UMass Chan Ranked Best for Primary Care Education

The T.H. Chan School of Medicine at UMass Chan Medical School is recognized as the best in the Northeast and among the top 15 medical schools nationwide for primary care education, according to the U.S. News & World Report 2024 Best Graduate Schools rankings. Additionally, UMass Chan ranks in the second tier of four tiers for research among national medical schools.

“Our campus community is united in the collaborative spirit of advancing medicine and science to change the course of the history of disease,” said Chancellor Michael F. Collins. “This recognition highlights our ongoing efforts to train the next generation of physicians, nurse leaders, and scientists, and to improve health and wellness across the commonwealth and around the world.”

This year, U.S. News introduced a new evaluation system, sorting medical schools into four tiers for primary care education and research, with tier 1 being the highest performing. The rankings are based on research activity and primary care output, measuring research productivity and the impact of faculty through publications and citations.

According to new data from U.S. News, UMass Chan also ranks in the top 50 medical schools for the number of graduates practicing in health professional shortage areas and the number of graduates practicing primary care. UMass Chan has consistently ranked among the top medical schools for primary care education since U.S. News first published its rankings over 25 years ago. This year, 80 students, nearly 50 percent of the T.H. Chan School of Medicine’s graduating class, entered residencies in primary care and related specialties, such as internal medicine, family medicine, and pediatrics.

To meet the growing need for physicians, the T.H. Chan School of Medicine will increase its class size to 225 medical students starting with the incoming Class of 2028.

“This ranking validates what we all know to be true: That our graduates are transformed by their education and through the real-world expertise they gain at UMass Chan,” said President Marty Meehan. “The lives of countless people across the Commonwealth and around the world will, in turn, be transformed through biomedical research and incredible patient care.”

In addition to its educational mission, UMass Chan has built a reputation as a world-class research institution, attracting more than $300 million annually in research funding. According to the Blue Ridge Institute for Biomedical Research, UMass Chan received $177 million in NIH funding in fiscal year 2023, ranking second in New England and 37th nationally among 144 medical schools that receive NIH funding.

The new nine-story, 350,000-square-foot education and research building at the center of the UMass Chan campus in Worcester, which opened in June, will house over 70 principal investigators focused on accelerating research into new therapeutics for some of the most challenging diseases. Designed to achieve LEED Gold certification for energy efficiency and sustainability, the building also features educational and conference spaces to support the missions of all three graduate schools at UMass Chan.