UMDNJ New Brunswick

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mrdowntoearth

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Has anybody interviewed at UMDNJ New Brunswick? Anybody know what's the strengths and weaknesses of the program? How's the city? Research opportunities? I'm thinking of canceling the interview as I'm sick and tired of traveling!

Thanks for all your input.

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I went to college in New Brunswick and interviewed at this program last year. I think it is a really good program and is worth checking out. Their call system is a night float system, with only overnight in the unit...for you to decide if that is a positive or not. I really like New Brunswick, though I might be a little bias. Their didactics are top notch and strongly emphasized, best I saw on the interview trail. In terms of research, they have a comprehensive cancer center associated with them...so lots of basic and clinical research opportunities available.

Hope this helps
 
Thanks Isoniazid. Any weaknesses of the program? Is New Brunswick an isolated small city? are there any metropolitan cities around? How is it compared to other UMDNJ (Newark)? Why did you decide not to go there?
 
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Thanks Isoniazid. Any weaknesses of the program? Is New Brunswick an isolated small city? are there any metropolitan cities around? How is it compared to other UMDNJ (Newark)? Why did you decide not to go there?

I did my fellowship there. If you haven't been to New Jersey before, there are almost no "isolated" cities except perhaps down the shore. Everything runs into each other, especially in northern and central Jersey.

New Brunswick is a college town...Rutgers is there. Lots of pizza places, tattoo parlors, bars, etc. The town is obviously much more crowded when school is in session. It was fairly well known as a blue collar town and there is a large segment of the population that are immigrants (used to be a large Hungarian population, now its mostly from Mexico and central America). But the town is gentrifying and some nice buildings are going up around the Raritan river. So there are also some very cosmopolitan martini bars and New Brunswick is well known for having some of the best restaurants in Jersey...The Frog and the Peach is well reviewed as is Soho and many other places on or around George Street. Active theatre district as well.

Manhattan is 40 minutes by train; the train station is right across the street from the hospital. You can also take the train to the airport; very convenient. I used to park my car in the parking deck at the hospital for long trips, leave it there and walk to the train station.

Newark is much more inner city than New Brunswick. There are many other places in the area where you can live if you prefer not to rent a room in a buiding next to a fraternity house (a common occurence in New Brunswick if you choose anywhere right around the Rutgers campuses)...I lived in Highland Park, right across the river (0.7 mile to the hospital), there is Edison, East Brunswick and Piscataway (which is where the med school is).

At any rate, there are some things I didn't like about NB - like many New Jersey cities, its dirty and some places are old (not cute antique old, but crumbling dirty old). The trains are not very clean, but I generally felt safe on them. I would not walk around NB late at night by myself, although you can walk from the hospital almost all the way across to the parking deck without going outside...IF you leave at a reasonable time. They like to lock the overhead walkway to the Clinical Academic Bldg (the CAB building) around 9 pm (sometimes earlier) so you the DO have to walk outside in the dark if you are parked in the Patterson lot. The hospital is very nice as is the Cancer Institute, although at least as of last year, the computer system is antiquated with multiple systems to check vitals, to enter orders, to view radiology studies. It was supposed to be updated this past spring, but when I left in July it hadn't been.

Nonetheless, in terms of safety, town beauty, closeness to NYC, etc. NB is much better than Newark.

:scary: Newark
 
[/quote]Nonetheless, in terms of safety, town beauty, closeness to NYC, etc. NB is much better than Newark.

:scary: Newark[/QUOTE]

don't diss brick city! it's close to NYC, and it's only scary if being in a city scares you.
 
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