Consistently ranked among the nation's top medical schools, the UCSF School of Medicine earns its greatest distinction from its outstanding faculty – among them are six Nobel laureates, 112 National Academy of Medicine members, 73 American Academy of Arts and Sciences members, 55 National Academy of Sciences members, and 22 Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigators.
Mission
The UCSF School of Medicine strives to advance human health through a fourfold mission of education, research, patient care and public service.
History
Founded in 1864 as Toland Medical College, the school joined the University of California in 1873, and in 1898, moved to its present Parnassus Heights campus. The first UC hospital opened here in 1907, eventually growing into Moffitt-Long Hospitals and later Benioff Children’s Hospital. These facilities, together with Mount Zion Hospital, now comprise the UCSF Medical Center.
UCSF faculty have also treated patients and trained students at Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center since 1873 and at the San Francisco VA Medical Center for over 50 years. UCSF is affiliated with a number of other hospitals in the Bay Area and Fresno, including Children’s Hospital Oakland.
Recent Accomplishments & Innovations
- 2024: School of Medicine is the only medical school in Tier 1* for primary care and research by US News & World Report
- 2023: School of Medicine ranked #5 in research and primary care, and 9th for diversity by US News & World Report
- 2022: School of Medicine ranked #3 in research and #2 in primary care by US News & World Report
- 2021: David Julius wins Nobel Prize for work on pain sensation
- 2021: School of Medicine ranked #4 in research and #2 in primary care by US News & World Report
- 2020: School of Medicine ranked #6 in research and #2 in primary care by US News & World Report
- 2019: School of Medicine ranked #5 in research and #3 in primary care by US News & World Report
- 2018: UCSF Fresno established as a branch campus of the UCSF School of Medicine
- 2017: Fifteen UCSF researchers named to the first cohort of Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Investigators
- 2016: The new Priscilla and Mark Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center opens
- 2015: UCSF Medical Center opens new women's, children's and cancer hospitals at Mission Bay
- 2015: UCSF ranks second again in clinical medicine in the annual Academic Ranking of World Universities
- 2012: Nobel Prize awarded to UCSF's Shinya Yamanaka for the discovery of how to transform ordinary adult skin cells into stem cells
- 2011: Opening of the UCSF Teaching and Learning Center including the Kanbar Simulation Center
- 2010: UCSF educators release Educating Physicians: A Call for Reform of Medical School and Residency
- 2009: Nobel Prize awarded to UCSF's Elizabeth Blackburn for the discovery of the key enzyme telomerase
Comprehensive list of UCSF achievements and milestones going back to 1914.
* as of 2024, US News & World Report research and primary care rankings for medical schools are presented in evaluative tiers instead of ordinal rankings. There are four tiers, with Tier 1 medical schools being the highest-performing and Tier 4 the lowest-performing.