Sanzari Children’s Hospital in Hackensack, K.

Hackensack Meridian Health comprises 17 hospitals from Bergen to Ocean counties, which includes three academic medical centers – Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack, Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, JFK Medical Center in Edison two children’s hospitals – Joseph M. Hackensack Meridian Health is a leading not-for-profit health care organization that is the largest, most comprehensive and truly integrated health care network in New Jersey, offering a complete range of medical services, innovative research and life-enhancing care. The school prides itself on outreach, through programs like the Human Dimension, which is active in communities across New Jersey. The School’s unique curriculum focuses on linking the basic science with clinical relevance, through an integrated curriculum in a team-oriented, collaborative environment. The school’s vision is that each person in New Jersey, and in the United States, regardless of race or socioeconomic status, will enjoy the highest levels of wellness in an economically and behaviorally sustainable fashion. Hackensack Meridian Health assumed its independent operation in July 2020. The Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine, the first private medical school in New Jersey in more than 50 years, welcomed its first class of students in 2018 to its On3 campus in Nutley and Clifton. “This is the way we train the best doctors for the future.”Ībout Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine: “The School features the traditional aspects of medical education, but also the unique aspects of what we think should be in a 21st century medical education,” said Jeffrey Boscamp, M.D., vice dean of the medical school and a professor of pediatrics. Defining features of the curriculum include the Human Dimension, a longitudinal course which pairs students with people out in the community to foster real-world clinical skills outside a hospital or doctor’s office. Students have the opportunity for a three-year path to residency, or an optional fourth year which offers combined master’s degree or graduate certificate programs, intense clinical immersion, or focused research. Each year has brought an increasing number of students, leading to this fourth year of admissions. The School admitted its first class in 2018 with 60 students. The students speak a total of 36 different languages, and come from 20 different states. Thirty of its members are from groups categorized as under-represented in medicine (URIM).

The makeup of the class continues the School’s tradition of diversity. The cohort includes one nurse and one pharmacist, and four students with advanced degrees.

More than 6,000 students applied to join this year’s class. “As each new class matriculates, we are positively impacting the way in which medicine is taught.”

“We are fulfilling our vision with each new group of promising students by introducing them to the complexities of the medical world which must include the social and economic determinants of health in addition to those components traditionally regarded as constituting the field of medicine” said Bonita Stanton, M.D., the Founding Dean of the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine. “It has surpassed expectations in every way.” Garrett, FACHE, the CEO of Hackensack Meridian Health. The School was our vision to help lead progressive and transformative change in New Jersey health care,’’ said Robert C. “Hackensack Meridian Health’s mission to transform healthcare starts at the School of Medicine, as we transform medical education. The 161 students donned their distinctive coats for the first time, starting their journey toward acquisition of a Medical Degree (M.D.), which will be completed in three or four years, depending on their selected academic track.

Hackensack meridian school of medicine