Department of Pediatrics Attains Record-High No. 2 Ranking Among All U.S. Medical Schools
Post Date: March 29, 2022 | Publish Date:
First time in the Department of Pediatrics’ history to rank as second best graduate program in the nation
U.S. News & World Report, the global authority in education rankings, recently unveiled the 2023 Best Medical Schools rankings, and for the first time in program history, the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine Department of Pediatrics at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center saw a record-high graduate ranking, improving from third to second nationally and tying with Harvard Medical School.
Within the past decade, the pediatrics program has consistently been ranked among the top five in the nation, but this is the first time ever that the pediatrics program has attained the No. 2 spot.
The college’s pediatrics department is composed of physicians and researchers at Cincinnati Children’s who hold UC academic appointments. The department’s Chair, Tina Cheng, MD, MPH—who is also director of the Cincinnati Children’s Research Foundation and chief medical officer for Cincinnati Children’s—was ecstatic to learn of this newest accolade.
“A big congratulations to all for being recognized as the No. 2 ranked pediatrics program in the nation,” says Cheng. “We do incredibly important work in our missions of clinical care, education, research and advocacy to improve child health. This is a great honor and responsibility.”
Designed for prospective students looking to further their education beyond college, the medical school rankings are part of U.S. News’ annual best graduate schools lists, which evaluate programs in a variety of disciplines, including business, education, engineering, law, medicine, nursing and science.
This year, U.S. News surveyed 192 medical and osteopathic schools and incorporated results from peer assessment surveys to determine the rankings, based on faculty resources; academic achievement of incoming students; and qualitative assessments by schools and residency directors.
Also, for the second year, U.S. News included a diversity ranking, which look at racial and ethnic diversity among medical school student populations, as well as which schools have the most graduates practicing in primary care, in rural areas, and in health professional shortage areas. For this category, the UC College of Medicine was once again ranked among the top 20 schools in the nation.
“I am pleased that the College of Medicine continues to be securely ranked in the top third among the best medical schools in the country. This is recognition of the tremendous faculty and outstanding students who are part of our medical education program,” says Andrew Filak Jr., MD, senior vice president for health affairs, the Christian R. Holmes Professor and dean of the UC College of Medicine. “It is also very gratifying that our pediatrics program is now second in the nation. Additionally, our diversity efforts continue to rank near the top. However, this only makes us work harder to better support our underrepresented students and graduate more diverse classes that appropriately reflect our country’s diverse population.”
This past year, the B.K. Rachford Department of Pediatrics celebrated its 100th anniversary with several planned initiatives, including a virtual speaker series entitled Envisioning Our Future for Children, a one-day virtual symposium, and, as the culmination, a commemorative time capsule. The contents of the time capsule are currently on display near the southeast entrance of Location T, on Level 2. The exhibit will remain until Fall of 2022, when the time capsule will be buried near the east entrance to Location R.
