Home Research Research Library Increasing Transparency for Medical School Primary Care Rankings-Moving From a Beauty Contest to a Talent Show. Increasing Transparency for Medical School Primary Care Rankings-Moving From a Beauty Contest to a Talent Show. 2021 Author(s) Phillips, Robert L, Bazemore, Andrew W, and Westfall, John M Volume JAMA Health Forum Source JAMA Health Forum The U.S. News & World Report (US News) annually ranks educational institutions on several criteria that affect many readers’ views of their institutional reputations.1 One critic of the US News rankings recently declared the medical school rankings a “beauty contest.”2 We agree and set out several years ago to persuade US News to shift the source of its data and diversify the foci of its medical school rankings to reflect a broader range of social mission metrics. We focused this effort on US News’ “Best Medical Schools: Primary Care” ranking because of the ongoing erosion of the primary care physician workforce and because, for some schools, it is a specific social mission. The new overall Best Medical Schools for Primary Care rankings were modified in 2021 such that 30% of the score is now based on graduates practicing primary care after their residency training rather than those entering primary care training. Initial residency comprises 10% of the score, which still overestimates primary care, but this measure has been reduced from its previous weighting of 30%. The remaining score (60%) is still largely based on reputation, which is assessed by (1) surveys of medical school deans, internal medicine chairs, or admissions directors (15%); (2) survey of primary care residency directors (15%); (3) student selectivity (median Medical College Admission Test score, 9.75%; median undergraduate grade point average, 4.5%; acceptance rate, 0.75%); and (4) faculty to student ratio (15%). ABFM Research Read all 2026 Demonstrating the Reliability and Structural Validity of Creating Patient-Level and Clinician-Level Scores on the Person Centered Primary Care Measure Go to Demonstrating the Reliability and Structural Validity of Creating Patient-Level and Clinician-Level Scores on the Person Centered Primary Care Measure 2026 Reflections on Family Medicine’s First Year of Program Signals and Other New ERAS Features Go to Reflections on Family Medicine’s First Year of Program Signals and Other New ERAS Features 2026 Estimation of Mortality via the Neighborhood Atlas and Reproducible Area Deprivation Indices Go to Estimation of Mortality via the Neighborhood Atlas and Reproducible Area Deprivation Indices 2026 Primary Care Physician Continuity Is a Consistent Measure Associated with Lower Costs and Hospitalizations Go to Primary Care Physician Continuity Is a Consistent Measure Associated with Lower Costs and Hospitalizations
Author(s) Phillips, Robert L, Bazemore, Andrew W, and Westfall, John M Volume JAMA Health Forum Source JAMA Health Forum
ABFM Research Read all 2026 Demonstrating the Reliability and Structural Validity of Creating Patient-Level and Clinician-Level Scores on the Person Centered Primary Care Measure Go to Demonstrating the Reliability and Structural Validity of Creating Patient-Level and Clinician-Level Scores on the Person Centered Primary Care Measure 2026 Reflections on Family Medicine’s First Year of Program Signals and Other New ERAS Features Go to Reflections on Family Medicine’s First Year of Program Signals and Other New ERAS Features 2026 Estimation of Mortality via the Neighborhood Atlas and Reproducible Area Deprivation Indices Go to Estimation of Mortality via the Neighborhood Atlas and Reproducible Area Deprivation Indices 2026 Primary Care Physician Continuity Is a Consistent Measure Associated with Lower Costs and Hospitalizations Go to Primary Care Physician Continuity Is a Consistent Measure Associated with Lower Costs and Hospitalizations
2026 Demonstrating the Reliability and Structural Validity of Creating Patient-Level and Clinician-Level Scores on the Person Centered Primary Care Measure Go to Demonstrating the Reliability and Structural Validity of Creating Patient-Level and Clinician-Level Scores on the Person Centered Primary Care Measure
2026 Reflections on Family Medicine’s First Year of Program Signals and Other New ERAS Features Go to Reflections on Family Medicine’s First Year of Program Signals and Other New ERAS Features
2026 Estimation of Mortality via the Neighborhood Atlas and Reproducible Area Deprivation Indices Go to Estimation of Mortality via the Neighborhood Atlas and Reproducible Area Deprivation Indices
2026 Primary Care Physician Continuity Is a Consistent Measure Associated with Lower Costs and Hospitalizations Go to Primary Care Physician Continuity Is a Consistent Measure Associated with Lower Costs and Hospitalizations
