Medical School moves up to third in nation

Penn's School of Medicine has climbed to No. 3 in U.S. News & World Report's annual ranking of research medical schools.

The school, which was ranked fourth in 2005, moved ahead of schools at both Duke University -- with which it was previously tied -- and Washington University in St. Louis.

In an e-mail to the Medical School's faculty and staff, Dean Arthur Rubenstein said he was enthusiastic about the result, even though he was skeptical about the value of the rankings.

"While it is important to remind ourselves that such reputational surveys must be kept in their proper perspective, it is always nice to be recognized so publicly for our successful efforts," he wrote.

Penn's rise in the rankings is the result of constant improvement, said Gail Morrison, vice dean for education at the Medical School.

"We look every year [for] what we can do better and what we can do differently," she said.

First-year medical student Scott Caesar was with several fellow medical students when he first heard the news.

"Who did we push down?" he asked.

Upon hearing that it was Washington University, a loud celebration ensued.

Caesar said rankings did not affect his decision to attend Penn.

"I'm kind of skeptical of the U.S. News thing," Caesar said. "The same schools get it every year because it's whoever gets a lot of money from the [National Institutes of Health] and the government."

A Penn clinical professor who spoke on the condition of anonymity said that the recognition might attract sicker patients who overwhelm the system.

"That's my initial instinct: 'Oh god, another award.' We don't need any more people knocking on our door," he said.

When asked about any concerns of increased volume of patients, Medical School spokeswoman Rebecca Harmon said, "We'll take all of the awards like these that we can get."

First-year medical student Terry Dean said he used the list as a starting place in his search for medical schools but also considered other factors like "student satisfaction, location and effort by the administration to actually listen to the students."

"If you want to get respect from your friends back home, go to Harvard; if you actually want to be a good doctor, come to Penn," he said.

The ranking system also placed four of Penn's specialty programs in the top 10. Pediatrics placed second; women's health placed fourth; internal medicine placed fifth; and drug/alcohol abuse tied with Columbia for sixth.

'U.S. News & World Report' 2006 Medical School Rankings 1. Harvard University 2. Johns Hopkins University 3. University of Pennsylvania 4. University of California-San Francisco and Washington University in St. Louis 6. Duke University 7. Stanford University and University of Washington 9. Yale University 10.Baylor College of Medicine

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