The Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California teaches and trains physicians, biomedical scientists and other healthcare professionals, conducts medical research, and treats patients.

[7] The joint MD-PhD program is part of a cooperation with the California Institute of Technology located in nearby Pasadena.

[8] USC also offers a combined engineering and medicine graduate certificate program, available to both PhD and MD students.

The school committed to raising $330 million in matching funds, and used a large portion of the gift to expand research efforts, including the Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute.

[16] In 2015, Paul Aisen, who leads the US Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study (ADCS) and its approximately $100 million in funding, left University of California San Diego and joined the faculty of Keck.

[24][25] A report in Nature noted that Keck had been recruiting from San Diego, hiring four scientists from Scripps Research Institute after a proposed merger fell through, and that Keck had recruited the director of the UCSD Health System to run its Children's Hospital.

[29] In November 2021, Carolyn C. Meltzer, a neuroradiologist and nuclear medicine doctor, was named as the new dean of the school effective March 1, 2022.

[31] The pre-clerkship phase consists of several longitudinal courses, including Health Justice and Systems of Care (HJSC), Introduction to Clinical Medicine (ICM), and Empowerment Through Professional Identity Cultivation (EPIC).

Notable alumni of the school include The Los Angeles Times reported in July 2017 that while Carmen Puliafito served as a USC professor and medical school dean, he "kept company with a circle of criminals and drug users who said he used methamphetamine and other drugs with them.

"[36] The reporters reviewed video and photographs of Puliafito engaging in these activities in hotel rooms, apartments, and the dean's office.