General
Do you feel safe?
The Cooper campus is patrolled 24/7 by Cooper Security Officers and by the Camden County Police. If a resident does not feel safe walking to their car at any time, a security officer will provide an escort. This can be done by dialing ext. 2400.
Sharon M. Szmaciasz
Director, Graduate Medical Education
How much time off do residents get?
Per the Resident Agreement, PGY-1 residents get three weeks off (15 days). PGY-2 residents and above have four weeks off (20 days). In addition, there are six recognized hospital holidays – Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. Some programs will grant additional time off during the Christmas/New Year holidays.
Your program may also grant up to five additional days for board exams or interviews.
Sharon M. Szmaciasz
Director, Graduate Medical Education
Where do you park and do you pay for it?
Residents and fellows are assigned to park in a secure garage across the street from the hospital Monday through Friday. On holidays and weekends, they can park in the garage attached to the hospital. The parking fee is paid for as part of your benefits.
Sharon M. Szmaciasz
Director, Graduate Medical Education
Is there a housestaff organization?
There is a Housestaff Council. Its officers are elected by the residents and fellows. Their activities are focused in four areas: Safety, Service, Social and SCRUBS (the Housestaff newsletter). Any resident/fellow is able to participate in these committees.
Sharon M. Szmaciasz
Director, Graduate Medical Education
Emergency Medicine
Why did you choose Cooper over other residency programs?
The decision for me came down to both a feeling of belonging and the patient population here. First, I felt an instant connection with both the residents and the faculty members at Cooper. The Emergency Department can be a very stressful place to train, where life and death decisions need to be made quickly. If you cannot trust those that you work with or if you don’t enjoy the company of your colleagues, it can make for a very difficult work environment. I view my co-residents as my second family, and I could not imagine how my training or my life would be like without them.
I also felt very strongly about the quality and diversity of our patient population at Cooper. We see a very well rounded group of patients—from the uninsured inner city Camden residents to the well insured suburbanites of Cherry Hill. We also see a range of patients who are severely ill to the patients who use the ED for primary care, which is a challenge that you will have to deal with on some level regardless of where you work.
Perhaps one of the biggest benefits to Cooper is our excellent critical care training. Between our experience with the Critical Care and Trauma Departments and our appointment as a Post-Cardiac Arrest Resuscitation Center, we receive extensive training in the management of the most ill patients.
Finally, as a senior resident, the fear of practicing on my own is starting to set in. However, I am comforted by the fact that the training I am receiving at Cooper is unsurpassed by any other residency program. I know that when I’m finished with residency, I will be an excellent emergency medicine attending physician. I could not imagine having trained at another institution and am so happy with my residency choice in Emergency Medicine at Cooper University Hospital.
Amy Ondeyka, MD
PGY-3, Department of Emergency Medicine
Internal Medicine
Do you accept osteopaths into your program?
Yes, we accept osteopaths, and graduates of osteopathic medical schools are well-represented in our program.
Dan Fabius, DO
Associate Program Director, Internal Medicine Residency Program
Do you accept graduates of foreign medical schools into your program?
Yes, we accept graduates of foreign medical schools who meet our program requirements. If an applicant is not a U.S. citizen, he/she must be classified as a resident alien or hold a J-1 visa. We do prefer that applicants have six months of U.S. clinical experience. You can find more information on our requirement here at How to Apply.
Dan Fabius, DO
Associate Program Director, Internal Medicine Residency Program
How would you describe your patient population?
The patients we care for are from many unique backgrounds. Located in the city of Camden, we see many individuals who have little access to health care resources and many of whom have not sought medical attention in years making the spectrum of pathology that we see quite vast. In addition, we are tertiary care center and accept traumas, transfers, and referrals from all over the southern portion of New Jersey. Not only do we learn to practice medicine in an urban setting, we also care for those from the rural farm areas of south Jersey as well those from the suburbs. Our patient population is extremely diverse with people speaking numerous different languages (Spanish, Vietnamese) for whom we have both live translators as well as translator phones. Not only do we see the “bread and butter” medicine cases, we also have the opportunity to care for individuals who have immigrated from other countries and presumably had both environmental and disease exposures not often seen in the United States.
Camden is a city with great need, and inevitably, you leave the hospital each day feeling as though you were able to give back to the community in a positive way. We have a great support staff, including social workers and case managers, who help us with placement of those requiring short periods of rehabilitation or long term care, assist us in obtaining medications at affordable rates, even ensuring that the patients will have close follow-up after discharge, and provide great resources for those who are homeless or have issues with substance abuse. Cooper is truly a great place to train in that you are exposed to a very unique and variable patient population with an extensive array of diseases and pathology.
