4 Best Medical Schools in Massachusetts

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The state of Massachusetts on the northeastern coast of the United States has long been famous for its outstanding universities, including the Ivy League institutions such as Harvard. It is a hotbed of education and research and an amazing place to study any subject. Medical schools in Massachusetts are some of the best in the world, including Harvard. Beyond the great rankings, the medical schools in the state offer great research facilities, outstanding campuses in New England’s amazing scenery, and the opportunity to practice clinical skills in some of the US’ busiest medical centers and hospitals in some of the country’s largest cities.

Here are the best medical schools in Massachusetts.

Top Medical Schools in Massachusetts

1. Harvard University Medical School

  • Website
  • Admissions
  • Admission Stats:
    • Average GPA: 3.92
    • Average MCAT: 518
    • Acceptance Rates: 3.3%

Harvard University’s reputation precedes it and it is considered the best medical school in Massachusetts. This makes it highly competitive, with only about 3.7% of applicants receiving an offer of admission, and this after ensuring that their academic records are near-perfect. Harvard is also one of the oldest medical schools in the US, as it was founded in 1782.

Unlike a large majority of medical schools, Harvard doesn’t have a direct affiliate for teaching hospitals – instead, it works with multiple hospitals in the Boston area, giving it an edge in that students can pick the location best suited to their areas of expertise and interest. These affiliated hospitals include Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, among many others.

Studying at Harvard Medical School will mean you will be walking in the footsteps of great innovators in the field of medicine. It is the site of the first successful heart valve surgery and first successful human kidney transplant. Harvard faculty have been credited with mapping the visual system of the brain, discovering the cause of preeclampsia, identifying coenzyme A and understanding proteins, and many other significant discoveries.

The curriculum for the MD program is split into a pre-clerkship phase based in the classroom, laying the bases of medical knowledge, followed by a principal clinical experience period. The final phase is post-clinical experience.

2. Boston University School of Medicine

  • Website
  • Admissions
  • Admission Stats:
    • Average GPA: 3.81
    • Average MCAT: 517
    • Acceptance Rates: 4.3%t

Next on our list of best medical schools in Massachusetts is the School of Medicine at Boston University. This school was founded in 1848 and is famous for being the first institution in the world to educate female doctors. It was originally known as the New England Female Medical College and was renamed as Boston University School of Medicine in 1873.

There are numerous great medical names associated with Boston University, as well as significant research studies. BUSM faculty include Nobel Prize winners, notable authors and pioneers in their fields.

Beyond this illustrious tradition of research, the School of Medicine at BU is focused on giving students a well-rounded hands-on education, and to this end they offer clinical training in hospitals and clinics across Massachusetts, Maine, California and Rhode Island. This gives students an opportunity to train on, and treat, very diverse populations.

3. University of Massachusetts Medical School

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  • Admissions
  • Admission Stats:
    • Average GPA: 3.77
    • Average MCAT: 512
    • Acceptance Rates: 3.6%

Located in Worcester, the Medical School of UMass is home to a top medical school in Massachusetts as well as nursing and biomedical sciences graduate schools and programs. Established in 1962, the school was set up to provide affordable medical education to students in Massachusetts, aiming to increase the number of primary-care medical staff in the state, especially in underserved areas.

The MD program has a small intake of c. 165 students annually and is highly ranked at national level for teaching and research facilities. Practical training is introduced to students from the very first year of study, and is continued throughout the curriculum. The UMMS is also a top-of-the-range research institution, with faculty winners of the Nobel Prize (Prof. Craig C. Mello was awarded for discoveries related to RNA interference in 2006) and great advances accredited to the school. They have a wide range of programs, laboratories and research centers such as the RNA Therapeutics Institute, the Gene Therapy Center, Program in Gene Function and Expression, Systems Biology and Neurotherapeutics.

You can study for your MD here or go on to do an MD/PhD or MD/MBA as well.

4. Tufts University School of Medicine

  • Website
  • Admissions
  • Admission Stats:
    • Average GPA: 3.74
    • Average MCAT: 513
    • Acceptance Rates: 4%

The School of Medicine at Tufts University is one of the best medical schools in Massachusetts. It is located in Boston, Massachusetts and was established in 1893. Its research impact is highly ranked among the top medical research universities in the US, particularly in areas like obstructive pulmonary disorder, public health, pediatrics, and cholera.

Alongside studying for your MD, you can also pursue a variety of degree options such as MD/PhD, MD/MPH (Masters of Public Health), MD/MS in engineering and MD/MBA. Thanks to the broad range of Tufts University specialized schools, these degrees can be offered jointly with other highly-ranked Tufts schools, e.g. and MD/MALD in conjunction with the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.

Their MD program is run through small-group classes, with case-based learning and one-on-one instruction from faculty. Around 200 students enroll in the program every year, so it’s a small community allowing student interaction as well as great student to faculty ratio. The clinical training is conducted mainly at Tufts Medical Center, directly next door to the Medical School, but you can also rotate at over 15 other centers and hospitals around Massachusetts, including community outreach centers. Moreover, simulation rooms with high-tech computerized mannequins are available for students to learn on, in the Clinical Skills and Simulation Center. You would then move on to treating real-life cases before going through the clinical experience part of the MD program.

 

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