Massachusetts has four accredited medical schools that grant MD degrees. All four are accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), the standard accrediting body for MD programs in the United States. There are no osteopathic (DO) medical schools currently operating in the state.
The Four Medical Schools
Three of the four schools are private institutions clustered in Boston, while one is a public university located about 40 miles west in Worcester:
- Harvard Medical School, Boston
- Boston University Aram V. Chobanian & Edward Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston
- Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston
- University of Massachusetts T.H. Chan School of Medicine, Worcester
Harvard, BU, and Tufts were all accredited prior to 1942, making them among the oldest medical programs in the country. UMass Chan received its accreditation in 1971 and serves as the state’s only public medical school.
What Makes Each School Different
Harvard Medical School is the most selective of the group, with an acceptance rate of roughly 3.3%, an average GPA of 3.9, and an average MCAT score around 520. Unlike most medical schools, Harvard doesn’t own or operate its own hospitals. Instead, it partners with 15 clinical affiliates, including Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston Children’s Hospital, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. That network gives students exposure to a wide range of patient populations and specialties. Harvard also offers several dual-degree tracks, including an MD-PhD program run jointly with MIT, an MD-MBA with Harvard Business School, and combined MD-MPH and MD-MPP options.
Tufts University School of Medicine places a strong emphasis on broad specialty training. In its 2025 match, 201 graduates matched into residencies across 24 specialties in 27 states. About 37% went into primary care fields, while 29% stayed in Massachusetts for their residencies and nearly half matched somewhere in New England. The most popular specialties were internal medicine (17%), anesthesiology (11%), and pediatrics (10%).
Boston University’s medical school, recently renamed to honor philanthropist Edward Avedisian and former university president Aram Chobanian, is closely tied to Boston Medical Center, the city’s largest safety-net hospital. That connection gives students significant experience caring for underserved populations.
UMass Chan in Worcester stands apart as the state’s public option, with a strong mission centered on training physicians to serve Massachusetts communities. Nearly 50% of a recent graduating class entered residencies in primary care and related specialties, including internal medicine, family medicine, and pediatrics. The school was recently ranked the best in the Northeast for primary care education. Its incoming Class of 2028 will grow to 225 students, making it one of the larger class sizes in the state.
Tuition and Cost Differences
The biggest financial distinction is between UMass Chan and the three private schools. For the 2025-26 academic year, UMass Chan charges Massachusetts residents about $42,284 in tuition and non-residents about $72,710. That in-state rate represents a significant savings compared to private medical school tuition, which typically runs well above $60,000 per year before living expenses. If you’re a Massachusetts resident looking to minimize debt, UMass Chan is the most affordable path to an MD in the state.
Why the Boston Concentration Matters
Having three medical schools in a single city, all within a few miles of one of the densest concentrations of hospitals and research institutions in the world, creates an unusual training environment. The Longwood Medical Area alone houses several major teaching hospitals, research centers, and biotech companies. Students at any of the Boston schools can access clinical rotations, research opportunities, and professional networks that would be difficult to replicate elsewhere. Worcester, where UMass Chan is located, has its own medical ecosystem centered around UMass Memorial Health, the largest health care system in central Massachusetts.
For prospective applicants, the practical takeaway is that Massachusetts offers four MD programs with very different profiles: one ultra-competitive research powerhouse, two well-established private schools with strong clinical training, and one public school focused on primary care and serving the state’s residents. There are no DO-granting schools in Massachusetts, so students interested in osteopathic medicine would need to look to neighboring states.