The Tufts University School of Medicine rose four places in US News and World Report's 2002 medical school rankings, which were released in mid-August. But administrators did not celebrate the announcement, saying the improvement from 41st to 37th on the 50-school list holds little significance.
US News divides the nation's 125 medical schools into two lists based on research and primary care characteristics. Tufts is tied with Boston University for 37th on the research list, which weighs "research activity" as the second-most influential factor contributing to the school's overall quality.
Both lists use many of the same characteristics to rank schools, but the "primary care" list factors in the percentage of M.D.'s that enter primary care residencies rather the amount of research dollars awarded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Despite Tufts' rising ranking, administrators last week downplayed the list's importance. Both medical school Dean Dr. John Harrington and Provost Sol Gittleman said that US News cannot rank schools with sufficient objectivity because of the intangible indicators that are ignored in the study.
Although Harrington and Gittleman said they would prefer not to see Tufts' rank drop, they both agree that rising or falling a few places does not indicate anything about the school. "Is there a difference between 41 and 37?" Harrington asked. "No. There is also not a difference between ten and 41, would be my bias."
According to Harrington, moreover, the US News ranking gives too much weight to an institution's financial resources. "If you were a Marxist," he said, "this would be a class struggle."
Factored into the research ranking is the sum of grants the National Institute of Health (NIH) awards to a school and its affiliated hospitals. Other characteristics include reputation, student selectivity, and faculty resources.
US News acknowledges that its rankings do not measure all aspects of what makes a quality institution. On its website, the magazine writes that the data incorporated in its studies "can never substitute for an in-depth examination of the scope and breadth of a program."
US News editors say they change the ranking methodology from year to year to increase the quality of the system and discourage readers from tracking schools' ascents or descents over time.
But according to Gittleman, the methodology changes to ensure that each year's rankings will differ enough from the previous years to make readers buy the magazine. Calling the system "suspect," Gittleman said that the medical school admissions office did not experience a change in the quality or quantity of applications.
Few, if any, "bad" medical schools are left in the country, Harrington said, pointing to an early 20th century study called the Flexner Report that rated existing medical schools with an "A", "B," or "C"; researchers recommended that "C" schools close immediately.
Of the surviving schools, Harrington said, US News' top 50 are simply the "cr??me de la cr??me."
Tufts may rise even further in the rankings next year because of a research building being constructed at the medical school campus in Chinatown. The Jaharis Family Center for Biomedical and Nutrition Research, a $64 million project, will give the school more space and resources for research.
