Map: Where to Find the Newest Medical Schools

Of the 17 newest medical schools with full accreditation, half are near the East Coast.



Medical school applicants usually face a rigorous admissions process that includes a review of their MCAT scores, GPAs and other factors. Prospective students can't choose which school will accept them, but lately, they have more and more options for where to apply, which could leverage their chances of gaining admission.

Since 2007, 17 medical schools in the U.S. have gained full accreditation, according to a U.S. News analysis. The majority of the 17 schools, which do not include new remote teaching sites or branch campuses, are dotted up and down the East Coast.

There are a few reasons new schools are opening, experts say.

Since 2006, the Association of American Medical Colleges "has been advocating for a 30 percent increase in the number of physicians entering the workforce, and that was at the 2006 level," says John Prescott, the chief academic officer at the association and a graduate of the School of Medicine at Georgetown University. "There was a response by academic medicine by both increasing the class size at medical schools, and there was also the addition of a new medical schools. And that's been the primary driver."

Stephen C. Shannon, president and CEO of the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine, agrees that a physician shortage is also a factor behind the openings of new D.O.-granting schools.

Another reason, experts say, is a university's interest in expanding its academic options.

New medical schools, such as University of Central Florida and Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine—New York, must meet the same accrediting standards as legacy institutions. Accreditation comes in stages with full accreditation as the highest form.

Leaders at newer schools may have certain advantages that their peers at older institutions don't have.


"When you're starting a new school you can begin with an innovative curriculum," says Shannon, a graduate of University of New England.

More established schools, however, may have more financial resources and won't have the challenge of building a faculty from scratch, says Prescott.

Applicants should weigh a number of components when deciding where to attend medical school, experts say. A school's interest in diversity or its size, for example, can be critical considerations for prospective students.

The map below shows the locations of the 17 newest, fully accredited MD- and D.O.-granting medical schools in the U.S. Schools labeled RNP, meaning Rank Not Published, are ranked in the bottom one-fourth of all medical and osteopathic schools. U.S. News calculates a rank for the school but has decided not to publish it.




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