Rutgers Undergraduate/New Jersey Medical School Joint Bachelor of Arts/Medical Degree (B.A./M.D.) Program
The Rutgers Undergraduate/New Jersey Medical School joint program started in the fall of 2003. The purpose of the program is to permit students to begin their medical education after their third year or at least 96 degree credits at Rutgers. Specially selected students will obtain bachelor's and medical degrees in a seven-year program of study taken at Rutgers undergraduate units and New Jersey Medical School (NJMS).
This program is only open to students enrolled in Rutgers University-New Brunswick schools.
Admission is a two-phase and highly competitive process. In the first phase, undergraduate students are admitted into the program by the Joint Program Executive Committee consisting of faculty from the appropriate units. Eligible applicants are sophomores at any of the undergraduate schools at the New Brunswick location of Rutgers University who have been enrolled here for at least one year. The executive committee reviews applications and selects those students who are deemed most qualified for the program. The second phase occurs typically after the third year of study. It is the responsibility of the NJMS Admissions Committee to review the credentials of students recommended by the Joint Program Executive Committee. The purpose of this second review is to ascertain that the student has maintained adequate academic and nonacademic qualities appropriate for retention in the medical school. It is expected that students will have grades of A or B in courses taken at Rutgers. Students must complete the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) by January of the junior year before matriculating at NJMS and be required to be in the competitive range of other accepted NJMS students. This second review is noncompetitive. Students who are deemed to have met the academic and nonacademic standards of the program will be recommended to the NJMS Admissions Committee. However, recommendation is not automatic. The final decision rests with the Medical School Admissions Committee. Upon approval by the Medical School Admissions Committee, the student will be permitted to continue into the next year of study and will be matriculated formally as a candidate for the M.D. degree at the New Jersey Medical School.
Applicants for the program must be in their fourth semester at Rutgers-New Brunswick. Applications are available in the Health Professions Office after spring break; they are due by the end of May. There is no rolling admissions policy. Decisions are expected to be made in July. By the end of the semester of application, applicants must have completed a minimum of 60 credits of which at least 30 credits must be at Rutgers, and they must have been in attendance at Rutgers a minimum of one year. Additionally, applicants must have a minimum cumulative and science grade-point average of 3.5 by the end of the third semester which must be maintained through the end of the fourth. The applicant must have completed, or be in the process of completing by the end of the fourth semester, two semesters of biology with lab, two semesters of general chemistry with lab, two semesters of organic chemistry, one semester of college-level mathematics, and one semester of English. Applicants who have not taken General Biology I and II and lab at Rutgers, either because they have been awarded advanced placement biology credits or because they have transferred equivalent courses from another institution, must have at least one year of upper-division biology courses at Rutgers (i.e., two courses of at least 3 or more credits each at the 200 level or higher). Those students who are admitted to the program without having two semesters of physics, organic chemistry lab, and two semesters of English must complete these requirements by the end of the third year of study. An application form has been developed that allows the student to provide the committee with information the committee deems useful for its deliberations.
Students will be admitted at the end of the spring semester of year two and be formal members of the program beginning with year three. Prior to leaving the Rutgers undergraduate unit, students must satisfy all college and major requirements, except for the credits which they will receive from NJMS (please see next paragraph). For a student at Rutgers-New Brunswick who has elected to major in biological sciences, 15 credits from NJMS will be applied toward the major.
The baccalaureate degree will be awarded upon completion of the undergraduate college requirements and major requirements by the end of year four. Upon satisfactory completion of year seven or eight, as well as all New Jersey Medical School requirements, the student will receive the medical degree.
A student enrolled in the program completing a major in biological sciences at Rutgers-New Brunswick is required to complete remaining Life Science Core Curriculum coursework and three approved life sciences electives (3- or 4-credit courses) at Rutgers-New Brunswick. Students who have not taken General Biology I and II at Rutgers, either because they have been awarded AP biology credit or because they have transferred equivalent courses from another institution, must take Genetics 01:447:380, and four approved life sciences electives (3- or 4-credit courses) at Rutgers-New Brunswick. No more than one independent study/research course may be applied toward the biological sciences major for students in the B.A./M.D. program. Please be sure to meet with a biological sciences adviser when selecting life science elective courses because not all course combinations are allowed given overlap in subject matter taught at Rutgers and NJMS.
For further information on this program, you may contact the Division of Life Sciences, Health Professions Office, Nelson Biological Laboratories, 604 Allison Road, Piscataway, NJ 08854-8082, at 848-445-5667.
Programs of Study and Courses for Liberal Arts and Sciences Students 
