Newswise — The University of Michigan Medical School is again ranked one of the top 10 among the nation's 124 fully accredited medical schools, according to the annual "Best Graduate Schools" rankings released today by U.S. News & World Report.

The U-M Medical School has ranked consistently in the top 10 for five years. The school ranked seventh last year and is one of only three medical schools affiliated with public universities to be placed in the top 10.

U.S. News & World Report also ranked the U-M in the top 10 for four medical specialties " family medicine (No. 4), geriatrics (No. 6), internal medicine (No. 8) and women's health (No. 7). U-M also ranked in two other medical specialties: drug/alcohol abuse (No.14) and pediatrics (No. 18).

Among separate rankings of primary care-oriented medical and osteopathic schools, the U-M ranked No. 27.

"Michigan continues its tradition as one of the best medical schools nationally, consistently attracting the brightest scholars to the student body, graduate programs and faculty," says Allen S. Lichter, M.D., dean of the U-M Medical School. "I'm particularly proud of our faculty. Not only do they work for the advancement of medical research and innovation, but they also educate tomorrow's doctors who will continue to make the Michigan difference in clinical care, innovation and research for future generations."

U.S. News & World Report rankings are based on two types of data: expert opinion about program quality and statistical indicators that measure the quality of a school's faculty, research and students.

Last year, the U-M Medical School selected 170 first-year medical students from 4,938 applicants. Twenty-one percent of these students were from minority groups underrepresented in medicine. The school's total enrollment was 682 medical students and 911 graduate students and fellows. In 2004, according to data released by U.S. News & World Report, U-M Medical School faculty received $294 million in research grant awards from the National Institutes of Health.

U.S. News & World Report's complete rankings of graduate schools for the 2005-2006 academic year will be published in a special book, America's Best Graduate Schools, available April 4. Many of the ranking categories also will appear in the April 11 edition of U.S. News & World Report. Results are available online at http://www.usnews.com .