Common Stock/Partners Capital - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)	12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended				1 Months Ended		3 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2010	Feb. 29, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2012 MPT Operating Partnership, L.P.	Dec. 31, 2010 MPT Operating Partnership, L.P.	Dec. 31, 2012 Employee	Dec. 31, 2012 Director	Feb. 07, 2012 Public Offering	Apr. 30, 2010 Public Offering	Dec. 31, 2012 Market Equity Offering Program	Mar. 31, 2010 Market Equity Offering Program	Nov. 30, 2009 Market Equity Offering Program Maximum	Feb. 29, 2012 Before Amendment
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Common stock, shares issued	136,335,000			110,786,000					23,575,000	26,000,000	1,100,000	900,000
Underwriters' purchase of shares to cover over allotments									3,075,000	3,900,000
Public offering price for common stock per share									$ 9.75	$ 9.75	$ 11.84	$ 10.77
Net proceed from issuance of common stock	$ 233,048,000	$ 288,066,000			$ 233,048,000	$ 288,066,000			$ 220,100,000	$ 279,100,000	$ 13,200,000	$ 9,500,000
Number of shares can be sold out													$ 50,000,000
Sales commission											2.00%	2.00%
Common stock, Shares authorized	250,000,000		250,000,000	250,000,000										150,000,000
Common stock, par value	$ 0.001		$ 0.001	$ 0.001
Percentage of ownership of general partner					100.00%
Ownership interest in equity	100.00%				99.80%
Number of other partners					3
Number of partners shared remaining ownership percentage							2	1