UW School of Medicine and Public Health in Top 20 for 'Social Mission'

Madison, Wisconsin - In a first-of-its kind study, the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison has been ranked in the nation's top 20 medical schools for fulfilling its social mission.

The study, published in this week's Annals of Internal Medicine, ranked 141 U.S. medical schools on three measures: the percentage of medical school graduates who practice primary care, work in health-professional shortage areas, or are underrepresented minorities.

Each school got a "social mission score" reflecting its performance on the three measures. The research team was based at George Washington University.

"This is a new way of evaluating medical schools, and we are proud that Wisconsin is ranked so highly on measures that reflect our commitment to serve the needs of our state," said Dr. Robert Golden, dean of the School of Medicine and Public Health.

"While we appreciate this important recognition, we will not rest until the health disparities in this state have been eliminated, and the people of Wisconsin enjoy the best health measures in the nation."

The research team analyzed data on medical-school graduates from 1999 to 2001 to capture the most recent group of graduates who had completed all types of residency training and national service obligations. Primary care was defined to include family medicine, general internal medicine, general pediatrics and internal medicine pediatrics.

For public medical schools, which primarily admit students from within their state, the researchers compared the proportion of African-American, Hispanic and Native Americans graduated by the school to the proportion of those minorities living in the state.

At the UW medical school during the years studied, 13.8 percent of graduates were members of those minority groups, while the state's proportion of those groups was 11 percent.

"Assessments of medical schools, such as the well-known US News & World Report ranking system, often value research funding, school reputation, and student selectivity factors over the actual educational output of each school, particularly regarding the number of graduates who enter primary care, practice in underserved areas, and are underrepresented minorities," according to the study.

Other Midwest medical schools ranked as follows:

• Medical College of Wisconsin: 128
• University of Minnesota: 34
• Mayo Medical Clinic: 103
• University of Illinois: 18
• Northwestern University: 139

The UW School of Medicine and Public Health has established two innovative programs that focus on preparing medical students for practice in underserved rural and urban settings: the Wisconsin Academy for Rural Medicine (WARM) and Training in Urban Medicine and Public Health (TRIUMPH).