Rutgers Board of Governors Approves Single Medical School Accreditation

July 10, 2023

Members of the Rutgers Community,

We are writing to announce a definitive step forward in the future of academic medicine at Rutgers. 

To create a stronger medical education program that is well-equipped to meet the challenges of the future, the university’s Board of Governors voted today to pursue a single medical school accreditation between New Jersey Medical School (NJMS) and Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (RWJMS). The integration of the medical schools will create co-equal bodies under a single accreditation to be known as Rutgers School of Medicine. 

The decision was made after a thoughtful and collaborative evaluation process into the optimal level of integration between the medical schools, which started in January 2019 when Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences Chancellor Brian Strom constituted the Future of Academic Medicine Committee. The committee completed a thorough report that was presented to the University Senate, yielding an extensive series of questions for further analysis. After formal assessments were placed on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic, additional committees were formed in Fall 2022 to answer the Senate’s questions, leading to a second report that was delivered to the University Senate on January 31, 2023. The report represented the collective work of numerous faculty, staff, students, community members, and administrators of both medical schools.

An integrated model will position Rutgers School of Medicine as one of the largest and leading public medical schools in the country, committed to the highest standards of education, research, and clinical care. Working in partnership with University Hospital Newark and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, Rutgers School of Medicine will firmly remain an anchor institution, civically engaged and serving the communities of Newark and Middlesex County, as well as the State of New Jersey. When complete, the integration envisions a medical school that enjoys a national reputation greater than the sum of its parts, amplifying Rutgers’ role as a leader in twenty-first century medical education. 

Although there are many details to be worked through with the university community, it is important to understand that NJMS will of course remain in Newark and maintain its ties with the Newark community. University Hospital Newark will of course continue as the principal teaching hospital of NJMS. Similarly, RWJMS will remain in Middlesex County, maintain its ties with that local community, and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital will, subject to associated contractual agreements, remain the principal teaching hospital of RWJMS.

We want to emphasize that this new model of medical education will not happen overnight or without extensive community involvement and accountability. Medical school deans Robert Johnson and Amy Murtha will be leading the process to achieve accreditation from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, conducted in a manner that promotes equitable representation and allocation of resources and allows many opportunities for medical school community members to contribute to the vision. We also pledge continued consultation with the University Senate in its ongoing shared-governance role, as well as with faculty, staff, students, community members, and outside organizations on matters such as admissions, curriculum, campus culture, accreditation, residency placements, fiscal matters, administrative structure, governance, nomenclature, and branding. Moreover, the resolution approved by the Board of Governors calls on the Chancellor to make biannual reports to the Board on stakeholder engagement, responses to questions that have arisen, and significant milestones that have been achieved in moving toward accreditation. 

Thank you for your continued dedication to excellence as we move forward to a new era of medical education at Rutgers, one that improves our teaching and training, fosters innovation, and enhances the quality of health care in New Jersey and beyond.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Holloway
President and University Professor 

Brian L. Strom, MD, MPH
Chancellor, Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences
Executive Vice President for Health Affairs