Our Passion for Learning - UMDNJ Annual Report

Ewa Zoltek

UMDNJ's Career Training and Advancement Center (CTAC), launched by Maryann Master, vice president of human resources, encourages employees at all levels to continue learning. In 2005 individuals graduated from a Certified Medical Administrative Assistant Program sponsored by CTAC and offered by the National Health Career Association. CTAC's goal is to provide entry-level employees in low-paying positions with job training opportunities that could potentially advance their careers. Programs have been available in areas such as medical coding, English as a second language and Spanish for healthcare workers.

UMDNJ offers many enrichment programs for high school and college students. Last year, according to the UMDNJ Office of the University Registrar, 728 young people took part in NJMS programs like the Hispanic Center of Excellence, the Neurosciences Summer Program for High School Students, and the SMART Initiative with its Biotrek, EnviroQuest, Fantastic Voyage and Mission Health options. GSBS welcomed 49 visiting students. NJDS placed 79 students in their 2004 Summer Student Research Program, the Gateway to Dentistry and the Early Decision Track. RWJMS involved 338 passionate young learners in programs like Research in Science and Engineering (RISE) and Achieving Excellence in the Sciences, where 150 high schoolers attended mini-medical school. SHRP fostered the future dreams of 359 young students through their academic health science career program, including the Newark Pre-College Consortium sponsored collaboratively with NJIT and Rutgers University. And at SOM, 337 took part in programs like the Medical Science Academy for 12th graders.

To make learning easier, NJDS created a DVD for sophomores with a movie of every procedure they need to master in Endodontics I. Students can review the video, visualizing the skills they need as often as they'd like, using their own laptop computer or any DVD player.

New Jersey Medical School introduced the Jubilee Curriculum in conjunction with its 50th anniversary year. Innovations include the 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. The Physician's Core, the keystone of the new curriculum, teaches students the fundamentals of patient care: humanism, professionalism, ethics, cultural competency and medical-legal issues.

It would have been easy for Ewa Zoltek, New Jersey Dental School (NJDS) class of 2006, to end her educational journey after becoming a dental hygienist. But this winner of the Dr. William S. Kramer Award of Excellence for 2005 could see a lot more learning in her future back then. The honor is given to the junior dental student with the highest grade point average, who has demonstrated scholarship, character, and the potential promise for the advancement of dentistry. It also includes a $10,000 grant from the NJDS chapter of the Omicron Kappa Upsilon honor society.

Zoltek, who once doubted her very right to attend dental school, is the kind of passionate learner UMDNJ treasures. Visionaries estimate that information, world-wide, doubles every two years. The future of UMDNJ lies clearly in the minds and hearts of students like Zoltek who believe in staying intellectually engaged in their fields in order to keep up with this amazing growth of knowledge. Born in Poland, she and her family arrived in the U.S. on Nov. 24, 1994. Always encouraged by her fiancé and especially her mother, she remembers wavering about the expense of continuing her dental education. “It was a day I will never forget,” she recalls. “My mom said, ‘Ewa, I never had this kind of opportunity to study or to make my life better. I had to work just to pay bills. Don’t even hesitate about staying in school. You may only get this chance in your life once. Don’t lose it.’

“I love what I do,” Zoltek explains. “There are no limitations to how much anyone can learn, except for those set by your own mind.” In fact, she sees no end to her education. “Constant learning is the number one thing I’ll do to keep expanding my horizons. I want to strengthen my surgical skills and gain as much knowledge as possible about dental implants. Dentistry is unique because it involves art, imagination and medicine.” NJDS Dean Cecile A. Feldman, DMD, MBA, says, “The number one priority of the New Jersey Dental School is to ensure that each and every student receives an outstanding education in an environment of opportunity — the opportunity to learn, to practice and to serve.”

Ewa Zoltek, a gifted dental student, is just one of more than 5,000 UMDNJ academicians who recognize that a passion for learning is the basis of all discovery. As David S. Kountz, MD, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (RWJMS), associate professor of medicine and associate dean for postgraduate education, says, “We can’t ever forget that students are the reason we are here.” Meanwhile, New Jersey Medical School (NJMS) introduced a new curriculum last year offering its students exciting new challenges and learning opportunities while focusing on active learning and the importance of humanism in medicine.

Edward Garay, an MD/PhD candidate in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS) and NJMS, also shares this passion for learning.




	Edward Garay (left) with George P. Studzinski, MD, PhD

Selected as an American Association for Cancer Research minority scholar last February, Garay cherishes “the process of discovery. I enjoy the challenge of piecing together known facts to generate ideas, concepts, and then proving or disproving these thoughts through scientific investigation. It’s a great thrill for me to apply my knowledge to tackle questions about human disease.” Aiming for a career as a scientific researcher as well as a medical professional and educator, Garay personifies the word passion. “The one piece of advice I keep receiving from senior professionals is to truly enjoy what you do. I believe I could not have chosen a better career path. As a physician scientist, I can incorporate into my life some of my more prominent interests and desires, that is, my love of science, my commitment to helping and healing the ill, and my desire to teach the next generation of eager learners who want to contribute to the field of medicine.”

A cancer investigator in the pathology laboratory of George P. Studzinski, MD, PhD, Garay is tackling two demanding educational roads to earn two UMDNJ degrees because he values biomedical research as much as the time he’ll spend in “the setting of patient care, where I can communicate my knowledge of medicine with a humanistic approach,” he says. “My family immigrated to the U.S. from Peru so my siblings and I would have more opportunities. I was fortunate that my father sparked my interest in the sciences at an early age and instilled in me, along with the rest of my family, a great appreciation for education and learning. I’m thrilled to have come this far and I’m looking forward to learning more.”

Dual degree learners like Garay can be found in all of our schools, tackling challenging curricula that lead to one of eight combined degrees. At RWJMS, the MD/PhD with GSBS and Rutgers combines a medical degree with a doctorate in biomedical sciences or public health. In 2006, a doctorate in molecular biology along with an MD will also be available in a partnership with Princeton University. “Princeton’s world-class scientists will enrich the RWJMS-Rutgers mix,” according to Michael J. Leibowitz, MD, PhD, associate dean for GSBS.

“Ours is the best MD/PhD program,” reports Jay Tischfield, PhD, MPH, a RWJMS professor of pediatrics and psychiatry. The UMDNJ dual degree option is “distinguished in part by the school’s insight into researchers’ needs and the nature of the PhD process. In some MD/PhD programs, the rules are for the benefit of the school’s scheduling needs. But here, the program is for the students, encouraging them to get the most out of their experience.”

Graduation retention rates are also a sign of our students’ passion for completing their learning experiences; and over the years, our three medical schools have consistently clocked rates well above 90 percent. In past years, some programs within the School of Health Related Professions (SHRP) — Diagnostic Medical Sonography, Nuclear Medicine, Vascular Technology and Physical Therapy, for instance — can even boast of 100 percent retention with every student in a beginning class remaining committed and passionate about reaching graduation day on time.