Common Stock/Partner's Capital - Additional Information (Detail) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands						12 Months Ended
	Oct. 07, 2016 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Sep. 30, 2016 USD ($) shares	Mar. 01, 2016 USD ($)	Aug. 11, 2015 USD ($) shares	Jan. 14, 2015 USD ($) shares	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($) Partner Director Employee $ / shares shares	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($) shares	Aug. 04, 2015 $ / shares shares	Jun. 30, 2015 $ / shares shares
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Proceeds from sale of common shares / units, net of offering costs | $						$ 1,173,651	$ 817,389	$ 138,173
Common stock, shares issued | shares						320,514,000	236,744,000
Common stock, shares authorized | shares						500,000,000	500,000,000		500,000,000	250,000,000
Common stock, par value | $ / shares						$ 0.001	$ 0.001		$ 0.001	$ 0.001
Common Units [Member]
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Number of share sold | shares						82,749,000	63,250,000	10,656,000
Common Units [Member] | Private Placement [Member] | Cerberus Capital Management [Member]
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Number of share sold | shares	10,300,000
Sale of Stock, price per share | $ / shares	$ 14.50
Proceeds from sale of common shares / units, net of offering costs | $	$ 150,000
MPT Operating Partnership, L.P. [Member]
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Proceeds from sale of common shares / units, net of offering costs | $						$ 1,173,651	$ 817,389	$ 138,173
Ownership interest in equity						99.90%
Percentage of ownership of general partner						100.00%
Number of other partners | Partner						3
Employee [Member]
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Number of partners shared remaining ownership percentage | Employee						2
Director [Member]
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Number of partners shared remaining ownership percentage | Director						1
Market Equity Offering Program [Member]
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Proceeds from sale of common shares / units, net of offering costs | $						$ 224,000
Common stock, shares issued | shares						15,000,000
Sales commission percentage			1.25%
Sales commissions, amount | $						$ 2,800
Market Equity Offering Program [Member] | Maximum [Member]
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Value of stock | $			$ 227,000
Public Offering [Member]
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Proceeds from sale of common shares / units, net of offering costs | $		$ 799,500		$ 337,000	$ 480,000
Common stock, shares issued | shares		57,500,000		28,750,000	34,500,000
Additional shares purchased by underwriters | shares		7,500,000		3,800,000	4,500,000