UC Davis School of Medicine has developed a national reputation for its specialty and primary care programs. It ranks among the top medical schools in the nation for research and primary care, according to U.S. News and World Report. Currently over 580 students receive training in 40 medical and surgical specialties from a faculty of over 440 full-time professors. The School of Medicine was recently honored with the Paul R. Wright Excellence in Medical Education Award for the best curriculum integration of clinical community experience with the basic sciences.

All medical student classes are conducted at the UC Davis, Medical Center located in Sacramento. In the Fall of 2006 a new education building opened in Sacramento to house all teaching programs and enhance state-of-the-art training in the basic and clinical sciences for all four years of medical school.

Medical students at UC Davis are selected on the basis of diverse skills and the personal characteristics that will enable them to become excellent, caring physicians. They consistently rank among the nation's finest, according to the National Board of Medical Examiners.The residency and internship programs provide advanced training to over 700 physicians in over 40 medical and surgical disciplines. Because medicine changes with new knowledge, the profession demands a lifelong dedication to learning. The Continuing Medical Education Office sponsors over 300 seminars and workshops annually, serving 16,400 health care professionals each year.

UC Davis School of Medicine's faculty of physicians, basic science researchers, and other health professionals conduct teaching, research, patient care and public service programs which serve inland Northern California and beyond. The School has over 650 research projects funded by over $130 million annually in extramural research, development contracts, and grants to improve health care and advance the state of medical science. Major areas of research growth include some of the health systems most innovative programs:

• UC Davis Cancer Center unites 180 scientists from diverse disciplines in a focused assault against cancer.
• A strong infrastructure, which includes a dedicated facility for clinical trials and a program providing broad operational support, positions UC Davis as a leader in bench-to-bedside research - studies that directly improve people's health.
  
• UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute is a unique collaboration of clinicians, researchers and educators committed to finding better treatments and cures for autism and other neuro-developmental disorders.
• UC Davis expertise in infectious diseases has resulted in expanded programs in HIV and AIDS research, public health and emergency preparedness.
• A new vascular center provides state-of-the-art comprehensive care to patients with atherosclerosis while research into the prevention and management of coronary artery disease, diabetes and other related vascular diseases continues to receive significant funding.
• One of two new NIH stem-cell centers of excellence, UC Davis is studying stem-cell therapies fro the treatment of childhood diseases.
• A new Center for Reducing Health Disparities is advancing a deeper understanding of how fundamental causes of disparity - such as socio-economic, linguistic and cultural issues - affect access to quality health care.