ECU medical school makes U.S. News magazine rankings

The Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University moved up this year among medical schools with family medicine programs, according to the annual listing of the best graduate schools by U.S. News & World Report magazine.

The school is tied for 11th in family medicine, up from 15th in 2004.

“It’s very exciting to be ranked this highly while we’re trying to raise funds for a new family medicine center,” said Dr. Cynda Johnson, dean of the medical school and a family physician.

The Brody School of Medicine is also ranked fifth in rural medicine, down a spot from last year, and 34th in the listing of schools emphasizing primary care medicine, down from 19th in 2004.

The rankings of U.S. graduate schools will be available at newsstands April 5. In medicine, the magazine considered the 124 accredited U.S. medical schools and 19 schools of osteopathic medicine.

This year, the University of Washington was again rated the top primary care school. Harvard University ranked first in the ranking of top medical schools that emphasize research.

Rankings are based on a weighted average of seven indicators, six of them common for research- and primary care-focused schools. The primary care model also considered the number of graduates entering primary care residencies.