Krysta Contino, MD
PGY-1, Internal Medicine
General Surgery
How is the operative experience as an intern?
Like most surgical programs, the further along you get in the program, the more you will operate. However, 1st years at Cooper get significant experience with procedures both in the OR and at the bedside. Simple bedside procedures and OR cases get interns used to the basic principles of surgery, suturing, hemostasis, etc. The skills you acquire your intern year will be built upon in subsequent years. Interns also have the opportunity to double scrub with seniors on more complicated cases. The result is a very good OR experience from day 1 of residency.
Do you ever feel like you’re “in over your head”?
There will without a doubt be times during your residency when you feel outside your comfort zone. These are the best opportunities for learning and growth as a doctor and as a surgeon. However, there will never be a situation as an intern when you will be without backup from a senior resident. Seniors will encourage interns to develop the skills to make decisions and provide patient care independently, but always with supervised guidance. As interns and juniors become more confident in their clinical skills, they earn more and more independence on the floors and in the OR.
How do the residents get along with one another?
The Cooper surgical residency program really is like a big family. We spend more time with each other than with our real families and loved ones, so we become a very tight knit group. We all have each other’s back and never hesitate to help a fellow resident, because we all know that everyone would do the same for you. In our time off, we often hang out with each other, which is evidence of how well we get along. This level of camaraderie makes for a great environment to work and learn in.
Life as a surgical resident, what’s that like?
Surgical residency is hard. Period. But truth be told, any residency is hard. The hours are long, the learning curve is steep, and you spend a good portion of your day when you first start just trying to keep your head above water. With time, the hours don’t seem so bad, you realize how much smarter and talented you are from when you started, and one day you find yourself swimming. We get to have the best job in the world and I truly believe that.
The hardest thing about being a surgical resident is what you have to give up. You miss birthdays and weddings and time with your family. What I’ve learned is that the time I do spend with my family is that much more special and valuable. An attending once called it, “delayed gratification.” You get to have everything you want in life, it just happens a little later.
Your program has a research year, how is that structured?
Firstly, research year is not a vacation, despite what you might hear or think. I am on my research year now and I spend the majority of my day banging my head against a wall trying to engineer a blood vessel from stem cells. Cool, right? A lot of programs now have a built in 1-2 year research requirement. At first, I was opposed to having an additional year tacked onto an already long residency, but now as I am working my way through this year, I find that it not only makes me a better fellowship applicant, but a better resident. There are two components to our research year – basic science and clinical research. Each resident is paired with a PhD and focuses on a project involving stem cells. We have a resident studying the effects of chemotherapeutic agents on stem cells, another studying the effects of radiation on stem cells for colon cancer and myself working on this tissue engineered blood vessel for vascular patients and critical limb ischemia. Each resident is also paired with surgical attending(s) to study some of the clinical aspects of surgery. A resident who is interested in trauma has written papers on damage control laparotomies and I am working on a paper for evaluating endovascular repair for aortic dissections.
Sophia Khan, MD – PGY-3
Nikolas Kappy, MD – PGY-3
Department of General Surgery
Neurology
Where do residents match for fellowship and what is the matching rate?
All of our residents have matched at competitive institutions including Cleveland Clinic, Duke University, University of Miami and Cedar-Sinai LA.
Is there opportunity for research?
There is considerable opportunity to do clinical research. Most of our residents have all been first authors and presented at various conferences throughout the country. Each resident has a fund from which travel and hotel accommodations are paid for during their stay.
Cooper has a smaller program than other places I have visited, doesn’t that put me at a disadvantage?
Absolutely not. In fact, one of the main reasons I chose Cooper was because it is a smaller program compared to others. There are two ways to think about this and that depends on your approach. From what I observed when applying, the residents and attendings had very good communication and relationships, to a point where everyone has each other’s personal cell phone numbers. It seemed like they were very easily accessible and welcomed questions from eager residents, anytime of the day. Now that I am part of the team here, I can definitely see the advantages of being part of a close-knit, growing program. Even though we have the attendings within arms reach as a safety net at all times, we actually are given a substantial amount of autonomy with patient care which only serves to build our confidence for the future.
How are your call schedules?
Our call schedule here is front loaded – meaning our PGY2 year is Q5, PGY3 year is Q7 and PGY4 has no calls. There have been many discussions about changing this around however now that I am doing these overnight calls, they really aren’t as bad as I expected. I actually prefer having my PGY2 year heavy so my next two years I can have my social life back. Being on call overnight is really when you learn the most and 6 months from now, I would have rather had more experience than no experience. Being a PGY3/4 and having less calls is also ideal from both perspectives-because they are available when us PGY2s need help and being a senior, they have more time to perfect their skills with EEGs, EMGs, electives and/or whatever they are interested in doing after residency.
