Im very suprised at these posts...Camden is the way to go, no questions asked.
1. Our dean is 10000000000x more interested in our success than ANY dean up there, they dont even know your name. When Dean Mehne goes away, he sends the class his cell phone, and number to the hotel hes going to, AND a back up contact on campus if those dont work. Hes 100% available to all his students. I felt like in Piscataway, no one knew you or cared to know you.
2. The patient population at Camden will give you a whole different experience. I see so many rare diseases, or diseases that have gone untreated for so long there because it is a poorer area. When I converse with my friends up north they are suprised at what Ive seen. Also, we are able to do so much more because the patients, unfortunately, are more naive. However, its a nice mix of the suburban patients and urban patients.
3. The faculty are soooooooo much more supportive. They are there to challenge you but also HELP you, in a way that Piscataway never will do. Their approach is sink or swim, where as here it is Ill teach you once, then you go do it...it just sets up a great line of communication and learning environment.
4. We stay in ONE hospital, we get to know the system well. If we want to go to another hospital, we can!
5. Outside or international electives are ENCOURAGED! Dean M. says we should all do something no one has done b4 b4 we graduate, so any crazy elective you have, ull get credit for it. One resident went on the set of ER for a month!
6. You are going to HATE NB by the time youre done 2nd year. 2nd year BLOWS, and you will associate NB with it, and the HORRIBLE bars that are there. Yes, NYC is 30 min away, but you dont have 30 min to travel when your on call every 4th night on medicine. Philly is a great city and living in it is soooooo much better than NB. You always can go to NB, and our call schedule is much better, cus Dean Mehne knows that being on call as much as residents is not necessary and I think worse cus it leaves much less time to study for the shelf, which determines most of ur grade anyway.
7. You always feel like part of the team, like equals, no one makes you fee l like an annoying med student, the hospital staff are well aware of Dean Mehne's vision, and NO one will mess with you , because if you are unhappy with any aspect of your rotation, it will be fixed in DAYS, and he will hold meetings halfway through each rotation to make sure there are no problems.
SO there are MANY more reasons, but Camden is def the better pic. The only reason people shy away from it is because 1. ITS CAMDEN!- but its really not as scary as it sounds, and 2. they think it will affect the match- THE MATCHES ARE EQUALLY GOOD, and any attending from RWJ that you want to work with you can ALWAYS do an away rotation with them. TRUST ME...camden is the way to go, If you just talk to someone from each program, youll see the difference in their voices, NB is just the same monotone bull**** you delt with the first 2 years, Camden is like someone let us free and we are finally able to enjoy life and learning! I say this with EXTREME confidence...choose camden, you wont be dissapointed!
