When first-year medical students in New Brunswick and Newark started their academic journey this year, they were asked to put their textbooks and stethoscopes aside and instead mirror a classmate’s movements, understand the meaning behind a patient’s symptom complaint and explain an iPhone to someone transported from the 1800s to high-tech 2025.
For Jake Gluckman, a second-year student at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (RWJMS), a school at Rutgers Health, with a background in acting and music, the exercises felt familiar to him and beneficial for future physicians. “Improv taught me how to listen deeply, not just hear words,” he said. “That’s exactly why patients need a doctor who pays attention to what they mean, not just what they say. Patients don’t just want a cerebral doctor; they want someone relatable who listens.”
David Beckford, a fourth-year student at New Jersey Medical School (NJMS), shared the same passion, drawing on his own theater and dance background to help lead his classmates in similar improvisation activities. “Medicine isn’t just about knowledge, it’s about vulnerability and connection,” Beckford said. “Patients come to us in moments of fear and uncertainty. How we listen and respond makes all the difference.”
Both said for many first-year students the gathering was an eye-opening introduction. Some described it as liberating, others as disarming, and many said it reminded them why they chose medicine in the first place. The laughter, music, and shared vulnerability at both campuses left students with the message that the next four years would not only be about studying for exams but also about the listening and communication skills that would make them even better doctors. To read the full story.