Choosing an excellent medical school can help prepare you for an exciting and rewarding career in medicine or a related field. Philadelphia, a city with a rich history, offers several options for those pursuing a medical degree. It is also known for landmarks such as the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall and for its cultural attractions.
The institutions below differ in their curricula, locations, programs, and educational environments. Let’s take a look at the best medical schools in Philadelphia.
Top Medical Schools in Philadelphia
1. Drexel University
Drexel University‘s College of Medicine traces its roots to two predecessor institutions: Hahnemann Medical College and the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania. Hahnemann was established as the Homeopathic Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1848. The Woman’s Medical College was founded in 1850 as the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania, the first degree-granting medical school in the world for women.
In Philadelphia, first- and second-year MD students study at Drexel’s Health Sciences Building in University City. Drexel also has a four-year regional medical campus in West Reading, Pennsylvania. Its Foundations and Frontiers curriculum is a four-year, three-phase curriculum that includes population health, health informatics, quality and patient safety, and healthcare systems and financing. It also emphasizes early clinical exposure, integrated basic science and clinical education, and team learning.
2. University of Pennsylvania
The Perelman School of Medicine is the medical school of the University of Pennsylvania. Founded in 1765, it is the nation’s first medical school. Penn is an Ivy League university.
Perelman’s MD program uses the IMPaCT curriculum. Its three core blocks integrate basic sciences and clinical experience from day one. The curriculum also integrates basic, translational, social, clinical, and health systems sciences and emphasizes self-directed learning, interdisciplinary teamwork, evidence-based medicine, and patient-centered care.
3. Thomas Jefferson University
Thomas Jefferson University was founded in 1824 as Jefferson Medical College. The university combined with Philadelphia University in 2017. Its Sidney Kimmel Medical College offers an on-campus Doctor of Medicine program at the Center City campus.
Sidney Kimmel Medical College’s JeffMD curriculum is patient-focused and includes early clinical exposure, professional development, and advancement. The curriculum is designed to help students learn actively, think critically, and develop core professional competencies.
Jefferson Medical College was renamed Sidney Kimmel Medical College in 2014 after the Sidney Kimmel Foundation gave the college $110 million.
4. Temple University
Temple University in Philadelphia is home to the Lewis Katz School of Medicine. Katz offers an MD program, biomedical sciences graduate programs, a physician assistant program, a graduate program in health justice and bioethics, certificate programs, and dual-degree options.
Katz’s MD program is research-connected and embedded in the community. The program spans three campuses: the North Philadelphia Health Sciences Center, the St. Luke’s regional campus in Bethlehem, and a site developed in partnership with WellSpan Health in South Central Pennsylvania. Students can contribute to basic science and clinical research across 15 centers focused on areas including cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and heart disease.
Pursuing medicine requires careful school selection. Philadelphia offers several options, including Drexel University College of Medicine and the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. International students considering study options in Philadelphia can also check our curated list of cheap universities in the city.
We hope this list of top medical schools in Philadelphia was helpful. If you are interested in studying in the United States, feel free to check out the Study in the USA Page and the Available Courses for International Students!
