A total of 136 students from Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine recently earned their medical degrees and are now poised to start careers in residencies at top programs across the country.
The medical students came from the 2021 cohort of the medical school (99 students) who graduated after four years; and the 2022 cohort (37 students), who completed their education in three years.
The Class of 2025 matched into 71 residency programs in 18 states. Forty-five percent of the class (62 students) will train in New Jersey for the first year of residency. Of these, 47 students matched into a Hackensack Meridian Health program.
The specialties the students matched into include internal medicine (28), psychiatry (17), anesthesiology (10), emergency medicine (11), pediatrics (9), and general surgery (9), among others.
Since graduating the inaugural class of 18 doctors in 2021, the school’s classes have grown annually alongside admissions. Last year, there were 102 new doctors. This year’s was the largest group yet.
“This medical school is paying dividends for the future health of New Jersey – and beyond," said Robert C. Garrett, FACHE, CEO of Hackensack Meridian Health. “The institution has truly hit its stride, and we are thrilled to watch it develop into an important part of our health network and the communities it serves.”
The fifth commencement was held at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center on June 5. Mona Hanna, M.D., a pediatrician, author, professor, and public health advocate whose research exposed the Flint, Michigan water crisis and who authored the 2018 bestseller “What the Eyes Don’t See: A Story of Crisis, Resistance, and Hope in an American City,” delivered the commencement keynote.
Applications and enrollments have increased since the medical school’s founding. The latest incoming class numbers more than 160, admitted from more than 5,000 applicants.
The Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine is the first private medical school in New Jersey in more than 50 years. It welcomed its first class of students to its On3 campus in Nutley and Clifton in 2018. Hackensack Meridian Health assumed its independent operation in July 2020 and achieved full accreditation in February 2023.
