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Rutgers New Jersey Medical School

Newark, NJ

Allopathic Medical Schools | Public Non-Profit

📚 General Info

What graduating class are you in?

2017

Are you pursuing any joint degrees (MD/PhD, MD/MPH, etc.)?

No

Are you considered in-state or out-of-state for tuition purposes?

in-state

What is your race/ethnic background?

No responses

Overall, how would you rate this medical program?

8 out of 10

What is the reputation of the school in the medical community?

5 out of 10

What is the reputation of the research that goes on at this school?

5 out of 10

What was your MCAT score?

514

What was your undergrad GPA?

3.4

What was your undergrad science GPA?

3.6

What was the zip code of your residence in high school?

07726

What do you like most about this school?

Patient population of Newark. Believe the hype - people really are incredibly sick. You will see diseases even residents trained at other programs have never seen. Patients tend to have little to no primary care, so diseases are typically end-stage and impressive. State-school in an urban, low income area means most people don't have big egos (not always true). There are opportunities to do rotations at hackensack, st barnabas, morristown hospitals to get a better grasp of upper-middle class (insured) patient care.

What do you like least about this school?

Student affairs office is not great. The hospital and medical school facilities are older.

Please provide any other general comments on your school

Going to this school will not preclude you matching to a great residency. Keep in mind many aspects of medical school education are dependent on which residents are rotating at a certain time, which changes from year to year and may render older advice obsolete. NJMS switched to a "systems-based" 1st and 2nd year curriculum a few years ago.
Curriculum

How is the curriculum structured?

Systems-based

How many courses are taken at a given time?

2

How long are you typically in class per day?

3-4 hours

Are courses recorded for medical students?

Video recording

How many days per week is anatomy lab?

No responses

How many students per cadaver?

No responses

How long (in months) do you have anatomy?

No responses

Is the curriculum lecture-centric or small-group centric?

5 out of 10

Are standardized patients used?

yes

How much patient interaction is there in the pre-clinical years?

5 out of 10

Are syllabi provided for the student?

yes

How frequently do pre-clinical medical school activities have mandatory attendance?

Infrequently. If you so choose, you can stay home and watch recorded lectures.

What books are necessary?

The basics - First Aid for Step 1, pathoma.

What books are unnecessary?

most.

Is the curriculum designed to promote a specialty? If so, which specialty?

NJMS is associated with the well-respected PM&R program Kessler. More than a few students choose PM&R each year, but this is not pushed.
Location & Housing

How do you feel about the location of the school?

2 out of 10

Do you feel safe on campus?

8 out of 10

How available and convenient is public transportation?

3 out of 10

Is a car necessary at any point during your education here?

Clinical years

If a car is required for education, how available and convenient is the parking provided to students?

7 out of 10

Is on-campus housing available?

yes

What is the quality of available on-campus housing?

4 out of 10

What percentage of your medical school classmates would you estimate live on campus, if on-campus housing is available?

5 out of 10

Is couples housing available?

No responses

Is nearby off-campus housing available?

yes

How expensive is nearby off-campus housing?

5 out of 10

Please describe the on-campus housing if available (i.e., cost, type - studios, 1-br, 2-br, etc.)?

No responses
Cost/Financial Aid

Are fees/tuition expensive?

2 out of 10

How is the cost of living (rent, food, bills, etc.)?

4 out of 10

Are many institutional scholarships/grants available?

7 out of 10

Is institutional aid need-based or merit-based?

No responses
Faculty/Grades

Are faculty members very open to students during office hours?

5 out of 10

Are faculty members very available to students via email/message board?

8 out of 10

Are there many opportunities to shadow/work with clinical faculty?

10 out of 10

Are the faculty willing to mentor students in regards to career guidance?

8 out of 10

Is the class ranked?

yes

How is the instructional faculty during pre-clinical years?

Not great.

How is the instructional faculty during clinical years?

Mostly good but luck-of-the-draw.

What is the grading scale used during pre-clinical years?

Pass/fail, but be advised - you are still ranked relative to the rest of your class. AOA (medical honors society) is only available to top 10% of class.

What is the grading scale used during clinical years?

Mostly Pass, High pass, honors, fail.
Clinical Rotations

Are the desired rotation sites easy to obtain?

5 out of 10

Is desired rotation order easy to obtain?

6 out of 10

Are the elective rotations easy to obtain?

4 out of 10

Is there substantial hands-on experience for medical students?

8 out of 10

Are the rotation sites conveniently accessible for medical students?

5 out of 10

How far are the clinical sites from the main campus?

4 out of 10

How are clinical rotations scheduled? What are the required rotations?

Lottery system. Required: internal medicine, family medicine, pediatrics, OBGYN, surgery, neurology, psychiatry, emergency medicine, PM&R.

What responsibility do med students have on the wards?

At University Hospital you are highly involved in patient care. This is the main advantage to this program. Of course this varies service to service and between hospitals, as it will with all schools.

What is the status/condition of the affiliated hospital(s)?

No responses

What is the typical patient population medical students work with?

Poor, underserved, large hispanic population, large african american population.
Social Environment

Do students do a lot of activities outside of school together?

5 out of 10

How would you rank student involvement in extracurricular clubs?

5 out of 10

What is the range of extracurricular clubs available?

5 out of 10

Is the student body cooperative or competitive?

5 out of 10

Is the environment supportive for underrepresented minorities?

5 out of 10

Is the environment supportive for lesbian/gay/bisexual/transsexual students?

5 out of 10

Is the environment supportive for students with disabilities?

5 out of 10

Is the environment supportive for married students?

5 out of 10

Is the environment supportive for older/non-traditional students?

5 out of 10

What do the students typically like to do in the area?

No responses
Post Graduation

How do graduates from this school fare in residency and clinical practice?

Pretty well.

Is this school known for producing physicians strong in a certain area? If so, which area?

No responses

What do you believe residency directors think about graduates from this program?

You can be a great applicant coming out of NJMS. It's up to you.