How We Compiled a List of Academic Medical Centers

Methodology for Compiling Academic Medical Centers (AMCs)

Academic medical centers (AMCs) have long been recognized as pivotal institutions in the training of healthcare professionals, offering comprehensive resources that encompass clinical care, research, and education. Traditionally, AMCs are affiliated with medical schools and are distinguished by their extensive residency and fellowship programs, as well as their involvement in cutting-edge research.However, there is no definitive list, at least not one that is publicly accessible, that provides this information. The purpose of this blog is to provide transparency in how AMCs were curated and identified in Unscripted Rx.

Sources Used

To compile a comprehensive list of academic medical centers, no proprietary or subscription-based data sources were used. Instead, the process relied entirely on publicly available and verifiable resources, including:

• Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS):
  CMS publishes a publicly accessible list of hospitals receiving Graduate Medical Education (GME) funding. While this list includes many teaching hospitals, not all are academic medical centers. It was used as a foundational reference to identify hospitals engaged in clinical training.

• U.S. News & World Report Rankings:
  Hospitals that appear in the U.S. News Honor Roll or other specialty rankings were cross-checked for academic affiliation. Many of these institutions are considered flagship AMCs due to their size, research output, and residency programs.

• Medical School Affiliate Networks:
  Official websites for accredited medical schools (e.g., Harvard, UCSF, Duke, Michigan) often list their affiliated hospitals. These affiliations were used to validate the academic status of each hospital.

• Definitive Healthcare Articles:
  While access to the full database is paid, Definitive Healthcare regularly publishes high-level lists and insights on top academic medical centers. These public articles provided an additional layer of validation for larger, well-established institutions.

• Wikipedia and Health System Directories:
  Wikipedia’s curated lists of teaching hospitals and health systems were used for broader discovery. In cases of ambiguity, these entries were verified with institutional websites.

Cross-Validation and Deduplication

Every entry was manually cross-referenced with at least two sources to ensure accuracy. Duplicate listings were normalized by hospital name and location, accounting for variations in naming (e.g., "Massachusetts General Hospital" vs. "MGH"). Where available, academic affiliations and the presence of residency or fellowship programs were confirmed directly on the hospital’s website.

Inclusion Criteria

A hospital was flagged as an academic medical center if it met all of the following criteria:

1. Affiliated with an accredited U.S. medical school (allopathic or osteopathic)
2. Actively participates in graduate medical education (e.g., residency or fellowship programs)
3. Engages in clinical research or is part of a recognized academic health system

Hospitals that only trained pharmacy, nursing, or allied health students—without formal medical school affiliation—were excluded, even if they had education programs.

Limitations

This approach prioritizes conservativeness and verifiability. That means some smaller or newer AMCs may be excluded if their affiliation or training status was not clearly documented in public sources at the time of compilation. The methodology will continue to evolve as new partnerships and programs emerge.

This is not intended to be a static list; rather, it is a living dataset that will be regularly reviewed and updated to reflect institutional changes.

Feedback & Contributions

If you are affiliated with an institution that you believe meets the criteria above but was not included, or if you notice discrepancies, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Your input helps maintain the quality and accuracy of this dataset for future healthcare professionals who use Unscripted Rx.

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📚 References

1. Green, M., Aagaard, E., Caverzagie, K., Chick, D., Kane, G., & Smith, C. D. (2017). University- Versus Community-Based Residency Programs: Does the Distinction Matter? Academic Medicine, 92(8), 1079–1085.
2. CMS Teaching Hospital List (2022) – Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
3. Academic Medical Centers in the US (2024) – Definitive Healthcare
4. U.S. News Best Hospitals Rankings – U.S. News & World Report
5. Wikipedia – List of Teaching Hospitals in the United States
6. Vizient announces 2024 top performers in clinical quality, supplier diversity and environmental sustainability excellence