How the Proposed Merger Hurts Students

Millions Wasted on Consultants, while Students Get Nothing

Since September 2022, the RBHS Chancellor has already spent $ 1 million on consultants. The Chairman of the combined school Neurosurgery department was hired at $2.5 million per year, one of the highest salaries in the country. (Only football coach Schiano makes more!) There are millions for these endeavors but not enough for students. According to the US News and World Report, NJMS ranks 8th among public medical schools with students graduating with the highest debt. We should invest in our students before we invest in costly projects.   

NJMS/Newark Students Get Short Changed on Instruction

Did you know that the faculty/student ratio at NJMS is 1.54 while the ratio at RWJMS is 1.05?  Given the Chancellor’s plan to have “co-equal schools,” faculty have asked him how he plans to remedy this difference. He gave no explanation. Further, he stated RWJMS faculty won’t be expected to teach at NJMS, that there will be no net increase in Newark faculty hiring, and enrollment will stay the same. A merger would rededicate many hundreds of hours towards administrative work and curricula development and away from instruction. Newark students would get less time and resources. 

NJMS/Newark Students Lose Their Dean

The LCME recently informed Rutgers that a combined school must have only one Dean. As NJMS Dean Johnson is advanced in his career and RWJMS Dean Murtha was recently hired, it is likely Dean Murtha would become the single Dean for both schools. Why should Newark students be forced to seek out a Dean who is based 30 miles away and conflict-prone to favor his home school?

You Can’t Trust What You’re Told

Did you know NJMS was put on “warning” accreditation status by the LCME in October 2021? Dean Johnson did not announce this to students or faculty until February 2023. You may see beautiful renderings for a new $600 million building for a “new school.” However, none of the new Newark RBHS buildings Rutgers committed to constructing in 2017 has been built. 

Residency Placement in Jeopardy

GME programs will limit the number of first-year residents that they bring in from a given medical school. Combining NJMS and RWJMS under a single accreditation might adversely affect graduates who seek placements in programs that take students from both NJMS and RWJMS. The Chancellor tasked his multi-million-dollar consultants with the task of surveying “GME leaders” to see if this would be the case. He found this would not happen. There is no explanation for how this study was done, whether it was random or whether the inquiry prompted a response. There remains grave concern about fewer placement opportunities for NJMS students.