Rajiv Narula, MD
PGY2, – Neurology
Orthopaedics
How many residents do you take each year?
We take 2 PGY-1 residents per year.
What are the PGY-1 rotations?
Interns will spend 6 months on orthopaedics and 6 months off of service. While on service, interns will spend 2 months on Hand/Spine/Tumor, 2 months on Joints/Sports and 2 months on Orthopaedic Trauma. While off service, interns will spend 1 month each on General Surgery, Trauma, Surgical ICU, Plastics, Vascular, and General Surgery Consults.
Are there rotations at any outside hospitals?
Almost all rotations during the residency are done either at the main hospital in Camden, or at the satellite sites in Voorhees and Cherry Hill. Residents will spend 6 months during their PGY-3 year at the Shriner’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia.
How is call set up?
Call is divided among the trauma service and the elective services. Residents on the trauma service cover calls from Sunday-Friday, and residents on the elective services take a 24 hour shift on Saturday.
How much vacation is given each year?
You can take 3 weeks of vacation during your PGY-1 year and 4 weeks during your PGY-2 through PGY-5 years, plus 6 major holidays recognized by Cooper (New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas) or equivalent time off if you are on call. In addition, all interns at Cooper are given the last week of June off at the end of their intern year, prior to starting their PGY-2 year.
Is there protected educational time?
Every morning from 7-7:30 there is a daily fracture conference were post-operative images and consults from the day before are reviewed. On Tuesday mornings, there is a scheduled didactic session until 11:00, which is protected time for the residents. These sessions include grand rounds from 7:30-8:30, followed by an attending lecture for the residents, and then either journal reviews, OITE practice questions or workshops.
Is there time for research?
Research at Cooper is encouraged, and residents are allotted dedicated time during their PGY-2 and PGY-4 years with minimal clinical responsibilities to spend on research projects.
Is food provided?
All residents at Cooper receive a monthly stipend to the employee cafeteria. If the whole stipend is not used, the remaining balance is rolled over to the following month. Food is also provided at the weekly didactic session.
Are there any additional perks with the program?
The Department of Orthopaedic Surgery has money allocated each year for each resident to cover things such as loupes, conferences, books and lead.
Chris Richards, MD – PGYG
Orthopaedics
Pediatrics
What does Cooper have that you didn’t see at other programs you were looking at?
One of the things our program has that many other pediatric programs don’t is an integrated inpatient, outpatient EMR called Epic that allows you to look at any outpatient information (growth charts, vaccine status, medication lists) from anywhere–inpatient, outpatient, the ER, your living room. The real strength of our program though is the people who work here. The program is small enough that we work together as a team but large enough that there’s almost always someone to trade shifts with to have off for important events. The program as a whole is a supportive learning environment from the attendings and specialists you can sideline with questions to the senior residents who are always available for teaching and support.
Kathryn Miner, DO
PGY-2, Department of Pediatrics
Psychiatry
What are the services like first and second year?
The inpatient unit is a voluntary 16 bed acute care facility with a dedicated attending physician and three person staff. This unit is covered by two residents at a time. The consult service serves the entire hospital with an attending physician and a nurse practitioner. This service is covered by one resident as a time. The emergency room service operates within the regular emergency room. This service is staffed by one attending and is covered by one resident.
How is call?
While on call it is the resident’s responsibility to cover the inpatient unit, the consult service, and the emergency room. Call can be challenging, but not overwhelming. Call offers a diverse experience from acute crisis management in the ER to peer education concerning chronic problems on the consult service.
What about research?
Cooper University is rapidly expanding; the newly constructed towers, the new medical school, and the new cancer center are a few examples of this. The psychiatry program is no different. Each year residents and attendings are performing clinical and bench top research, and each year the size and scope of the work is growing. Additionally, the residency program recently started an option for a research track that guarantees protected time throughout all four years of residency. This program includes being partnered with a mentor, either an attending physician or basic science researcher through the university.
But it’s Camden, is it safe?
Absolutely. Cooper does an incredible job of managing the hospital’s place in the community. Security is led by a retired FBI agent who worked in this specific area for over twenty years. Security is robust and reassuring, and the local police work hand in hand with the hospital to provide additional support. I have never felt afraid once, and have not been involved in any incidents that make me question working in Camden. In fact, Cooper being located in Camden is a strength as far as training. Our patient population is incredibly diverse in terms of presenting pathology, which provides an advantage when it comes to training and experience with treatment modalities.
David H Clements IV PGY-1 Psychiatry