Medicine is a great profession. It brings about a complete development of the person. It is noble and gives a good sense of satisfaction, plus the respect one earns is way more than the salary. Well, that doesn't mean you are earning less. You are going to earn a handsome amount. Nevertheless, the number of resources and the amount of learning required is proportional and at times, much more than the profit. Below is a list of some of the top medical colleges across the world.
Harvard University, United States of America
This university is a dream place for folks aspiring to become physicians. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, established in 1636, it is the largest academic institution in the world. It is also the oldest university in the USA. It was named after its benefactor Clergyman John Harvard and is currently presided over by Lawrence Bacow. The Longwood Medical and Academic Area includes not just the Medical School, but also the School of Dental Sciences and the School of Public Health. Along with this, it has various affiliated hospitals and research establishments like Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre, Boston Child's Hospital, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Joslin Diabetes Centre, Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired England.
Furthermore, Massachusetts General Hospital, which is located throughout the Great Boston Area ranks first for biomedical research, and it harbours the biggest academic library in the world.
The University of Oxford, United Kingdom
Located in Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, established in 1096, it is the ancient most university in the English speaking world. Currently, nine hundred and twenty-four years old and headed by the Chancellor, Lord Pattern of Barnes, it is a small medical school allowing the medical students and the staff to interact well. It even gives experimental research opportunities to about a hundred students yearly. They have strategically divided the course into two parts preclinical of one to three years and the clinical phase of four to six years. The clinical exposure is provided at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Headington, Oxford.
Apart from that, there exists the Radcliffe Science Library, Bodleian Health Care Libraries, The Cairns Library at the John Radcliffe and the Knowledge Centre at the Churchill Hospital, for the students.
The University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
It was established in 1842 and introduced the clinical school in 1976. Led presently by the Dean, Diana F. Wood, located with Addenbrooke's Hospital on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, it includes MRC Cancer Unit, Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge Institute of Medical Research, Institute of Public Health, Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute and the Mitochondrial Biology Unit.
Along with this, it is also associated with the Herschel Smith Laboratory for Medicinal Chemistry. It has one of the most eminent Professors such as Patrick Maxwell for Physiology, Kay-Tee Khaw for Clinical Gerontology and Iwan Hughes for Paediatrics.
Stanford University, the United States of America
It is nowadays headed by Lloyd B. Minor and is present in Stanford University, California. It was established in 1908 though the roots of this establishment can be tracked down to the Medical Department of the Pacific, founded in San Francisco in 1858. It comprises the School of Medicine, Stanford Health Care, and Lucille Packard Children's Hospital. It has been educating physicians and their assistants for a long time and adopts the principle of devoting the classrooms to lectures and giving problem-solving exercises as homework. It has not just a great infrastructure but also the world-renowned personalities like- John R. Adler who invented the cyberknife, Ben Barrs who worked on s*x and intelligence, Paul Berg who received the Nobel Prize of 1980 for the discovery of recombinant DNA, as well as George W. Beadle who won 1958 Nobel Prize for in Physiology.
John Hopkins University, the United States of America
It was here that the Principles and Practices of Medicine were written. It is situated in Baltimore, Maryland and was founded in 1893 and currently presided by Ronald J. Daniels. It encompasses the John Hopkins Hospital and the John Hopkins Children's Centre. It gave rise to the famous surgeon William Steward Halsted who revolutionised the field of surgery and the gynaecologist Howard Atwood Kelly who pioneered the use of Radium in treating cancers. Furthermore, it also harboured John Auer, after whom the Auer Bodies of Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia is named, Dorothy Hansine Andersen who was first to identify deadly diseases - Cystic Fibrosis and Andersen's disease along with Eugene Braunwald who is the co-editor of the famous Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine.
Karolinska Institute of Sweden
It is present within the Stockholm Urban Area of Sweden and is ranked the highest in all of Scandinavia. It is here the Nobel Assembly that rewards the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine rests. This pristine institution was established in 1810 and included the Karolinska University Hospital. It was here that Karl Oskar Medin and Ivar Wickmann worked on poliomyelitis and Tomas Lindahl becomes the winner of Royal Medal in 2015 for his cancer research.
The University of California, the United States of America
It was established in 1864 and is seated at the base of Mount Sutro in San Francisco, California. It is affiliated with the UCSF Medical Centre, Sam Francisco General Hospital, San Francisco Va Medical Centre. It constitutes around twenty-eight academic departments, eight research units and five interdisciplinary research units.
University College of London, United Kingdom
It was first established in 1746 and has been offering medical education since 1834. The current dean is Professor David Lomas. Here, clinical teaching takes place at the University College Hospital, the Royal Free Hospital and Whittington Hospital. Though it is further associated with other teaching hospitals, which are Eastman Dental Hospital, Great Ormand Street Hospital, Moorfields Eye Hospital, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital, Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital and Laton and Dunstable University Hospital. This prestigious foundation has given birth to distinguished medical practitioners such as George Budd after whom the Budd Chiari Syndrome is named, Leslie Collier who was the first to make a heat-stable smallpox vaccine and Anita Harding who was one of the prime doctors to identify Kearns Sayre Syndrome.
Yale University, The United States of America
It stands at New Haven, Connecticut since 1810 and was inaugurated in 1813. It comprises of Harvey Cushing Library, which is one of the largest and the best medical library of the modern times. It does not just offer the MD and MSc degree but also joint degree programmes. It has a separate Yale School of Public Health allocated for education in public health. Just like other institutions, it is also well known for some great brains in medicine- Harvey Cushing who discovered the Cushing's Syndrome and Thomas A Steitz who was bestowed with the 2009 Nobel Prize for his work on the atomic structure of ribosomes as well as Arthur L. Norwich for the discovery of the action of chaperones.
Imperial College London, United Kingdom
It is set up in London and is presided over by Professor Jonathan Weber. First started in 1821, it gives undergraduate courses as well as Associateships of Imperial College School of Medicine. The main teachings occur at Charing Criss Hospital, St. Mary's Hospital, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, District General Hospital and Hammersmith Hospital. Carl Djerassi was working here when he made the first oral contraceptive drug having progestin norethisterone and John Henry did some crucial and revolutionary work on poisoning and drug overdose in this world-famous college. Besides, Sir Ravinder Nath Maini who is an expert on Rheumatology is also associated with this college.
Conclusion
There are many more colleges that create one of the best healers in the world. But as we can see, it is not just the infrastructure and the facilities that make these institutions the best but the people who work here for many sleepless nights.
Co-author: Paridhi Singhal
Paridhi is a budding doctor. Apart from studying medicine, she is a a keen writer who believes in the thought that pen is mightier than the sword.
