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Best universities for medicine 2023

Find the best universities for medicine using Times Higher Education’s World University Rankings 2023 data

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October 25 2022
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Top 10 universities in the world for medicine

Scroll down for the full list of best universities in the world for medicine and health sciences

Clinical sciences rank 2023  Clinical sciences rank 2022  University Country/region
 1   1  University of Oxford United Kingdom
 2   4  University of Cambridge United Kingdom
 3   2  Harvard University United States
 4   4  Imperial College London United Kingdom
 5   7  Tsinghua University China
 6   6  Stanford University United States
 7   5  University of Toronto Canada
 8   8  UCL United Kingdom
 9   =9  Yale University United States
 10   12  King’s College London United Kingdom

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

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Elsewhere, such as in the UK, students can enrol for undergraduate clinical degrees.

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 a lengthy course of study.

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Times Higher Education has published a ranking of the top 1,001 universities for clinical, pre-clinical and health studies, featuring colleges in more than 50 countries worldwide.

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

Scroll down for a full list of degrees included in the clinical subject ranking of top universities, and a guide on what you can do with them.

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Top five universities for clinical studies and health sciences

5. Tsinghua University

Tsinghua University is the only university based in Asia in the top 10 of the clinical science ranking.

The Tsinghua School of Medicine is made up of three departments – the department of basic medical sciences, the department of biomedical engineering and the department of clinical medicine.

There are nine research fields, including immunology, oncobiology, infectious diseases, neuroscience and neural engineering, cell and molecular biology, medical imaging, biomedical engineering, public health, and clinical medicine.

4. Imperial College London

The medical programme at Imperial College London offers a range of teaching approaches, 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.

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 will achieve a high score in 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.

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3. Harvard University

Founded in 1782, the medical school at Harvard University is the third-oldest medical school in the US.

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

There are four main teaching hospitals across the Boston area.

Harvard has introduced problem-based learning to the curriculum. There is also a specialised programme, accepting only 30 applicants each year, that 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.

2. University of Cambridge

Students can enrol in an undergraduate medicine degree at the University of Cambridge.

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 NHS 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, college social events and a variety of recreational activities.

1. University of Oxford

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

About 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.

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

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.

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

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Best universities for medicine 2023

