ECU ranks in annual magazine survey

GREENVILLE, N.C.   (May 4, 2001)   —   The Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University moved up in the annual “U.S. News & World Report” annual rankings of the nation’s best medical schools, and other ECU health sciences graduate programs were recognized as well. 

The Brody School of Medicine tied for 17th in the listing of top schools for primary care and tied for 8th in the rural medicine specialty listing.

Also recognized was the ECU School of Allied Health Sciences for its graduate programs in rehabilitation counseling (tied for 15th), audiology (tied for 49th) and speech pathology (tied for 95th). The ECU School of Nursing graduate program tied for 103rd among almost 200 U.S. nursing schools.

The rankings of the U.S. graduate schools are in the April 9 issue of the magazine. In medicine, the magazine considered the 125 accredited U.S. medical schools and 19 schools of osteopathic medicine.

Last year, the School of Medicine tied for 34th in the overall rankings of top primary care schools. In specialty rankings, it rated 3rd in rural medicine and tied for 13th in family medicine.

“Our rankings in ‘U.S. News & World Report’ speak well of the mission focus of our school and the ability of our faculty and students,” said Dr. Peter J. Kragel, interim dean of the Brody School of Medicine and chairman of the Department of Pathology.

“Our primary care departments are to be congratulated on being such exemplary role models for our students. But in addition to primary care departments, truly all of our departments, both clinical and basic science, make an invaluable contribution to our joint effort to educate our students and make the Brody School of Medicine a nationally recognized center. Our school’s dedication to excellence in education, primary care, and our focus on improving the health of eastern Carolina is primarily responsible for our ranking among the top schools in the country.”

This year, the University of Washington again was rated the top primary care school. Harvard University was tops among research-oriented medical schools.

For the medical schools, rankings were based on a weighted average of seven indicators, six of them common for both the medical schools for research and for primary care. The primary care rankings also considered the number of graduates entering primary-care practice.

Contact: Jeannine Hutson | 252-744-2481