Best universities for medicine 2017

Find the best universities for medicine using Times Higher Education’s World University Rankings data

September 28 2016

The study of medicine varies greatly around the world. In the United States medicine is studied in graduate school after an undergraduate degree that is not directly related to the graduate programme.

Elsewhere, as in the United Kingdom, students can enrol on clinical undergraduate degrees and continue on the course for the duration of their studies.

Wherever you study, almost all clinical degrees span a good number of years – more than non-clinical courses.

So it’s best to ensure that you make a wise choice when you commit yourself to an institution for such a period of time.

Resources: universities by degree subject

- Best universities for arts and humanities
- Best universities for business and economics
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Times Higher Education publishes a ranking of the top 100 universities for clinical, pre-clinical and health studies, featuring colleges in more than 20 countries worldwide.

The ranking uses the same methodology as the World University Rankings, but with more weight on citations and slightly less on teaching and research metrics.

Scroll down for a full list of degrees included in the clinical ranking of top schools.

Resources: best universities worldwide

- Best universities in the world
- Best universities in the United States
- Best universities in the UK
- Best universities in Canada
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Top five universities for clinical studies and health sciences

1. University of Oxford

Medicine at Oxford is a traditional course, split into pre-clinical and clinical stages.

In the first few years, students are taught theoretically with little patient contact, and in later years they move to the clinical phase, spending much more time at the John Radcliffe Hospital.

Around 150 students are admitted on to the course each year, and another 30 on to a graduate course that condenses medical studies into just four years.

The university has two main libraries for medicine and clinical studies, one providing resources for the pre-clinical elements of the course and another focusing on healthcare.

Entry to the medical course is extremely competitive. In 2015 only a third of all applicants were interviewed, and 11 per cent secured places.

In addition to its distinctive course, Oxford offers students the experience of college life, where social events and small tutorials take place.

2. Harvard University

The graduate medical school of Harvard University has three missions: to educate, research and provide clinical care.

It is the third-oldest medical school in the country, founded in 1782.

Faculty of the school also teach in other science departments at Harvard, and work in clinical departments at some of the hospitals affiliated to the university.

There are four main teaching hospitals, all around the Boston area.

Recently, Harvard introduced problem-based learning to the curriculum. There is also a specialised programme, accepting only 30 applicants each year, which focuses on biomedical research.

Medical students at Harvard belong to one of five societies, named after alumni. Students work in small groups within the society, compete in sports competitions and attend social events.

3. University of Cambridge

As at Oxford, students can enrol in an undergraduate medicine degree.

Graduates also have several options to study medicine, either on an accelerated graduate programme or a condensed version of the pre-clinical and clinical courses.

There are six applicants per place on the medical courses, and about 260 are accepted overall.

Half the graduates of Cambridge’s medical degrees become general practitioners, and almost all will work in the National Health Service in the UK.

Entrance to the medicine degree requires excellent secondary qualifications and high scores on the BMAT test.

Cambridge students, particularly medical students, have a busy schedule, juggling studies, social events in college and a variety of recreational activities.

4. Imperial College London

The medical programme at Imperial offers a range of teaching methods, from traditional theoretical classes to innovative and hands-on experience.

From the very first term students have direct contact with patients, unlike at other more traditional universities in the UK.

The six-year undergraduate qualification in medicine also includes a bachelor of science, in addition to the MBBS.

Like both Oxford and Cambridge, Imperial’s courses are heavily scientific, with an emphasis not only on clinical practice but also on research techniques.

Entry requirements are high; most accepted students will have top grades in chemistry, biology and a third subject, and achieve a high score on the BMAT exam. The application process also includes an interview.

Imperial is one of the most international institutions in the UK, but only a few overseas students are accepted on to the medical programme each year.

5. University of California, Berkeley

At Berkeley, the medical programme is a joint programme with the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).

The two public universities collaborate to offer a course that combines theoretical knowledge with student-led research.

The graduate programme takes five years to complete. The pre-clerkship (pre-clinical) phase is at Berkeley, and classes use problem-based learning to teach the medical curriculum.

