2019 Top 5 Medical Schools in Philadelphia, USA

For you to prepare effectively for a rewarding and exciting career in medicine and any of its related fields, it is important for you to choose a proper medical school! For international students who desire to study in or around the city of Philadelphia, there are several schools with reputable medical degree programs from which to choose, and other top ranking high-quality medical schools that are within a short distance of the city limits of Philadelphia.

All of these institutions vary greatly in terms of tuition costs, academic requirements, programs and degree programs on offer, and reputation. Please find below some of the top-rated medical schools found in and around Philadelphia so you can then narrow your choices as needed, and ensure you opt for the right university that is right for you.

Best Medical Schools in Philadelphia

1. Drexel University College of Medicine

Drexel University College of Medicine is the coveted and popular medical school of Drexel University. Drexel University College of Medicine came about as a result of the merger of two medical schools namely; the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania, the first medical college for women in the U.S., and a former college of homeopathy.

Drexel University College of Medicine is at the moment the second most applied-to medical school in the nation with one of the highest numbers of enrollments for private medical schools in the U.S. At Drexel, students are found studying at the Queen Lane Campus, which was once part of the Woman’s Medical College, and at Center City Hahnemann Campus, the college’s nearby teaching hospital.

Drexel University College of Medicine, as it is with several other medical colleges in the U.S., gives students a pass/fail. Recently, the university has moved onto a new curriculum, popularly known as Foundations and Frontiers, designed to train medical students to adapt to today’s ever-changing interdisciplinary healthcare systems. A portion of the Foundations and Frontiers curriculum has programs in population health and healthcare financing,to mention a few.

2. Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

This is another institution that is commonly known as Penn Med, the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania is the medical school arm of the University of Pennsylvania. Penn Med was founded a long time ago in 1765, and as a result is one of the oldest medical colleges in the U.S.

Penn Med is equally an Ivy League school and the school consistently ranks as one of the highly-rated institutions in the country. It has also received research awards from the National Institute of Health as well as from various private foundations

Penn Med is associated with many nearby teaching hospitals, including:

The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
Penn Presbyterian Medical Center
Pennsylvania Hospital, the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Chester County Hospital
Lancaster General Hospital
The Philadelphia VA Medical Center

Penn Med’s curriculum deals primarily with multidisciplinary learning, as an adjustment to healthcare options and treatment methods. The coursework also follows three major t themes namely; the Science of Medicine, the Art, and Practice of Medicine, and Professionalism and Humanism.

3. Thomas Jefferson University

Thomas Jefferson University at the moment is the ninth oldest medical school in America. The institution recently merged with Philadelphia University in 2017 and is regarded as one of the most well-respected medical institutions in the country. Sometime in 1877, a 125-bed hospital was opened and from that moment became one of the first hospitals to be associated with a medical institution.

Thomas Jefferson University is not only a medical school in Philadelphia, but has four separate colleges namely:

College of Architecture and the Built Environment
Kanbar College of Design, Engineering, and Commerce
College of Science, Health and the Liberal Arts
School of Continuing and Professional Studies

The medical department of the university was renamed the Sidney Kimmel Medical College in 2014, after philanthropist Sidney Kimmel donated $110 million to Jefferson Medical College. The school emphasizes medical research and treatment options in healthcare as well as preventative patient care.

4. Temple University School of Medicine

Temple University in Philadelphia houses the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University (LKSOM). LKSOM is one of the few institutions in the city of Philadelphia to award an M.D. degree; the university also awards a number of master’s and Ph.D. degree programs.

Temple University School of Medicine ranks as one of the most reputable and renowned medical schools in the state and the country as a whole. With proper emphasis on biomedical sciences, LKSOM is consistently one of the top 10 medical colleges in the U.S. in terms of hopeful applicants.

Temple University School of Medicine equally has strong reputation for research and medical care;For exampe in 2014, their scientists gained recognition for research in isolating and removing HIV from human tissue. The university’s Fox Chase Center ranks 19th in terms of best hospitals for treating adult cancer.

The flip side is that, Temple University School of Medicine is super selective in its admissions process. In 2010, it was reported that there were more than 9600 applicants while only 540 of those applicants were accepted. This is just a 5% acceptance rate.

Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center

While it is technically located in the city of Hershey, the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center is considered one of the most widely respected medical schools in the state and is part of Penn State University. The school was founded in 1963 when the Hershey Foundation offered Penn State some $50 million to establish a medical school in Philadelphia. The university accepted and built a school, teaching hospital, and research center in Hershey, naming it the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center.

Since its founding, the school has grown considerably. The campus has nearly doubled in size and the university has continuously added on to their buildings, including the Medical Science Building, Animal Research Farm, Laundry and Steam Plant, and apartments.

Additionally their graduate programs has over 500 resident physicians in different medical specialties. The school also has continuing education programs as well as a number of nursing programs and degree courses. The Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center continually receives tons of awards and grants from federal organizations as well as private agencies, often equally more than $100 million.