Global Ranking of Medical Universities

Harvard University routinely snags the top spot in annual rankings of U.S. medical schools. The story is the same even in global rankings, according to the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU).

The Center for World-Class Universities, Graduate School of Education of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China, annually ranks more than 1,000 universities in five fields: Natural Sciences and Mathematics; Engineering/Technology and Computer Sciences; Life and Agriculture Sciences; Clinical Medicine and Pharmacy; and Social Sciences.

In the field of medicine, ARWU ranks universities by the following indicators: the number of alumni and staff winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals; number of highly cited researchers selected by Thomson Scientific; number of articles published in journals of Nature and Science; number of articles indexed in Science Citation Index - Expanded and Social Sciences Citation Index; and per capita performance with respect to the size of an institution.

The top 50 from 2012 is heavily dominated by universities in the United States, with 32 of the top 50 spots. All but three spots in the top 15 went to American universities.

15. University College London

Country: United Kingdom

Total Score: 61.4

Total Enrollment: 19,673

International Students: 7,203 (37%)

14. Mayo Medical School

Country: United States

Total Score: 61.8

Total Enrollment: 57,000

International Students: N/A

13. University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Country: United States

Total Score: 62.3

Total Enrollment: 40,909

International Students: 3,424 (8%)

12. University of Michigan — Ann Arbor

Country: United States

Total Score: 64

Total Enrollment: 39,694

International Students: 4,666 (12%)

11. Karolinska Institute

Country: Sweden

Total Score: 64.1

Total Enrollment: 7,051

International Students: N/A

10. University of Pittsburgh

Country: United States

Total Score: 64.7

Total Enrollment: 25,359

International Students: 1,957 (8%)

9. Stanford University

Country: United States

Total Score: 65.4

Total Enrollment: 15,861

International Students: 3,581 (23%)

8. University of Cambridge

Country: United Kingdom

Total Score: 68.6

Total Enrollment: 17,868

International Students: 5,526 (31%)

7. University of California, Los Angeles

Country: United States

Total Score: 69.1

Total Enrollment: 37,633

International Students: 3,169 (8%)

6. The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas

Country: United States

Total Score: 69.6

Total Enrollment: 2,004

International Students: 142 (7%)

5. Columbia University

Country: United States

Total Score: 71

Total Enrollment: 21,817

International Students: 5,280 (24%)

4. The Johns Hopkins University

Country: United States

Total Score: 76.9

Total Enrollment: 15,116

International Students: 2,484 (16%)

3. University of Washington

Country: United States

Total Score: 78.9

Total Enrollment: 40,280

International Students: 3,270 (8%)

2. University of California, San Francisco

Country: United States

Total Score: 87.5

Total Enrollment: 3,119

International Students: 133 (4%)

1. Harvard University

Country: United States of America

Total Score: 100

Total Enrollment: 21,260

International Students: 4,526 (21%)

Harvard University is ranked number one since 2003 in not just the clinical medicine and pharmacy field, but also natural sciences and mathematics, life and agriculture sciences and social sciences. The only field in which Harvard has not taken the top spot is engineering/technology and computer sciences — over the last six years its average ranking is around 38.

Read the full list here.