DO schools rank highly on U.S. News’ list of med schools with the most grads in primary care

Osteopathic medical schools make up nine of the top 10 U.S. medical schools with the most graduates practicing in primary care specialties, according to U.S. News and World Report, which released the list as part of its Best Medical Schools coverage this week.

DO schools also ranked highly in U.S. News’ lists of the med schools with the most graduates practicing in rural and underserved areas. Six of top 10 med schools with the most graduates practicing in rural areas are DO schools; four of the top 10 med schools with the most graduates practicing in underserved areas are DO schools.

There are currently 37 osteopathic medical schools operating at 58 sites. There are 151 MD schools in the U.S., according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. To have DO schools so heavily represented on these lists means osteopathic physicians are making an outsize contribution to primary care and medical care in rural and underserved areas.

To create the primary care list, U.S. News ranked medical schools by the percentage of their 2012-2014 graduates practicing direct patient care in primary care specialties.

For the rural areas list, U.S. News ranked schools by the percentage of their 2012-2014 graduates practicing direct patient care in rural areas. For the underserved areas list, U.S. News ranked schools by the percentage of their 2012-2014 graduates practicing direct patient care in Health Professional Shortage Areas.

Three DO schools are also on U.S. News’ list of the best medical schools for primary care.

The top 10 medical schools from each of these three lists are below.

Medical schools with the most graduates practicing primary care

No. 1: Midwestern University Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine

No. 2: Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine

No. 3: Western University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific

No. 4: Des Moines University College of Osteopathic Medicine

No. 5: University of Pikeville Kentucky College of Osteopathic Medicine

No. 6: A.T. Still University Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine

No. 7: Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine

No. 8: Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine—California

No. 9: Kansas City University College of Osteopathic Medicine

No. 10: East Carolina University (Brody)

Medical schools with the most graduates practicing in rural areas

No. 1: University of Pikeville Kentucky College of Osteopathic Medicine

No. 2: William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine

No. 3: University of Mississippi

No. 4: A.T. Still University Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine

No. 5: University of Nebraska Medical Center

No. 6: University of South Dakota (Sanford)

No. 7: Des Moines University College of Osteopathic Medicine

No. 8: Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine

No. 9: University of North Dakota

No. 10: Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine

Medical schools with the most graduates practicing in underserved areas

No. 1: University of South Carolina

No. 2: Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine

No. 3: East Tennessee State University (Quillen)

No. 4: University of Mississippi

No. 5: William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine

No. 6: Lincoln Memorial University DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine

No. 7: Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine

No. 8: University of South Alabama

No. 9: Medical University of South Carolina

No. 10: Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center—Shreveport

Related reading:

Six DO schools rank in top 10 for producing the most primary care residents

The DO schools on U.S. News’ best med schools list for 2022