Medical Staff Update

U.S. News and World Report ranked Stanford School of Medicine eighth among "research medical schools" for 2004, prompting Dean Phillip Pizzo to comment that the annual rankings are "skewed to evaluate size over quality."

In his April 5 Dean's Newsletter, Pizzo said the weekly news magazine's evaluation system - intended to guide students who are applying for programs - misses the mark by using total NIH funding as the single most important determinant for rankings. He said for more than 15 years, Stanford's principal investigators have the highest amount of NIH funding per capita compared to any school in the nation - "a more accurate surrogate measure of quality compared to quantity." He said that Stanford's 732 faculty members total less than 10 percent of the number of medical faculty at Harvard, which was ranked No. 1 in the USN&WR rankings published March 22. He noted Stanford is one of the smallest of the nation's research-intensive schools and would likely score in the top five if a more sophisticated research funding measuring tool were used.

Pizzo said he has raised his concerns over the ranking methodology with the publication's editors and planned to do so again. "I hope, of course, that USN&WR will be more responsive in future years than has been the case in the past.

"I think students can easily assess the size of an institution, but judging quality is more subtle," Pizzo said.

-Courtesy of Dean Philip A. Pizzo's newsletter: http://deansnewsletter.stanford.edu/
archive/04_05_04.html


	JUNE 2004 Volume 28 • No. 6

	N E W Sx I T E M S Systems, not 'screwups' cause most medical errors TB surveillance required every year for physicians Stanford Cancer Center: Fact Sheet Be A Mentor Hospitalist believe they contribute to efficiency, safety Original Starsky delivers personal HIV story Anesthesiologist named to tech-oriented deanship Size trumps quality in magazine ratings		Size trumps quality in magazine ratings, dean says U.S. News and World Report ranked Stanford School of Medicine eighth among "research medical schools" for 2004, prompting Dean Phillip Pizzo to comment that the annual rankings are "skewed to evaluate size over quality." In his April 5 Dean's Newsletter, Pizzo said the weekly news magazine's evaluation system - intended to guide students who are applying for programs - misses the mark by using total NIH funding as the single most important determinant for rankings. He said for more than 15 years, Stanford's principal investigators have the highest amount of NIH funding per capita compared to any school in the nation - "a more accurate surrogate measure of quality compared to quantity." He said that Stanford's 732 faculty members total less than 10 percent of the number of medical faculty at Harvard, which was ranked No. 1 in the USN&WR rankings published March 22. He noted Stanford is one of the smallest of the nation's research-intensive schools and would likely score in the top five if a more sophisticated research funding measuring tool were used. Pizzo said he has raised his concerns over the ranking methodology with the publication's editors and planned to do so again. "I hope, of course, that USN&WR will be more responsive in future years than has been the case in the past. "I think students can easily assess the size of an institution, but judging quality is more subtle," Pizzo said. -Courtesy of Dean Philip A. Pizzo's newsletter: http://deansnewsletter.stanford.edu/ archive/04_05_04.html