PHILADELPHIA - The University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine (PSOM) today announced that it will no longer submit data for participation in the U.S. News and World Report (USNWR) annual "Best Medical Schools" rankings.
The decision was announced in a memo to faculty, staff, and students from J. Larry Jameson, MD, PhD, dean of the PSOM and Executive Vice President of the University of Pennsylvania for the Health System. Citing concern that the "rankings perpetuate a vision for medical education and the future physician and scientist workforce that we do not share," he emphasized the PSOM's focus on innovation and impact and shaping the future of medicine as more important cornerstones for measuring the school's reputation.
"The USNWR measures encourage the acceptance of students based upon the highest grades and test scores," Jameson said. "Yet, we strive to identify and attract students with a wide array of characteristics that predict promise. The careers of transformative physicians, scientists, and leaders reveal the importance of other personal qualities, including creativity, passion, resilience, and empathy."
The Penn Carey Law School also recently announced that it would withdraw from the USNWR law school rankings, and several other top medical schools have recently taken similar steps regarding the medical school rankings.
Jameson noted that transparent, external evaluations are an essential part of how PSOM serves its many stakeholders, from prospective students to the patients in our communities and across the world who rely on the physicians and scientists the school trains. These data both assist medical school applicants as they consider the path to their future career, and help schools continuously improve in preparing students to practice within the ever-evolving field of medicine.
The PSOM remains committed to providing objective information about key elements of its operations and performance, including the type of data previously shared with USNWR, which will be included on the PSOM admissions website. School leaders also plan work with peer and academic medical affinity groups to develop new and better measures of evaluation which are a more accurate, inclusive measurement of a school's quality.
