U.S. News & World Report Honors Family Medicine Residency Program in Top Tier for 27th Year

University of Missouri School of Medicine’s Department of Family and Community Medicine has been recognized as one of the nation’s top graduate programs by U.S. News & World Report, continuing a 27-year streak. The annual U.S. News rankings recognize professional educational programs that demonstrate rigorous academic standards and are valued highly by their peers.

MU’s family medicine department ranked 10th nationally.

“We are honored and humbled to be nationally recognized as making an important difference in the discipline of family medicine,” said Michael LeFevre, MD, chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine. “We strive to advance health and primary care through leadership in patient care, education and scholarship. We believe that these efforts result in better care for patients, not only here in central Missouri, but also in indirect ways across our country.”

The MU School of Medicine’s dedication to training medical professionals to meet Missouri’s rural physician shortage was demonstrated in additional U.S. News rankings this year, including:

• Most Graduates Practicing in Medically Underserved Areas (Ranked 18th out of 159)
• Most Graduates Practicing in Rural Areas (Ranked 34th out of 159)
• Best Medical Schools: Primary Care (Ranked 46th out of 191)

“We take seriously our charge as a land-grant university to prepare physicians to serve our state, especially the rural and underserved parts of our state,” said Steve Zweig, MD, Hugh E. and Sarah D. Stephenson Dean of the School of Medicine. “As a primary care physician and former chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine, I’m immensely proud and humbled that our school and the department have again been recognized for the quality of our medical training and our exceptional students and graduates.”

The Department of Family and Community Medicine residency program was established more than 50 years ago. Since 1975, the program has graduated nearly 500 physicians who serve in diverse settings across the country and internationally. The department’s physicians practice side-by-side with resident physicians providing patient care in MU Health Care’s family medicine clinics located in Columbia and in nearby rural communities – as well as in area hospitals and the local federally qualified community health center.

U.S. News & World Report’s Best Family Medicine rankings were determined by survey data relating to both the research and primary care aspects of the department, as well as survey responses from peer physicians.