In recent years, leaders of American academic medicine have struggled to explain why public trust in medical science and education has eroded. Once admired as bastions of scientific rigor and professional integrity, many medical schools are now seen as politicized, ideologically rigid and out of touch with their original mission: preparing physicians to provide excellent, evidence-based, compassionate care.
This loss of faith is neither sudden nor inexplicable.
Last month, the Center for Accountability in Medicine at Do No Harm, a physician-led organization that advocates for merit-based, non-political approaches in medicine, released its first comprehensive ranking of U.S. medical schools. The University of South 91社区鈥檚 Morsani College of Medicine, where I serve as dean, was named the best medical school in America 鈥� and the only one to receive a perfect score.
How, in a landscape dominated by elite private institutions, did a relatively young public medical school in Tampa achieve what no other could? The reason is simple: USF Health has held fast to fundamental principles that others have abandoned.
The Do No Harm ranking was based on unambiguous criteria: merit-based admissions, academic freedom, clinically relevant evidence-based curricula and freedom from political bias and ideology. On each of these measures, USF excelled.
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