RWJ vs NJMS

[VSE]

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Can someone please describe the advantages/disadvantages of either/both schools? Choosing between the two is proving rather difficult.

 

[Smurfette]

moving to more appropriate forum

 

[CherryRedDracul]

At NJMS, you get exposed to clinical stuff as early as the beginning of first year. You learn patient interviewing, basic physical exam all in first year, and you can get involved in the student-run family health care clinic from the get-go. Because NJMS is situated in Newark, a city with a significant population at or below the poverty line, you will get to see a lot of sick and complicated patients at University Hospital, and because it's near a major airport, you may even see some wild diseases you may not otherwise see elsewhere. It's also associated with the East Orange VA and the lush Hackensack Hospital.

The big thing everyone seems to talk about when comparing NJMS vs RWJ is location: Newark vs New Brunswick, respectively. Newark is rougher city overall, and New Brunswick has more of a college town kind of feel. But I believe NJMS has better clinical training overall because you are exposed to so many complicated patients.

I can't say much about RWJ. Hopefully an RWJ student/grad chimes in.

 

[CECC110]

At NJMS, you get exposed to clinical stuff as early as the beginning of first year. You learn patient interviewing, basic physical exam all in first year, and you can get involved in the student-run family health care clinic from the get-go. Because NJMS is situated in Newark, a city with a significant population at or below the poverty line, you will get to see a lot of sick and complicated patients at University Hospital, and because it's near a major airport, you may even see some wild diseases you may not otherwise see elsewhere. It's also associated with the East Orange VA and the lush Hackensack Hospital.

The big thing everyone seems to talk about when comparing NJMS vs RWJ is location: Newark vs New Brunswick, respectively. Newark is rougher city overall, and New Brunswick has more of a college town kind of feel. But I believe NJMS has better clinical training overall because you are exposed to so many complicated patients.

I can't say much about RWJ. Hopefully an RWJ student/grad chimes in.

For the sake of discussion, is pre-M3/4 clinical exposure that big of a deal? I have seen it be heavily emphasized around here by pre-meds, but also discredited by many current medical students as a meaningful factor.

As far as the more interesting patient population you would encounter, I could see it being a legitimate point, although I've also seen the other side chime in that its not like hospitals not located in areas like Newark don't have those kinds of patients (albeit to a lesser degree), especially since RWJ's hospital is also a level 1 trauma center.

Location is pretty straightforward I think..most students need to drive around short distances at RWJ I believe.

 

[CherryRedDracul]

For the sake of discussion, is pre-M3/4 clinical exposure that big of a deal? I have seen it be heavily emphasized around here by pre-meds, but also discredited by many current medical students as a meaningful factor.

Depends on the person's learning style. I considered it a significant deal because I like looking at the big picture and tying everything together. Having early clinical exposure allowed me to tie whatever I learned from preclinical studies with the patients whom I saw.

As far as the more interesting patient population you would encounter, I could see it being a legitimate point, although I've also seen the other side chime in that its not like hospitals not located in areas like Newark don't have those kinds of patients (albeit to a lesser degree), especially since RWJ's hospital is also a level 1 trauma center.

True. I can't speak much about RWJ's patient population except that I heard they have more private patients. NJMS tends to have more underserved patients, and the hospital can be understaffed at times, so students can sometimes get their hands dirty in the thick of things. Not sure about RWJ's situation though.

Location is pretty straightforward I think..most students need to drive around short distances at RWJ I believe.

If you mean in terms of clerkship sites, I believe RWJ students also rotate through Jersey Shore Medical Center and Princeton, which are far from New Brunswick.

 

[hununuh]

For the sake of discussion, is pre-M3/4 clinical exposure that big of a deal? I have seen it be heavily emphasized around here by pre-meds, but also discredited by many current medical students as a meaningful factor.

As far as the more interesting patient population you would encounter, I could see it being a legitimate point, although I've also seen the other side chime in that its not like hospitals not located in areas like Newark don't have those kinds of patients (albeit to a lesser degree), especially since RWJ's hospital is also a level 1 trauma center.

Location is pretty straightforward I think..most students need to drive around short distances at RWJ I believe.

Hey CECC110,

NJMS MS1 here.

I would have to disagree with CherryRed.

Pre-M3/M4 clinical experience, which is pretty much the student run health clinic, doesn't seem to be as educational as I had hoped. I've gone to 8 clinic visits so far, but half of the time, I was placed in a group with a 4th year leading (going over a few stuff). When I was actually assigned a patient, most of the time, the patient only spoke Spanish, so I didn't get to do much since I don't speak Spanish. When I was assigned a patient that speaks English, 3rd and 4th year students did the most of work. As a first year, you are pretty much just measuring blood pressure, trying out a few physical exams here and there, asking a few questions, and that's it... It is a good way to practice the skills you learn through CORE classes, but I don't think it's THAT great. You can easily practice those skills on your family and friends in much shorter amount of time. I don't find clinic that useful, and I prob won't be going there anymore. Actually, a good number of students don't even attend the clinic at all.

 

[hununuh]

Can someone please describe the advantages/disadvantages of either/both schools? Choosing between the two is proving rather difficult.

NJMS strengths:
Good match list,
Good M3/M4 clinical experience (not so sure about M1/M2 clinical experience. You can read what I wrote above).

NJMS weakness:
180 too expensive/utility bill outrageous. ($400 on gas and electricity for a 3 bedroom apartment.... Insane)
Gunners occasionally deleting dropbox, but our student rep has done a great job restoring everything quickly.
Bad neighborhood.
Internal ranking.
New curriculum. (There will be some trial and error.)

I honestly can't comment on RWJ since I didn't get in. NJMS was my only MD acceptance, so I pretty much had no other choice. But I know their match list is just as excellent, if not better. Lastly, they are true P/F without internal ranking, which I would've loved.