In addition to a medical degree, students will earn a master’s in public health before completing their medical education at UCSF.

Acceptance to the course is extremely competitive, and many applicants take at least a few years off between undergraduate studies and starting the programme.

The programme is particularly suitable for students who are interested in policy-related topics within health education, and who also want clinical experience.

Resources: European universities

- Best universities in Europe
- Best universities in France
- Best universities in the Netherlands
- Best universities in Germany

Best universities for medicine 2016-2017

Click each institution to view its profile

Rank 2016-2017	University	Country
1	University of Oxford	United Kingdom
2	Harvard University	United States
3	University of Cambridge	United Kingdom
4	Imperial College London	United Kingdom
5	University of California, Berkeley	United States
6	University College London	United Kingdom
7	Stanford University	United States
8	Johns Hopkins University	United States
9	Columbia University	United States
10	Karolinska Institute	Sweden
11	Duke University	United States
12	University of California, Los Angeles	United States
13	University of Melbourne	Australia
14	University of Toronto	Canada
15	University of Pennsylvania	United States
16	King’s College London	United Kingdom
=17	Cornell University	United States
=17	Yale University	United States
19	University of Washington	United States
20	University of Edinburgh	United Kingdom
21	University of Michigan	United States
22	Washington University in St Louis	United States
23	McGill University	Canada
24	University of Chicago	United States
25	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	United States
26	Boston University	United States
27	McMaster University	Canada
28	Heidelberg University	Germany
=29	University of California, San Diego	United States
=29	Northwestern University	United States
31	National University of Singapore	Singapore
=32	LMU Munich	Germany
=32	University of British Columbia	Canada
34	The University of Tokyo	Japan
35	University of Sydney	Australia
36	University of Pittsburgh	United States
37	KU Leuven	Belgium
38	New York University	United States
39	University of Hong Kong	Hong Kong
40	Emory University	United States
41	Monash University	Australia
42	Erasmus University Rotterdam	Netherlands
43	University of Queensland	Australia
44	Vanderbilt University	United States
45	Case Western Reserve University	United States
46	University of Manchester	United Kingdom
47	University of Glasgow	United Kingdom
48	University of Minnesota	United States
49	Uppsala University	Sweden
50	University of Southern California	United States
51	University of Montreal	Canada
=52	Utrecht University	Netherlands
=52	Seoul National University	South Korea
54	Leiden University	Netherlands
55	University of Amsterdam	Netherlands
56	Technical University of Munich (TUM)	Germany
57	Tufts University	United States
58	Tsinghua University	China
=59	Maastricht University	Netherlands
=59	University of Liverpool	United Kingdom
61	University of Cape Town	South Africa
62	University of Copenhagen	Denmark
63	Kyoto University	Japan
64	Dartmouth College	United States
65	Queen Mary University of London	United Kingdom
=66	University of Zurich	Switzerland
=66	University of Basel	Switzerland
=66	Lund University	Sweden
69	University of Bristol	United Kingdom
70	University of California, Davis	United States
71	University of Wisconsin-Madison	United States
72	Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU)	South Korea
73	University of Alberta	Canada
74	University of Auckland	New Zealand
75	Peking University	China
76	University of Tübingen	Germany
77	University of the Witwatersrand	South Africa
=78	Chinese University of Hong Kong	Hong Kong
=78	University of Calgary	Canada
80	University of Dundee	United Kingdom
81	University of New South Wales	Australia
82	University of Bern	Switzerland
83	University of Barcelona	Spain
84	Ohio State University	United States
85	University of Virginia	United States
=86	Australian National University	Australia
=86	Autonomous University of Barcelona	Spain
=86	The University of Western Australia	Australia
89	University of Florida	United States
=90	University of Miami	United States
=90	University of Helsinki	Finland
92	University of Groningen	Netherlands
93	Fudan University	China
94	Aarhus University	Denmark
95	University of Oslo	Norway
96	University of Leicester	United Kingdom
=97	University of Gothenburg	Sweden
=97	University of Otago	New Zealand
=99	Western University	Canada
=99	Paris-Sud University	France