Where Medical School Graduates Practice: Which Schools Keep Doctors in State

Where medical school graduates practice matters to applicants choosing a school, to states trying to keep doctors, and to schools themselves. Using Medicare’s record of each clinician’s school and graduation year, matched to practice addresses in the NPI Registry, we mapped where graduates of every U.S. medical school work today.

Schools whose graduates stay most concentrated in one state

Medical schools whose graduates stay most concentrated in one state

School	Most common state	Share of graduates there
University of California, Irvine, California College of Medicine	California	78%
University of California, Geffen School of Medicine	California	76%
University of California, Davis School of Medicine	California	74%
University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine	California	72%
University of California, San Diego School of Medicine	California	68%
Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University	North Carolina	67%
University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston	Texas	66%
University of North Texas Hsc, College of Osteopathic Med	Texas	66%
University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine	California	64%
University of Texas Medical School at Houston	Texas	63%
Mercer University School of Medicine	Georgia	63%
University of Texas Medical School at San Antonio	Texas	63%
Ohio University, College of Osteopathic Medicine	Ohio	62%
Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine	Michigan	62%
Texas Tech University Health Science Center School of Medicine	Texas	62%
University of Minnesota Medical School	Minnesota	62%
Texas A & M University System, Hsc, College of Medicine	Texas	61%
State University of New York Downstate Medical Center	New York	61%
Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine	Oklahoma	59%
State University of New York at Stony Brook, School of Medicine	New York	59%
University of Arkansas College of Medicine	Arkansas	58%
University of South Florida College of Medicine	Florida	58%
University of Texas Southwestern Medical School at Dallas	Texas	57%
Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans	Louisiana	56%
University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine	Hawaii	56%

A high share usually means a state school with a mission to train doctors for its own state, often with in-state admission preferences and rural or primary care tracks. A low share means graduates spread across the country, typical of private schools that recruit nationally.

See where graduates of any medical school practice

Every school on our medical schools page has its own map of the states where its graduates practice, their most common specialties and when they graduated. The hub map also shows, for each state, the share of physicians who trained at a U.S. school; states with lower shares rely more on international medical graduates.

Why it matters where medical school graduates practice

• If you want to practice in a particular state, schools that keep graduates there often have strong local residency and hospital networks.
• A school’s graduates’ specialties hint at its culture (primary care, research, surgery).
• Pair this with how to choose a specialty and how to choose a residency program.

Limits

Medicare Care Compare lists schools only for clinicians enrolled in Medicare, so physicians who don’t bill Medicare (for example many pediatricians) are missing. CMS records some schools under older names, and does not record where each school is. Counts are clinicians practicing in the 50 states, DC and Puerto Rico.

Frequently asked questions

Do most doctors practice where they went to medical school?

Many do, especially graduates of state medical schools with in-state admission preferences, but the share varies widely: some schools keep most graduates in one state while national private schools spread them across the country. Where a doctor did residency is often an even stronger predictor.

Which medical school has the most graduates in practice?

Large state schools such as Wayne State University and Indiana University have the most graduates in Medicare-enrolled practice. See the medical schools page for the full list.

Does this include doctors trained abroad?

No. International medical graduates are counted in the state maps as physicians not trained at a U.S. school, but their schools are not listed individually.

Where does this data come from?

Medicare Care Compare lists each enrolled clinician’s school and graduation year; we match it to their practice address in the NPI Registry.

Sources

Medicare Care Compare, Doctors and Clinicians (opens in a new tab); NPPES NPI Registry (opens in a new tab). Related: MD vs DO.