**To view the latest version of this article based on the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2019 click here, or, read on for 2014's results.**
If you’re looking to study at one of the world’s top medical schools, a good starting point is the QS World University Rankings by Subject; this resource provides rankings of the world’s top 200 universities in 30 subject areas, including medicine. The ranking assesses universities based on their academic reputation, employer reputation and research citations per paper, within each subject area (more on the methodology here.)
Of the 201 universities ranked among the world’s top medical schools in 2014, almost a quarter (48) are in the US, 25 in the UK, 19 in Germany, 11 in Canada, 10 in Japan and 9 in Australia. A total of 32 countries feature in the ranking, though just 13 nations have a medical school ranked within the global top 50; the countries already mentioned are joined at this level by Denmark, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland and Taiwan.
Read on for an overview of the world’s leading universities for medical teaching and research, broken down by region.
Top medical schools in the US
The US dominates international university tables overall, and medicine is no exception. Harvard University maintains its strong position at the top of the table, and is joined by an additional five US universities within the top 10: Stanford University (4th), University of California, Los Angeles (5th), Johns Hopkins University (6th), Yale University (7th) and University of California, San Francisco (9th). A further 14 US universities are ranked within the world’s top 50 for medicine.
Most of these leading medical schools in the US are based at large, comprehensive universities – a mixture of private and public – which rank well across a wide selection of subject areas. Notable specialist institutions highlighted by the ranking include Minnesota’s Mayo Medical School; Texas’ Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center; New York’s Rockefeller University and Mount Sinai School of Medicine.
See more leading medical schools in the US >
Top medical schools in the UK
While medical schools in the US account for six of the top-10 places, the remaining four spots go to medical schools in the UK. The Universities of Oxford and Cambridge are ranked 2nd and 3rd in the world for their medical programs and research, while the UK capital’s two leading institutions – UCL and Imperial College London – come 8th and 10th. A further 21 UK universities are featured in the medical ranking, most of them comprehensive universities with a strong overall international position, with the notable exception of the specialist London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.
See all 25 leading medical schools in the UK >
Top medical schools in Canada
Canadian universities also have a good presence in the medical ranking, accounting for 11 of the top 200 medical departments and four top-50 entries. The top medical schools in Canada are all based at major universities, corresponding broadly to the overall ranking of the country’s best universities, with the University of Toronto, McGill University and the University of British Columbia (UBC) leading the way. Canadian universities which rank particularly well for medicine compared to their overall global rank include McMaster University (50th for medicine; 140th overall) and the University of Calgary (top 100 for medicine; 201st overall).
See more of the best medical schools in Canada >
Top medical schools in Europe
Beyond the US and the UK, Germany boasts more of the world’s leading medical departments than any other country; a total of 19 German institutions are ranked in the global top 200 for medicine. Of these, the highest entries are Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, ranked 31st and 44= respectively.
Other leading medical schools in Europe include Sweden’s renowned Karolinska Institute (ranked 16th in the world for medicine), Denmark’s University of Copenhagen (34th) and Switzerland’s University of Zurich (41st). The Netherlands boasts a total of eight entries in the ranking, including three within the international top 50: Erasmus University Rotterdam (27th), Leiden University (36=) and the University of Amsterdam (44=). Other continental European countries with a strong presence in this field are Belgium and Italy, with six entries each.
See more leading medical schools in Europe >
Top medical schools in Australia
Medicine is a particularly strong sector for Australian higher education, with many of the country’s leading universities boasting a stronger ranking for medicine than in the overall QS World University Rankings®. The Universities of Melbourne and Sydney are both ranked within the world’s 20 best universities for medicine (12th and 17th), and are joined in the global top 50 by the University of New South Wales (29=), Monash University (33rd) and University of Queensland (42nd). The country’s highest ranked university overall, Australian National University, comes slightly lower down – but still claims a place among the world’s 100 leading medical departments.
See more of the best medical schools in Australia >
Top medical schools in Asia
Asian countries also have a very strong presence in the ranking of the world’s top medical schools, and particularly Japan. Ten Japanese universities rank among the top 200 for medicine, led by the University of Tokyo (20th) and Kyoto University (35th). Also ranked among the global top 50 are the National University of Singapore (21st), University of Hong Kong (24=), National Taiwan University (43rd) and the Chinese University of Hong Kong (49th). China, South Korea and Taiwan all claim four entries in the top 200; Hong Kong, Israel and Thailand have two entries each; Malaysia and Singapore one apiece.
See more of the best medical schools in Asia >
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