Portland, Ore.

Nurse-midwifery ranks first in nation; primary care ranks second; physician assistant ranks 10th

According to just-released U.S. News & World Report's "Best Graduate Schools 2004," the Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine again ranks No. 2 among 125 American medical schools for its primary care education program. This is the eighth consecutive year that the medical school has ranked in the top 2 percent nationally.

 

The magazine ranks medical and nursing school specialties by reputation. As a provider of family medicine education, the School of Medicine ranks third for the second consecutive year. The school's Department of Family Medicine has ranked in the top 3 percent for the past six years. The Master of Public Health program, offered by the consortium of Oregon State University, OHSU and Portland State University, ties for second place in the community health program ranking, up from eighth place in the last survey. In the physician assistant category, the School of Medicine's program ties for 10th place among more than 130 accredited programs.

The OHSU School of Nursing ranks among the top in the nation. The School of Nursing's overall master's program ties with Johns Hopkins University for sixth place. The master's program ranks in the top 2 percent of approximately 350 such programs in the United States. The school's program has earned the top ranking each year since the newsmagazine first began its surveys 14 years ago.

The School of Nursing's nurse-midwifery program ranks first, tying with the University of Pennsylvania. The newsmagazine ranks nursing programs every three years.

All seven of the nursing school's master's specialties score in the top 10. In the category of nurse practitioner gerontological/geriatric, the school ties for third place. In the categories of nurse practitioner adult and nurse practitioner family, the school ranks fourth and fifth respectively. In the category of nurse practitioner pediatrics, the school ranks sixth. In the category of clinical nurse specialist psychiatric/mental health the school ranks ninth. For both the clinical nurse specialist adult/medical-surgical and clinical nurse specialist community public health categories, the school ranks 10th.

U.S. News & World Report does not rank dental schools. However, for the past 10 years the School of Dentistry has had a 98 percent pass rate on the National Board Examinations; the national average is 87 percent. OHSU's dental students are recognized nationally for their clinical excellence, ranking in the top 10 percent of schools for the amount of clinical procedures they perform while in training.