The UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School

The UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School, the oldest of the University's medical schools, traces its roots to 1954. A vibrant faculty and diverse student body complement the school’s rich tradition in education, research, patient care and community service.

The Jubilee Curriculum, introduced during New Jersey Medical School's 50th anniversary year in 2004, provides students with innovative content delivery through a reduction of lecture hours and exams, an increased focus on small group discussions, and the introduction of clinical preceptorships in the first semester so that students can integrate classroom and clinical learning as quickly as possible.  Students spend the entire year working with the same physician, completing approximately 18 half-day clinical sessions, two to three times more than most other medical students. The Physician's Core, the keystone of the new curriculum, teaches students the fundamentals of patient care such as humanism, professionalism, ethics, cultural competency and medical-legal issues.  NJMS is one of a few schools to devote a half day each week to such subjects.

In addition to the required curriculum, UMDNJ-NJMS students can choose electives in ethics, economics, history, the humanities and international medicine. Some students pursue dual degree programs.  A growing MD/PhD program is training future physician-scientists, while other students dedicated to public health earn a dual MD/MPH degree.  For the first time this year, medical students can also pursue a combined MD/MBA degree.

UMDNJ-NJMS's mission includes excellence in research. The school has designated eight Areas of Excellence to highlight advances in disciplines to which considerable resources have been dedicated:  Brain Injury and Stroke, Cancer/Oncology, Cardiovascular Biology, Cellular Signal Transduction, Immunology, Infectious Diseases, Neurosciences, and Psychiatry/Behavior Sciences.  In 2004, the school received $104 million in extramural grants supporting basic, clinical and translational research.