Best Ivy League Medical Schools

If you have a plan of attending an Ivy League Med School, then you’re planning on having a quality education. However, depending on whether you’re going into clinical or research medicine, you may want to know the Ivy League medical school rankings.

Our 2021 ranking of Ivy League Medical Schools will just be your perfect guide to select a medical school of your choice.

Attending an Ivy League College brings certain benefits. First, your employment opportunities can be better seen through a strong alumni network.

Second, you are walking with a certain air that is only comparable to Princes. Most of the presidents of the United States of America attended Ivy League College.

Third, you will be able to access high-quality research materials and learn from award-winning faculty.

To affirm this, some Ivy league medical schools claim the top 10 spots in the 2021 US News and World Ranking Best medical schools.

See: Yale Medical School Acceptance Rate and Admission Requirements in 2023

Thus, in this post, we will rank all Ivy league med schools using certain criteria. We will also provide you with clear background information on Ivy League schools and answer other questions that you may ask.

Here is an overview of what to expect

What is Ivy League College?

Ivy League College came from the term “Ivy League.” Ivy League is an American Collegial Athletic Conference made of sports teams from eight private universities in Northeastern US. So, people now refer to these Northeastern universities as Ivy League Colleges or “The Ivies.”

Furthermore, these schools are old schools in the USA with a rich history. Of the eight Ivy League Colleges, seven began during the colonial period.

These schools grew in excellence over time and became very prestigious. They have consistently ranked amongst the best schools in the USA and globally.

These schools are elitist and command respect anywhere in the world.

However, here are the eight schools that form the Ivy League.

To go with its prestige, Ivy League colleges are very competitive and very expensive. They have some of the lowest admission rates, but year after year they get a lot of students applying for their programs.

So you see that getting admission into any of these schools could be an achievement on its own.

List of Ivy League Medical Schools

Now, there are eight Ivy League Colleges, but do all of them have a medical school? The answer is NO. Of the eight Ivy League Colleges, only seven have medical schools. Princeton University does not have a medical school yet.

Therefore, if you are considering attending Princeton University for a medical degree, you may have to simplify your options to the other seven.

So, here are the seven Ivy League Medical Schools

As listed above are the best medical schools.

However, in the following section, we will rank these Ivy League medical schools. But first, let’s share with you our criteria for ranking these Ivy League medical schools.

Ivy League Medical School Ranking Criteria

By ranking Ivy League Medical Schools we are only suggesting to you a hierarchy of medical school preferences.

All of the Ivy Schools offering medicine offer great medicine or osteopathy programs and are ranking well on US News and World Report 2021 medical school ranking.

However, there are two areas of ranking medical school – by Research and by Primary Care. This makes a general ranking of medical schools difficult.

While some med schools rank better for research, some others do not rank so well for research. The same goes for Primary Care.

See also: Easiest Medical Schools to Get Into in Texas

This thus means that students may have to check specifically for the med school ranking in the area they are most interested in.

However, whether studying medicine for research, to become a surgeon or other specialized area, or to become a family doctor, you will need a med school that is well-grounded in both areas.

Based on this, we have ranked Ivy League Medical Schools based on US News & World Reports, 2021 Best Medical Schools ranking.

We compared their ranking on both Research and Primary Care and established a balance between both. However, our ranking considers the best Research Med Colleges more than Primary Care Med Colleges.

The reason for this is that you can still go on to become a family doctor by studying at a Research-focused med school. Also, research-focused med schools require higher MCAT scores and GPAs than primary care programs.

So, they are more competitive.

Furthermore, we considered the variety of medicine degree programs offering these schools offer. The more the programs, the better the ranking.

We will then proceed to rank the Best 7 Ivy League Medical Schools.

1. Harvard Medical School

Havard Medical School (HMS) is a highly reputable Medical school among the Ivy League Colleges, the United States, and globally.

The school began operating as a medical school in Boston, Massachusetts in 1782. HMS has a total student population of over 1500 students taking MD, Ph.D., DMD, MMSc, and DMSc degrees. However, the school has over 11,502 academic staff.

Furthermore, US News and World Report 2021 ranks Harvard Medical school 1st for Research Focused medical school and 10th for Primary Care in the USA.

This makes Harvard Medical School top our chart as the best Ivy League med school. This is in addition to their wide degree offering, however.

See also: Easiest Medical Schools to Get into in the World

At HMS you can get one of the best Doctor of Medicine degrees, Master of Medical Sciences (MMSc) in Clinical Investigation, GlobalHealth Delivery, Immunology, and Medical Education.

There is also the Master of Bioethics, Master of Biomedical Informatics, and Master of Healthcare Quality and Safety degrees, The Ph.D. program, and several other post-graduate certificate programs.

2. Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania takes the second spot in our Ivy League medical schools. It ranks 3^rd in US News & World Report 2021 Best Medical Schools in the USA under the research category and 14th under the Primary Care Category.

Perelman School of Medicine or Penn Med began operating as a college of medicine in Pennsylvania in 1765, a couple of years before Havard Medical School.