Click each institution to view its World University Rankings 2023 profile

Clinical sciences rank 2023  Clinical sciences rank 2022  University Country/region
 1   1  University of Oxford United Kingdom
 2   4  University of Cambridge United Kingdom
 3   2  Harvard University United States
 4   4  Imperial College London United Kingdom
 5   7  Tsinghua University China
 6   6  Stanford University United States
 7   5  University of Toronto Canada
 8   8  UCL United Kingdom
 9   =9  Yale University United States
 10   12  King’s College London United Kingdom
 11   =9  Johns Hopkins University United States
 12   11  Columbia University United States
 13   20  University of Hong Kong Hong Kong
 14   17  National University of Singapore Singapore
 15   18  University of Pennsylvania United States
 16   16  University of California, Los Angeles United States
 =17   =14  University of Melbourne Australia
 =17   21  University of Washington United States
 =19   =14  University of California, Berkeley United States
 =19   13  Karolinska Institute Sweden
 21   28  University of Edinburgh United Kingdom
 22   =25  University of Michigan-Ann Arbor United States
 23   24  Duke University United States
 24   22  Peking University China
 25   19  McMaster University Canada
 26   32  Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin Germany
 27   27  Washington University in St Louis United States
 28   =25  The University of Chicago United States
 29   31  University of California, San Diego United States
 30   =34  Northwestern University United States
 31   30  The University of Tokyo Japan
 =32   29  McGill University Canada
 =32   =34  Monash University Australia
 =32   =52  Yonsei University (Seoul campus) South Korea
 =35   41  New York University United States
 =35   33  University of Sydney Australia
 37   40  University of British Columbia Canada
 =38   42  Emory University United States
 =38   =38  Heidelberg University Germany
 =38   23  Kyoto University Japan
 41   37  Seoul National University South Korea
 42   36  University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill United States
 43   44  KU Leuven Belgium
 44   =52  Chinese University of Hong Kong Hong Kong
 45   47  Fudan University China
 46   =38  LMU Munich Germany
 47   48  Erasmus University Rotterdam Netherlands
 48   45  Boston University United States
 49   49  University of Glasgow United Kingdom
 50   58  University of Manchester United Kingdom
 51   43  ETH Zurich Switzerland
 52   56  University of Amsterdam Netherlands
 53   71  Shanghai Jiao Tong University China
 =54   60  University of Bristol United Kingdom
 =54   50  University of Southern California United States
 56   51  The University of Queensland Australia
 57   61  Vanderbilt University United States
 58   126–150  Sichuan University China
 59   73  University of Adelaide Australia
 =60   54  Brown University United States
 =60   59  Technical University of Munich Germany
 62   55  University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh campus United States
 63   74  Wuhan University China
 64   64  Maastricht University Netherlands
 65   69  UNSW Sydney Australia
 66   68  University of Birmingham United Kingdom
 =67   =81  Huazhong University of Science and Technology China
 =67   =76  Utrecht University Netherlands
 69   62  Queen Mary University of London United Kingdom
 70   66  Leiden University Netherlands
 71   72  University of Copenhagen Denmark
 72   63  Sorbonne University France
 73   =76  University of Bern Switzerland
 74   67  University of Zurich Switzerland
 =75   75  University of Alberta Canada
 =75   57  National Taiwan University (NTU) Taiwan
 =77   98  University of Cape Town South Africa
 =77   101–125  University of Groningen Netherlands
 79   =93  University of Nottingham United Kingdom
 80   101–125  Newcastle University United Kingdom
 81   101–125  Tufts University United States
 82   46  Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) South Korea
 83   101–125  Université Paris Cité France
 84   84  University of São Paulo Brazil
 85   70  University of Minnesota United States
 86   88  University of Barcelona Spain
 87   151–175  University of York United Kingdom
 88   101–125  University of Southampton United Kingdom
 89   126–150  Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Singapore
 =90   =91  University of Freiburg Germany
 =90   83  Zhejiang University China
 92   79  Case Western Reserve University United States
 93   126–150  Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Netherlands
 =94   176–200  King Abdulaziz University Saudi Arabia
 =94   87  Ohio State University (Main campus) United States
 =94   97  University of Ottawa Canada
 97   86  Dartmouth College United States
 98   =76  University of Tübingen Germany
 99   101–125  Lund University Sweden
 =100   =81  Australian National University Australia
 =100   101–125  Ghent University Belgium
 101–125   101–125  Aarhus University Denmark
 101–125   NR  Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University Saudi Arabia
 101–125   176–200  University of Antwerp Belgium
 101–125   =99  University of Auckland New Zealand
 101–125   101–125  Auckland University of Technology New Zealand
 101–125   89  University of Basel Switzerland
 101–125   NR  Bielefeld University Germany
 101–125   101–125  University of Bologna Italy
 101–125   301–400  Bond University Australia
