Medical Scholars Track - Masters Program

About us

Our medical scholars come from diverse backgrounds. The flexibility of our program helps students tailor a curriculum that combines their interests and strengths. Moreover, our block schedule enables students to create a less demanding schedule, which allows them to acclimate to graduate school, accommodate co-curricular activities, and ultimately succeed in the program. 69% of the students enrolled in our program between 2017 and 2020 successfully matriculated in medical and dental schools. This is a conservative estimate because the data does not include medical and dental schools that do not report enrollment data to the National Clearing House, and it does not include students who matriculated into other health professions or Ph.D. programs. 

Our collaboration with Rutgers New Jersey Medical School

We are located on the campus of Rutgers NJMS. All students in the Master's program have an opportunity to learn from, and conduct research with, faculty members of Rutgers NJMS. In addition, our medical scholars often seek advice from the Office of Admissions at Rutgers NJMS. In addition, Master's students are guaranteed an interview at NJMS if they have a 3.6 GPA after at least 20 credits and an MCAT of at least 127 in each section (must be a permanent resident or citizen of the US). Master's students can also receive special permission to take medical courses and be graded with Rutgers NJMS students. 

Meet our advisor

Dr. Krista Blackwell is the director and advisor for the medical scholars track. Dr. Blackwell is a faculty member at Rutgers NJMS, a member of the admissions committee at Rutgers NJMS, and an assistant dean at Rutgers SGS-Newark. Dr. Blackwell also directs and teaches courses in Rutgers NJMS, Rutgers School of Dental Medicine, and Rutgers SGS-Newark. Dr. Blackwell brings many years of experience and advises students on learning strategies, time management, and application to medical school. 

Our curriculum

Students require 30 credits with a grade point average of 3.0 (B-average) or better to graduate. Of these 30 credits, 9 credits come from the core (required) courses listed below. The remaining 21 credits are from elective courses. Based on each student's goals, strengths, and timeline, the academic advisor, Dr. Krista Blackwell, helps students create a course schedule. 

Our student community

Our pre-medical students, pre-dental, biomedical research students, and alumni form a very cohesive and helpful community. Our graduate students celebrate each other's successes and are a constant source of inspiration to each other. In addition, students collaborate on many levels through the pre-medical society, the peer mentoring program, Project BEAM, the Student Family Health Care Center, and many more organizations and programs native to SGS-Newark.