UNMC’s College of Medicine made significant gains in three major categories in this year’s U.S.News & World Report’s academic rankings.
For the first time, UNMC’s rural medicine program cracked the top 10 in the magazine’s “America’s Best Graduate School” guidebook. Two other College of Medicine programs also made significant strides. UNMC’s primary care program moved up three spots to 17th place and UNMC’s family medicine program entered the rankings for the first time.
In all, six UNMC programs were ranked among the nation’s top graduate programs in the magazine’s 2006 edition, which lists all post-baccalaureate areas, including those in the health and medical professions.
In addition, the UNMC College of Pharmacy ranked 27th out of more than 90 pharmacy schools based on the academic quality of its doctoral program.
These three UNMC programs moved up in this year’s rankings:
- the College of Medicine’s primary care program (ranked 17th out of approximately 140 medical schools, up three spots from 20th place);
- the College of Medicine’s rural health medicine program (ranked 10th out of approximately 125 schools, up three spots from 13th place);
- the College of Medicine’s family medicine program (ranked 21st out of approximately 125 schools).
In addition, these UNMC programs are included in the guidebook, although they were not freshly ranked for 2006):
- the College of Nursing’s master’s degree program (ranked 39th out of approximately 260 schools);
- the School of Allied Health Professions’ physician assistant program (ranked 14th out of approximately 40 schools); and
- the School of Allied Health Professions’ physical therapy master’s/doctorate program (ranked 31st out of 141).
The annual health disciplines rankings were released today. The 2005 edition of the newsstand book, “America’s Best Graduate Schools,” hits newsstands April 4. Many of the ranking categories also will appear in the April 11 edition of U.S.News & World Report, the weekly newsmagazine, which also goes on sale that same day.
Although the magazine’s national rankings validate some of the outstanding programs at UNMC, the campus is constantly evaluating its programs to do better, said Rubens Pamies, M.D., vice chancellor for academic affairs at UNMC. “Our faculty and staff seize the direction medicine is moving in the coming decade and we use that, as well as our reevaluation process, to continuously improve our programs in medical education, care and research,” Dr. Pamies said. “When you have everyone coming together under one common goal – to be world-class – you can achieve a lot.”
Rankings from the “Best Graduate Schools” are available online at www.usnews.com. The online edition includes longer lists of some specialty rankings, as well as additional school directory information. Some of the UNMC programs listed above appear in the guidebook, while others appear in the extended online edition.
The U.S.News & World Report rankings are based on two types of data: expert opinion about program quality and statistical indicators that measure the quality of a school’s faculty, research and students. This year in medical school research, U.S.News added the total dollar amount of research grants awarded per full-time science and clinical faculty member from the National Institutes of Health to the medical school. The annual America’s Best Graduate Schools report began in 1990.
UNMC officials encourage students to use many sources when selecting a graduate or professional program. Editors say a ranking is one of the criteria students should consider when selecting a graduate school in addition to the student’s academic and professional ambitions, financial resources, scholastic record, along with a school’s size, atmosphere and location.