Two Foundations of Excellence
Combining the best of Rutgers’ two medical schools—each with long histories of exceptional education and service—will create opportunities to serve New Jersey in myriad ways. Pending accreditation in 2027, the New Jersey Medical School in Newark and the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick will form one powerhouse: the future Rutgers School of Medicine. The generosity of donors will play a key role in the ongoing transformation of medical education in New Jersey.
One of Miri Goodman’s varied projects as a third-year Rutgers medical student is developing a cancer screening program for patients in the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Emergency Department in New Brunswick.
“We are able to implement screening programs for patients who don’t have access to primary care,” says Goodman, a student at the Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (RWJMS), whose focus is pediatric care. “The emergency department is a catch-all place where the public who don’t have access to primary care come in with complaints. A lot of these complaints do relate to cancer diagnoses.”
Goodman is looking forward to the new Rutgers School of Medicine, which, pending the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) accreditation in 2027, will unify two medical schools, RWJMS in New Brunswick and New Jersey Medical School (NJMS) in Newark. She says that philanthropic giving to the medical school in support of research and scholarships will benefit not only students, but also residents throughout the state.
“It’s important that the students are invested in and we are able to have the best education possible to give back,” Goodman said. “That’s what this is all really about—giving back to patients.”
Goodman is one of about 1,500 students studying at the two schools this academic year. She is excited about the new, state-of-the-art HELIX building that opened its first tower in the heart of New Brunswick in July.
In Newark, Ana M. Natale-Pereira, professor of medicine and associate dean of primary care and community engagement at New Jersey Medical School, is excited about what the growth and expansion transformation will bring to NJMS and University Hospital. She earned her medical degree in 1996 at NJMS and has been a faculty member since 2000.
“We have a lot of strengths across both schools,” she says. “To bring it all together and take the best out of both will strengthen our education for students.”
Natale-Pereira says that combining the schools will have a tremendous impact on the work that can be done to increase health equity and compassionate care for all of New Jersey.
“One of the things we are very passionate about in Newark and New Brunswick is ensuring that our students understand the importance of caring and delivering for our community,” Natale-Pereira says.
Amy P. Murtha—dean of the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and founding dean of the new Rutgers School of Medicine—said alumni and donors will play a major role in the success of the unified school.
“Philanthropic support really creates the engine for how we keep moving forward,” she says.
Robert L. Johnson, who has been dean of NJMS since 2011 and began serving as interim chancellor of Rutgers Health in January, says the combination of the two schools that each have long histories—RWJMS began in 1961 in and NJMS in 1955—is “monumental.”
The formation of the new school, he says, presents numerous opportunities for alumni and donors to support everything from gifts for lecture halls to laboratories to scholarships to research.
“It will be one of the largest medical schools in the country,” he says. “Alumni and donors have all sorts of wonderful opportunities at this time to get involved.”
For more about the great work at Rutgers medical schools, read this story about students who graduated in the Class of 2026 from the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and the New Jersey Medical School.
Support the Future Rutgers School of Medicine
Consider a gift that will support medical education, research, and more as the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and the New Jersey Medical School unify.