 101–125   =99  University of Florida United States
 101–125   101–125  University of Hamburg Germany
 101–125   126–150  Lancaster University United Kingdom
 101–125   126–150  University of Leicester United Kingdom
 101–125   65  University of Liverpool United Kingdom
 101–125   101–125  Medical University of Vienna Austria
 101–125   85  University of Montreal Canada
 101–125   151–175  Oregon Health and Science University United States
 101–125   101–125  Osaka University Japan
 101–125   151–175  St George’s, University of London United Kingdom
 101–125   =93  University of Sheffield United Kingdom
 101–125   126–150  Sun Yat-sen University China
 101–125   80  Wageningen University & Research Netherlands
 101–125   =91  University of Warwick United Kingdom
 101–125   101–125  The University of Western Australia Australia
 126–150   126–150  University of Aberdeen United Kingdom
 126–150   101–125  University of Calgary Canada
 126–150   101–125  University of California, Davis United States
 126–150   126–150  University of Gothenburg Sweden
 126–150   101–125  University of Helsinki Finland
 126–150   126–150  University of Iowa United States
 126–150   =93  JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research India
 126–150   151–175  University of Leeds United Kingdom
 126–150   176–200  Nanjing University China
 126–150   101–125  Northeastern University United States
 126–150   126–150  University of Oslo Norway
 126–150   101–125  Université Paris-Saclay France
 126–150   126–150  Queen’s University Canada
 126–150   201–250  Queen’s University Belfast United Kingdom
 126–150   151–175  Radboud University Nijmegen Netherlands
 126–150   101–125  University of Rochester United States
 126–150   NR  Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) China
 126–150   151–175  Stellenbosch University South Africa
 126–150   201–250  Università della Svizzera italiana Switzerland
 126–150   126–150  Ulm University Germany
 126–150   201–250  United Arab Emirates University United Arab Emirates
 126–150   96  Uppsala University Sweden
 126–150   201–250  Vita-Salute San Raffaele University Italy
 126–150   151–175  University of the Witwatersrand South Africa
 126–150   176–200  University of Würzburg Germany
 151–175   176–200  Autonomous University of Barcelona Spain
 151–175   126–150  Brighton and Sussex Medical School United Kingdom
 151–175   101–125  University of Canberra Australia
 151–175   151–175  Catholic University of Portugal Portugal
 151–175   251–300  University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus United States
 151–175   201–250  University of Exeter United Kingdom
 151–175   NR  University of Hail Saudi Arabia
 151–175   151–175  Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hong Kong
 151–175   151–175  University of Illinois at Chicago United States
 151–175   NR  Jimma University Ethiopia
 151–175   90  Korea University South Korea
 151–175   251–300  University of Lagos Nigeria
 151–175   201–250  University of Lausanne Switzerland
 151–175   101–125  Université Catholique de Louvain Belgium
 151–175   301–400  Manipal Academy of Higher Education India
 151–175   176–200  University of Milan-Bicocca Italy
 151–175   151–175  University of Otago New Zealand
 151–175   176–200  University of Technology Sydney Australia
 151–175   201–250  University of Texas at Dallas United States
 151–175   126–150  Tohoku University Japan
 151–175   151–175  Trinity College Dublin Ireland
 151–175   126–150  University of Virginia (Main campus) United States
 151–175   101–125  Western University Canada
 151–175   151–175  Western Sydney University Australia
 176–200   126–150  Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) United Kingdom
 176–200   NR  An-Najah National University Palestine
 176–200   176–200  University of Bergen Norway
 176–200   126–150  University of Bonn Germany
 176–200   151–175  University of Cape Coast Ghana
 176–200   176–200  Cardiff University United Kingdom
 176–200   151–175  Central South University China
 176–200   176–200  Duy Tan University Vietnam
 176–200   126–150  University of Geneva Switzerland
 176–200   151–175  Georgetown University United States
 176–200   NR  Golestan University of Medical Sciences Iran
 176–200   NR  Humanitas University Italy
 176–200   NR  Jazan University Saudi Arabia
 176–200   151–175  La Trobe University Australia
 176–200   201–250  Macquarie University Australia
 176–200   151–175  University of Miami United States
 176–200   176–200  University of Milan Italy
 176–200   201–250  University of Newcastle Australia
 176–200   151–175  University of Peradeniya Sri Lanka
 176–200   201–250  Queensland University of Technology Australia
 176–200   201–250  University of Sharjah United Arab Emirates
 176–200   251–300  University of Tartu Estonia
 176–200   126–150  Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU) Japan
 176–200   151–175  University College Cork Ireland
 176–200   101–125  University of Wisconsin-Madison United States

Click here to view the full medicine ranking

Editors note: As part of our THE statement on Ukraine published on 2 March 2022, Russian universities have been given less prominence in our rankings. Russian and Belarusian universities that met the criteria for this ranking are not displayed in the table above.

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