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis (St. Louis, MO)

The School of Medicine at Washington University is dedicated to improving human health around the world. Since the school’s foundation in 1891, their great staff has contributed many discoveries and advances to science and medicine as recognized leaders in patient care, research, and education.

Radiology, obstetrics and gynecology, surgery, and anesthesiology are among the top-ranked specialties at WUSM. Physical therapy, occupational therapy, and audiology & communication sciences programs, including a Doctor of Audiology (AuD) degree and a Master of Science in Deaf Education, are also noteworthy (MSDE).

While continuing their studies in a variety of academic departments and programs, the students of WUSM learn from master clinicians and researchers.

University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine (Pittsburgh, PA)

In biomedical research, Pitt Medicine is a national leader. U.S. News & World Report consistently ranks the School of Medicine, often known as Pitt Med, as a “Top Medical School” in both research and primary care. 

All Pitt Med students conduct a longitudinal research project that spans all four years of their education to reflect the school’s research commitment. The purpose is to create new information and clinical training that will help graduates advance in their jobs.

Bernard Fisher, a pioneer in breast cancer research, William W. Li, co-founder of the Angiogenesis Foundation, and forensic psychiatrist Park Dietz are among the notable alumni of Pitt Med.

 Vanderbilt University School of Medicine (Nashville, TN)

Vanderbilt University Medical Center has a global reputation for being a cutting-edge leader in medical education, biological research, and patient care.

Trust the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine to administer degree programs that provide students with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes they will need to practice safe, effective, ethical, evidence-based, and patient-centered health care in the 21st century, and to contribute to the knowledge base supporting it.

Alumni Dorothy M. Horstmann was a groundbreaking epidemiologist and physician who pioneered polio and rubella research, laying the path for the creation of safe and efficient vaccines for both diseases. Horstmann was the first female professor at Yale School of Medicine when she joined the faculty in 1961.

 Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine (Chicago, IL)

Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine is located in the Streeterville neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois.

Because of the knowledge, experience, and dedication of its staff, Feinberg provides a renowned medical education and top-notch research programs. The medical school’s faculty list, which numbers around 4,000 people, contains some of the brightest brains and hearts in medicine and biomedical research.

The school’s greatness is unaffected by the lack of traditional grading; in fact, because students are less pressured to be at the top of their class, they have more time and space to focus on studying and providing quality patient care.

 University of Michigan Medical School (Ann Arbor, MI)

One of Michigan’s major health-care facilities is located at Michigan Medicine. Since the Medical School initially opened in 1850, it has been the location of numerous ground-breaking medical and technological breakthroughs.

Students begin clinical practice in the first semester of year one through the Interprofessional Clinical Experience (ICE). They also experience early exposure to the collaborative and interpersonal aspects of healthcare provided via ICE. Clerkships are available as early as the second year, with advanced third and fourth-year clinical rotations following.

Ben Carson, a politician and neurosurgeon, Sanjay Gupta, a CNN medical correspondent, and Alexa Canady, the first African American female neurosurgeon in the United States, are among the notable alumni.

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