“This accomplishment reflects the hard work and day-to-day commitment of our talented faculty and staff toward providing the best medical education possible to our students and innovative and high-quality care to our patients, and leading the way in scientific discoveries that will benefit generations to come,” said Michael L. Good, MD, dean of the College of Medicine. “Although rankings are not our focus or our end goal, we are honored by the peer recognition and faculty accomplishments reflected in these rankings.”

UF is the highest-ranked medical school in the state of Florida, according to U.S. News & World Report.

Factors that likely contributed to UF’s rise in the rankings include increased competitiveness for medical school applicants associated with the college’s recent medical curriculum revisions and national recognition of UF’s quality clinical programs, said Joseph C. Fantone, MD, senior associate dean for educational affairs. Stephen P. Sugrue, PhD, senior associate dean for research affairs, noted that during a period of decreasing NIH funding nationally, UF has maintained its research funding.

Each year, U.S. News & World Report ranks the nation’s accredited medical schools based on factors such as National Institutes of Health research funding, GPA and the MCAT scores of incoming medical students, faculty-to-student ratios and peer assessments from leaders of other medical schools. When all of these factors are considered, the publication compiles a list of the top medical schools in the country.