Rutgers New Jersey Medical School

Resident Life

Activities and Events

Intern Meet & Greet

Graduation

Intern Meet and Greet

Intern Retreat

Scholarly Activity

Scholarly Activity 1

Scholarly Activity 2

Graduation

Graduation 1

Graduation 2

Graduation 3

Area Highlights

Restaurant recommendations

Newark - Sol-Mar Restaurant
Montclair - Cuban Pete’s, Ani Ramen House
Jersey City - Uncle Momo, Fire & Oak
Fort Lee - So Kong Dong, Bada Story, Kura Revolving Sushi Bar, Gopchang Story
NYC

Sol-Mar
Sol-Mar in the Ironbound District of Newark

Cuban Pete's
Cuban Pete’s outdoor seating in Montclair, NJ

Festivals

Cherry Blossom Festival
Fourth of July Festival

Branh Brook Park
Cherry blossoms in the Branch Brook Park, Newark

Outdoor activities

Site-seeing - Broadway and Times square, Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Empire State
Building, One World Trade Center, Rockefeller Center
Hiking - South Mountain Reserve, Bear mountain, Palisades Park, Central Park, Delaware Water Gap, Rocky mountains/Appalachian trail, Mt. Tammany
Sports - Metlife stadium
Turtleback Zoo
Canoeing/kayaking
Pick-your-own farms
Gardens - Queens botanical garden, Grounds for Sculpture, Duke Farms, Longwood gardens
Beaches - Asbury Park, Sandy Hook

Turtle Back Zoon
Turtle Back Zoo, just minutes away from Cooperman Barnabas Hospital!

Bear Mountain in New York has some of the best views

The famous Rat’s Restaurant in Grounds for Sculpture in Jersey

Lifestyle and Wellness

The current second-year class out on the Jersey City Waterfront

yankees
Some of our program leadership and residents at a Yankees’ game

barbie
Our residents making the midnight premiere of the Barbie movie

Past and current chiefs working together to reach for the highest apple they could find at last year’s apple picking trip

Award Recipients

Intern of the Year

Chosen by Residents

2026 – Munir Rahbe, MD
2025 – Vraj Shah, MD
2024 – Anand Shah, MD
2023 – Yazan Abboud, MD
2022 – (tie) Angel Chen, MD and Juan Bello Duverge, MD
2021 – Anmol Mittal, MD
2020 – (tie) Hyein Jeon, MD and Mark Forsberg, MD

Outstanding Professionalism

Chosen by Residents

2026 – Vraj Shah, MD
2025 – (tie) Alexandria Smith, MD and Mateo Garland Priegnitz, MD
2024 – Daniel Kifner, MD
2023 – Anmol Mittal, MD, MBA
2022 – Mark Forsberg, MD
2021 – Mark Forsberg, MD
2020 – (tie) Ryan Golden, MD and Yasaman Motlaghzadeh, MD

Excellence in Clinical Skills

Chosen by Residents

2026 – Mohammed Ayyad, MD
2025 – Anand Shah, MD
2024 – Axel Duval, MD
2023 – Milos Brankovic, MD
2022 – (tie) Mark Forsberg, MD and Afif Hossain, MD
2021 – Abdul Rehman, MBBS
2020 – Abdul Rehman, MBBS

Best Teaching Resident

Chosen by Residents for demonstrating Excellence in Teaching

2026 – Dhir Gala, MD
2025 – Brian Smighelschi, MD
2024 – Juan Bello Duverge, MD
2023 – Majd Hemam, MD
2022 – Afif Hossain, MD
2021 – Nebojsa Markovic, MD
2020 – Nebojsa Markovic, MD

Most Humanistic Resident

Chosen by Residents for exhibiting the highest standards of Humanism in Medicine

2026 – Safia Ansari, DO
2025 – Vraj Shah, MD
2024 – Nikita Tangella, MD
2023 – Julia Ramadhar, MD
2022 – Nikita Tangella, MD
2021 – (tie) Mansi Patel, MD and Majd Hemam, MD
2020 – Laura Rotundo, MD

Most Scholarly Resident

Chosen by Residents for exhibiting the most keen Intellect and/or demonstrating Excellence in Research

2026 – Mohammed Ayyad, MD
2025 – Yazan Abboud, MD
2024 – Yazan Abboud, MD
2023 – Yazan Abboud, MD
2022 – Anmol Mittal, MD
2021 – Willy Roque, MD
2020 – Willy Roque, MD

Champion for Resident Wellness

Chosen by Residents for exhibiting the most keen Intellect and/or demonstrating Excellence in Research

2026 – Simran Rahi, MD
2025 – Navid Radfar, DO

Best Teaching Fellow

Chosen by Residents for demonstrating Excellence in Teaching

2026 – Thatshana Thayanantharajah, MD - PCCM
2024 – Afif Hossain, MD, Cardiology
2023 – Afif Hossain, MD, Cardiology
2022 – (tie) Inderjit Singh, MD (Cardiology), Jaewook Shin, MD (Cardiology), Avalon Mertens, MD (Pulm/Crit)
2021 – Brijesh Patel, MD
2020 – Brijesh Patel, MD

Best Teaching Attending at University Hospital

Chosen by Residents for demonstrating Excellence in Teaching

2026 – Anish Bhatnagar, MD
2025 – Piyumika De Silva, MD
2024 – Piyumika De Silva, MD
2023 – Piyumika De Silva, MD
2022 – Daniel Matassa, MD
2021 – Daniel Matassa, MD
2020 – Yonatan Greenstein, MD

Best Teaching Attending at the East Orange VA Hospital

Chosen by Residents for demonstrating Excellence in Teaching

2026 – Slawomir Sender, MD
2025 – Igor Eyzner, MD
2024 – Renu Ohri, MD
2023 – Slawomir Sender, MD
2022 – Slawomir Sender, MD
2021 – Slawomir Sender, MD
2020 – Slawomir Sender, MD

Best Teaching Attending at Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center

Chosen by Residents for demonstrating Excellence in Teaching

2026 – Ashutossh Naaraayan, MD
2025 – Sunil Sapru, MD
2024 – Jacob Mathew, MD
2023 – Parth Patel, MD
2022 – Sunil Sapru, MD
2021 – Sunil Sapru, MD