The Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine was ranked number 2 among U.S. medical schools on the Planetary Health Report Card (PHRC), released on Earth Day 2026.
The PHRC, per its website, is a “student-driven metric-based tool that aims to evaluate health professional schools on discrete metrics” related to environmental health and sustainability.
The medical school made the jump from a “B-” in 2025 to a full “A” ranking, based on across-the-board improvements in the school’s curriculum, interdisciplinary research, community outreach and advocacy, support for student-led initiatives, and campus sustainability.
“An amazing achievement for us only in our second year of participating. Kudos to our students for their hard work on this,” said Lawrence Rosen, M.D., FAAP, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Assistant Director of the Human Dimension course, and co-chair of the Environmental Health Working Group at the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine.
“I am extremely proud of this student-driven initiative, with great faculty guidance, which focuses on this topic of essential importance in our world,” added Jeffrey Boscamp, M.D., the president and dean of the school.
The school was commended for innovative parts of its curriculum, including the Human Dimension course’s “Environmental Determinants of Health” session, community partnerships, and the Teaching Kitchen experience at the Culinary Institute of America as part of the Nutrition, Metabolism, and Digestion course.
The school’s Environmental Health Working Group consists of students, medical school leadership, faculty, staff as well as members of the Hackensack Meridian Health Network’s sustainability leadership. Their work supports HMSOM’s five-year strategic plan, whose goals align with the school’s vision for sustainable health care and comprehensive, integrated planetary health education.
Other U.S. med schools with an “A” rating include Emory University, UCSF-Berkeley Joint Medical program, Stanford University, University of Connecticut, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, and University of Minnesota.