Which University is best to study medicine?

Top Medical Schools in 2020 main image

The recently released QS World University Rankings by Subject 2020 features 600 of the top higher education institutions to study medicine.

The QS University Rankings by Subject are based on four indicators: academic reputation, employer reputation, research citations per paper and the H-index (a way of measuring the productivity and published work of a scientist or scholar). You can find more details about the methodology behind the subject rankings here.

Read on to learn more about the best medical schools in each region. Alternatively, if you would like to explore the medical schools in further detail, click here to view the full table.

Top universities for medicine in the US and Canada

111 of the world’s best medical schools are found in the United States, with five of these making it into the worldwide top ten. Harvard University offers the world’s best medicine program for the fifth consecutive year, achieving a perfect score for employer reputation. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is the global medical research leader, despite dropping out of the top ten this year, with a perfect score in the research citations per paper indicator.  

Canada has 18 medical schools in the rankings this year, with top scoring university, the University of Toronto in joint 13th place and earning its highest score in the H-Index indicator. Also in the world top 50 in Canada are McGill University (joint 21st), University of British Columbia (joint 28th) and McMaster University (45th).

Top universities for medicine in Europe

Europe is home to 233 of the top universities to study medicine. Of these, the United Kingdom claims 45 of Europe’s top medical schools, including four in the global top ten. Outside of the top ten, there are plenty of other medical schools which perform really well, including University of Edinburgh (19th), King’s College London (KCL, 20th), London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the University of Manchester (joint 34th).

France performs well this year, with 18 universities featured, including two in the worldwide top 100; Sorbonne University and University of Paris, both ranking 51-100 and both scoring well in the research citations per paper indicator. Italy also performs well, with an incredible 29 universities in the rankings this year, including three in the top 100.

Germany contains a staggering 33 medicine universities in the rankings this year, with three of these in the worldwide top 50, including Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg (rising nine places to joint 31st), Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin (falling eight places to 41st this year) and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (42nd). Spain is home to 15 featured universities, with Universitat de Barcelona (UB) in the top 100 and a new entrant, Universidad de Oviedo, entering in 501-550th place.

The Netherlands contains seven medical schools in the rankings this year; two of which are in the top 50: the University of Amsterdam (rising five places this year to 30th) and Erasmus University Rotterdam (37th). Denmark has five medicine universities in the rankings, with University of Copenhagen in joint 38th and scoring well in the H-Index.

Sweden’s eight entries in this year’s rankings include Karolinska Institutet, the only medicine university outside of the UK and the US in the worldwide top ten in the medical schools ranking, in joint fifth place and scoring particularly well in the academic reputation indicator, with a near perfect score.

Top universities for medicine in Australia and New Zealand

In Australia, there are 22 universities, five of which are in the top 50; including the University of Melbourne (joint 16th), the University of Sydney (18th), Monash University (joint 31st), the University of New South Wales (UNSW, rising five places to 46th) and the University of Queensland (UQ, joint 48th).

New Zealand has two entries in the rankings this year, with the University of Auckland climbing from 101-150th to 51-100th place.

Top universities for medicine in Asia

This year’s medicine subject ranking includes 124 of the best medical schools in Asia. Japan contains the most medicine universities in Asia, with an impressive 34 medical schools, including two in the world top 50 – the University of Tokyo (joint 28th) and Kyoto University (47th). Mainland China also performs well, with 23 medical schools featured and Peking University in 50th place.

South Korea has 20 universities contained in this year’s ranking, with Seoul National University (SNU) in 33rd place. India is also home to ten universities in this year rankings, with six new entrants this year. Malaysia contains eight top medical schools and introduces three new universities to the rankings in 2020.

Also performing well in the rankings this year is Taiwan, with ten universities featuring and National Taiwan University (NTU) in the top 100. Hong Kong also accommodates a large number of medical schools, including University of Hong Kong (HKU, climbing five places to joint 34th) and the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK, rising two places to 43rd.)

Top universities for medicine in Latin America  

There are 46 medical universities in Latin America featured in the 2020 QS University Rankings by Subject. Brazil claims the highest proportion of these; with 20 medicine universities in the ranking this year, including Universidade de São Paulo (USP) in the top 100 and five new entrants this year.

Chile has eight universities in the rankings this year, including five new entrants and its top ranking university, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, in 101-150th place. Colombia has seven medical schools featured this year, including new entry, Universidad Industrial de Santander coming in in 551-600th place.

Argentina’s four entries this year feature two new medical schools this year, Universidad Austral (451-500th) and Universidad Nacional de Córdoba (501-550th). Mexico also has four entries in the ranking this year, including Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) in the top 200 worldwide.

Top universities for medicine in Africa

The Middle East is home to 24 of the world’s best medical schools. Israel and Saudi Arabia contain the majority of the ranked medical schools in the Middle East, with five in each country. Of these, Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel and King Abdul Aziz University (KAU) in Saudi Arabia are the highest ranked, both in the world top 200.

Lebanon has three entries this year, with American University of Beirut (AUB) coming out on top in 151-200th, and Jordan had two entries. Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates all have one entrant.

Africa performed well in the rankings this year, with the region claiming 20 of the world’s top universities. South Africa contains eight of these, including the University of Cape Town in 51-100th place. Egypt is home to six of the best medical schools, including Cairo University, up from 201-250th place to 151-200th this year.

This article was originally published in February 2020 . It was last updated in July 2021

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