If you want to pursue a medical program and live in Illinois, you have many options. Studying in the state can be advantageous, especially when applying to public medical schools, because some schools consider state residency and publish class profiles with a large share of in-state students. Applicants should always check each school’s current admissions policy and class profile.
Illinois hosts several well-regarded medical schools with strong clinical training, research opportunities, and professional development resources.
The state has medical schools that grant M.D. degrees as well as osteopathic medical schools that grant D.O. degrees. M.D.-granting schools include programs at Northwestern University, the University of Illinois Chicago College of Medicine, and the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Medicine.
In this article, we will discuss some of the best medical schools in Illinois for prospective students. International applicants should review each school’s citizenship, visa status, and U.S. or Canadian coursework requirements because policies can differ significantly by school.
Top Medical Schools in Illinois
1. University of Chicago
The Pritzker School of Medicine at the University of Chicago matriculated its first class of medical students in 1927 and is widely regarded as one of the leading medical schools in the U.S. However, Pritzker announced in 2023 that it would stop participating in future U.S. News & World Report medical school rankings, so older numerical ranking claims should not be treated as current.
Besides the M.D. program, Pritzker offers M.D./Ph.D. pathways, interdisciplinary M.D. dual degrees, and an M.S. in Biomedical Sciences. Current examples of dual-degree options include the M.D./MBA, M.D./MA in Public Policy, M.D./MPH, and M.D./M.S. in Biomedical Informatics.
The M.D. curriculum includes foundational coursework, clinical training, and the Scholarship & Discovery component, through which students complete a mentored scholarly project. Current scholarly tracks include clinical research, medical education, healthcare delivery improvement sciences, community health, global health, basic/translational sciences, and health services and data science.
Admissions at this medical school in Illinois are highly competitive because class sizes are small. Pritzker’s published class profile lists 91 entering students, and its facts and figures for the entering class of 2024 report an 86% out-of-state class share, 1% international students, and a 3.7% acceptance rate.
The application process starts with completing the online application through the AMCAS platform. Applicants must take the MCAT, complete the required premedical coursework, and submit letters of recommendation. Internationally educated applicants should note that Pritzker requires applicants who completed a bachelor’s degree outside the U.S. or Canada to complete at least one year of full-time coursework, predominantly in the sciences, at a U.S. or Canadian institution.
2. Northwestern University
Founded in 1859, Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine is one of Illinois’s major private medical schools. Feinberg was listed in Tier 1 for research in the 2024 U.S. News & World Report medical school rankings under the publication’s newer tier system, and the school reported ranking 16th among American medical schools for NIH funding in 2025.
This medical school in Illinois also has several highly ranked clinical affiliates. For example, Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Chicago was ranked the No. 1 rehabilitation hospital in the U.S. in the 2025–2026 U.S. News & World Report Best Hospitals rankings.
Although it is one of the state’s oldest medical schools, Feinberg continues to update its M.D. curriculum. The four-year program is divided into three phases and integrates four curricular elements: Science in Medicine, Clinical Medicine, Health & Society, and Professional Development.
Moreover, the institution is known for medical research. Feinberg reported $695.4 million in awards for the 2024–2025 academic year, $435 million in NIH awards during the same period, and approximately 7,126 clinical trials and clinical research studies in 2024–2025. The Simpson Querrey Biomedical Research Center opened in 2019 and is now part of Feinberg’s research infrastructure.
Admissions to Feinberg are competitive. International students may apply, but Feinberg encourages them to have completed at least three years of coursework, including required premedical coursework, at an accredited U.S. or Canadian college or university located in the United States or Canada. The entering class of 2025 included one international student.
3. University of Illinois
The University of Illinois Chicago College of Medicine is a public medical school founded in 1882. The college has three campuses in Chicago, Peoria, and Rockford, and its admissions page says it ranks in the top third of NIH-ranked institutions by research funding. Its Class of 2029 profile reports 11,310 applications, an average MCAT of 511, an average GPA of 3.82, and a class that is 59% Illinois residents.
In addition to the M.D. program, the college offers joint-degree options, including the Medical Scientist Training Program, M.D./MPH, M.D./M.S. in Clinical and Translational Science, M.D./MBA, and M.D./M.S. in Biomedical Engineering.
The medical school also offers optional four-year scholarly concentration programs and other pathways, including clinical executive medicine, education medicine, artificial intelligence in medicine, urban medicine, innovation medicine, global medicine, patient-centered medicine, equity innovation medicine, rural student physician training, and rural medical education. These programs are offered at different campuses, so students should check the current campus availability before applying.
The University of Illinois College of Medicine now operates across three campuses: Chicago, Peoria, and Rockford. Campus assignment occurs after acceptance, and admitted applicants may be assigned to any campus; campus assignments are final.
International applicants are invited to apply if they meet the college’s requirements. Non-Canadian international applicants with a degree from outside the U.S. must have at least 32 credits of coursework from a U.S. degree-granting institution; applicants with non-U.S. bachelor’s degrees must also have the degree evaluated through WES. The college states that financial aid and scholarships are not available to international students.
4. RUSH Medical College
We finish the list with a long-established medical school in Illinois. Founded in 1837, RUSH Medical College is part of RUSH University in Chicago. In the latest U.S. News & World Report graduate-school rankings cited by RUSH, the medical college was placed in Tier 2 for the research category.
The M.D. degree curriculum is a four-year program that includes core courses, electives, core clerkships, and clinical subinternships. Students must complete the required coursework, pass USMLE Step 1 and Step 2, and receive approval from the promotions committee to graduate.
Third-year students complete required core clerkships in internal medicine, neurology, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, psychiatry, primary care, and surgery. Fourth-year students complete required emergency medicine, a senior subinternship, a clinical bridge course, and electives. RUSH also offers longitudinal programs in family medicine and health equity and social justice.
Admissions are highly competitive. For the 2025 entering class, RUSH reported 13,327 primary applications, 7,935 completed applications, 450 interviews, and 144 matriculants. Applicants must be U.S. citizens, U.S. permanent residents, or hold asylee, refugee, or DACA status at the time of application. RUSH does not have available positions for transfer applicants in the second-, third-, or fourth-year classes.
Overall, Illinois is a strong place to pursue medical education because it offers multiple established medical schools, major teaching hospitals, and research resources. Prospective international applicants should pay particular attention to each school’s eligibility rules, since some Illinois medical schools accept international applicants with U.S. or Canadian coursework requirements while others restrict M.D. applicants to specific immigration statuses.
We hope this list of top medical schools in Illinois was helpful. For more details on how to study in the United States, check out our Study in the USA Page and the Available Courses for International Students!
