For Immediate Release
Contact: David Foreman
(434) 924-2242

UVa School of Medicine Cracks Top 25 in U.S. News Survey

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., April 3, 2006 -- The University of Virginia School of Medicine improved its ranking to 25th in the nation for research in the latest issue of U.S. News & World Report. UVa was the only medical school in the Commonwealth to be included in the survey and is one of just six schools in the mid-Atlantic, including Johns Hopkins, Duke and U.N.C., to crack the Top 30 in the research category. UVa’s ranking in primary care jumped from 40th to  31st.    

“We are very pleased with the latest rankings and believe as we continue to refine our curriculum, to provide outstanding patient care, and develop new leading-edge medical research, our national profile will continue to be enhanced,” said Dr. Arthur Garson, Jr., vice president and dean of the UVa School of Medicine . “Our work in educating new physicians is especially drawing attention in the rankings as residency directors continue to increase the score they give UVa. This means our graduating medical students are making favorable impressions with their ability to care for patients as they continue their medical education.”

While some schools saw double digit declines in their percentages of funding from the National Institutes for Health, according to the U.S. News rankings, NIH grants for medical research at UVa. bucked the trend, standing at $146.2 million, an increase of $13 million over last year. Equally importantly, the NIH grants per faculty member moved from 24th to 17th in the nation.

U.S. News ranked 144 medical schools in the survey. Other indicators included peer assessment, enrollment, undergraduate GPA, acceptance rates, scores on the MCAT (Medical College Admission Test), and faculty-student ratio.

###