The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a public land-grant research university in San Francisco, California. It is part of the University of California system and it is dedicated entirely to health science. It is a major center of medical and biological research and teaching.UCSF was founded as Toland Medical College in 1864, and in 1873 it affiliated itself with the University of California, becoming its Medical Department. In the same year, it incorporated the California College of Pharmacy and in 1881 it established a dentistry school. Its facilities were located in both Berkeley and San Francisco. In 1964, the school gained full administrative independence as a campus of the UC system headed by a chancellor, and in 1970 it gained its current name. Historically based at Parnassus Heights and several other locations throughout the city, UCSF developed a second major campus in the newly redeveloped Mission Bay in the early 2000s.
UCSF is considered one of the world's preeminent medical and life sciences universities. According to the U.S. News & World Report, UCSF's medical school is ranked 2nd nationally for its clinical training, its pharmacy school is ranked 2nd nationally, and many of its nursing programs are ranked similarly highly. UCSF attracts the 9th most research funding from the National Institutes of Health, and its research output is ranked in the top 10 in the world in numerous biomedical fields. Despite focusing exclusively on health sciences, UCSF's research output is ranked in the top 20 in the world across all fields. As a healthcare provider, UCSF is ranked 9th nationally, and 1st in neurology and neurosurgery.With 25,398 employees, UCSF is the second-largest public agency employer in the San Francisco Bay Area. UCSF faculty have treated patients and trained residents since 1873 at the San Francisco General Hospital and for over 50 years at the San Francisco VA Medical Center.