Why should we rank medical schools by residency results?
Choosing a medical school is one of the most important decisions aspiring doctors make. It affects not only their education, but also their career growth, professional opportunities, financial well-being, and overall life satisfaction. While the dream of becoming a physician can be pursued through many paths, the institution where one earns a medical degree often serves as the foundation for everything that follows.
Medical schools vary in reputation, clinical affiliations, and research opportunities. These differences can significantly impact a graduate's ability to secure competitive residency placements. Prestigious institutions often have strong relationships with top hospitals and residency programs, giving their students an edge during the Match process. Even outside of the most competitive specialties, the quality of clinical training and mentorship can shape a physician’s confidence and competence early in their career.
While AAMC Medical School Admission Requirements (MSAR) and AACOM Choose DO Explorer provide a lot of information about admission requirements, average MCAT and GPA scores, contact information, and many other characteristics. Our Medical School Finder additionally provides unique opportunity to choose medical school according to future career goals.
We rank medical school by real life results based on the current residency positions of school graduates. All-specialties mean rank and specific ranks for each specialty are calculated using data about students matched into U.S. residencies which is 60% publicly available and 38% manually collected by our stuff. Residency program competitiveness used as a main dominating factor for school rank calculation with a coefficient of 0.8.
Specialty share gives other 20% of the rank score. This approach objectively evaluates all U.S. schools and schools with high U.S. residency application rates. World schools with low application rates however may have a very subjective ranking but higher rank and higher number of U.S. medical residents still give very important information for those who seek cheaper medical education abroad.