However, Penn Med has a student enrollment of over 2,642 students and a total of 3,200 academic staff. The Ivy League med school, like Harvard, offers a wide variety of medical programs.

Medical students can get admission to take the MD program, Ph.D. The program, MD-PHD and Dual Degree Programs, and Master’s program in medicine discipline and subdisciplines.

Also, Penn Med offers Biomedical Postdoctoral Programs and other Continuing Medical and Interprofessional Education programs to students its students.

3. Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (Columbia University)

Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (P&S) is another top Ivy League med school. It began operation as a medical school in the USA in Manhattan, New York in 1767, two years after Penn Med.

This Ivy league medical has about 1,520 students taking M.D., MD./Ph.D., and Ph.D. programs with about 4,300 academic staff guiding them.

Additionally, US News & World Report ranks P&S as the 6th research-focused medical university in the USA and 31^st for Primary Care.

See Also: University of Mississippi School of Medicine Acceptance Rate

Already, by having a surgeon in its name, the school does not have the outlook of a primary-care-focused medical school. Nonetheless, this ranking coupled with its large medical degree program offering sits it on our 3^rd top Ivy League med schools.

At the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, you can take the MD Program, MD Dual Degrees and Special Programs, Program in Genetic Counseling, and Programs in Occupational Therapy.

This Ivy league medical school also offers Programs in Human Nutrition, PhDs in Biomedical Sciences, as well as supports Postdoc students.

4. Weill Cornell Medicine

Weill Cornell Medicine is an Ivy League medical school located in New York, USA. It began operating as a private, nonprofit medical school in 1898 and has over 400 students who learn from a faculty of 1,814 lecturers and professors.

Furthermore, this Ivy League Medical School and some of its affiliates – e.g new York-Presbyterian Hospital – ranks well among Ivy League colleges and USA Colleges.

The 2021 US News & World Report Best Medical Schools in the USA ranking saw Weill Cornell ranking 9th for Research-focused medical school and 48th for Primary Care Medical School.

This, coupled with its rich option of medical degree programs lands it on our no 4 top Ivy League Med School.

So, at Weill Cornell, you can take the traditional MD program, 7 multidisciplinary Ph.D. and Accelerated Ph.D./MBA programs, and 6 MS programs.

Also, there’s the Tri-institutional MD-Ph.D. program – a collaboration between Weill Cornell, Rockefeller University, and the Sloan Kettering Institute – to choose from.

5. Yale School of Medicine

Yale School of Medicine is another reputable Ivy League Medical School. This medical school began operating as a private medical school in New Haven, Connecticut in 1810.

It has a total student population of about 718 students taking Yale’s MD, MD/Ph.D., and Physician Associate’s programs. However, this Ivy League med school has over 4,000 academic staff, about 2,000 of which are adjunct staff.

US News & World Report ranks Yale Medical School as the 15th research-oriented medical school and 49th Primary Care medical school in the USA.

With 62 National Academy of Sciences members and 40 Institute of Medicine Invigilators forming part of Yale Medical School’s faculty, the ranking comes as no surprise.

When it comes to program offerings, Yale Medical School has one of the widest varieties.

In addition to the traditional MD degree, you can take the MMSc, MD/JD, MD/MBA, MD/MPH, MD/Ph.D., and even an MD degree in Conjunction with Yale Divinity School at Yale Medical School. Of course, Yale also offers Ph.D. Programs in Medicine specializations.

6. Geisel School of Medicine

Geisel School of Medicine is another of the old Ivy League Schools of Medicine. It began operating as a private medical school in Hanover, New Hampshire in 1797 and has over 700 students.

However, Geisel School of Medicine has a faculty of over 2,300 professors grooming its students.

While this US Medical school is highly competitive, it maintains good rankings.

US News & World Report 2021 ranked this Ivy league medical school as the 50th research-oriented medical school and 19th Primary Care medical school in the USA.

See Also: Cheapest Medical School in the USA for International Students

This goes to interpret that you should rather choose to attend the Geisel School of medicine as a family doctor than a surgeon.

Nonetheless, the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth grants students the MD, Ph.D., MPH, and MS degrees in medicine and medicine subdisciplines.

Geisel is one of the Ivy League colleges to attend for an MD-Ph.D., MD-MBA, MD-MS, and Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences degree.

7. Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University

The Warren Alpert Medical School is Brown University’s medical school. It was formerly the Brown Medical School, and it began operation in 1811.

Furthermore, Warren Alpert Medical School has a total student population of 466 students and a faculty of over 2,500 students to groom the students.

While Warren Alpert Medical School has produced notable alumni, it is the least ranking Ivy medical school.

US News and World Ranking 2021 ranks Warren Alpert Medical School as the 38th research-focused medical school and 35th Primary Care medical school in the USA.

Nonetheless, Warren Alpert Medical School offers a variety of medicine and medicine-related programs.

At Warren Alpert Medical School, you can enroll for the MD program, MD/ScM program, MD/MPA program, and Master of Science in Medical Sciences or Certificate in Medical Science.

Also, there are additional educational opportunities like Residency and Fellowship Training at Warren Alpert Medical School.