I am currently an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ). One of the eight schools of the UMDNJ system, the New Jersey Medical School, based in Newark, is the state’s oldest medical school. The Roman Archdiocese of Newark founded NJMS in 1954 as the Seton Hall College of Medicine and Dentistry, originally located in Jersey City. That same year, the college incorporated as a separate entity from Seton Hall University. The State of New Jersey acquired the college in 1965, moved the school to Newark, and renamed it the New Jersey College of Medicine and Dentistry. In 1970, the college merged with Rutgers University’s two-year medical school and became the New Jersey Medical School.

NJMS employs more than 700 faculty members and works with over 1,300 faculty volunteers. The curriculum focuses on both active learning and the importance of humanism in medicine, as well as clinical care and research. As a well-funded research facility, NJMS pursues multiple research projects such as the Global Tuberculosis Institute and the Center for Re-emerging Pathogens. It is also a member of the New Jersey Stem Cell Research and Education Foundation. Faculty and students collaborate in NJMS’s research initiatives like in the Summer Student Research Program, which encourages students to pursue research through small grants and stipends.