Curriculum

Cooper Internal Medicine Residents regularly use the Simulation Lab located in the Joint Health Sciences Building. This includes simulated medical emergencies, complex medical cases led by senior residents during didactic sessions of Ambulatory weeks, practice using ultrasound on standardized patients, and the use of Harvey, an advanced simulation mannequin to improve knowledge of cardiac murmurs. Repetition, when combined with formative teaching and feedback, leads to sustained improvements in the knowledge, skills and attitudes of our residents that further enhance patient care, communication skills, and systems-based practice throughout the hospital.

The ABC News Medical Media resident elective is a program designed to develop communication skills during a 4-week medical journalism rotation at ABC News headquarters in New York City. During this elective, residents participate in journal study reviews, writing articles, and pitch stories. Residents will also gain competency for writing medical journalism, learn elements of a successful “pitch”, develop skills for interfacing with media, and improve the ability to critically analyze and summarize medical journal articles, among many others. 

Our Addiction medicine elective adds a unique experience to training at Cooper University Hospital. Unlike other electives, this elective is an integral part of our curriculum that is built into all resident schedules. Working in Camden, NJ exposes us to an underserved population, where substance use disorders are prevalent.  The Addiction Medicine elective at Cooper allows us to delve further into the pathophysiology behind these addictions, the various options for treatment, and—equally important—the social barriers that can alter what treatment options are appropriate for each patient. We work alongside expert faculty trained in addiction medicine, Fellows, pharmacists, APPs and Social Workers. As medical students and residents, our addiction medicine training allows us to become more knowledgeable and empathetic physicians towards these types of patients. This acts as an early exposure for residents interested in a professional career in Addiction Medicine.

This elective is offered to second and third year residents and is offered in one- or two-week blocks. It allows residents to work closely with the Faculty and Fellows in Interventional Pulmonology. Our residents are able to watch and participate in endobronchial ultrasounds & biopsies of pulmonary nodules, percutaneous tracheostomies, bronchoscopies and thoracenteses. This is an early experience for residents interested in pursuing a career in Pulmonary and critical care medicine to provide a well-rounded Internal medicine training by the end of residency.

Our palliative medicine elective is also an integral part of our curriculum. We work with palliative medicine faculty and social workers and split the time in the outpatient and inpatient setting. Residents learn the principles of pain and symptom management, how to conduct family meetings and what the various entities of hospice include. Our palliative medicine department collaborates closely with our providers affiliated with MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper.

This elective is offered to all residents and is run by our two Infectious Disease Pharmacists and Infectious disease Attendings. In this elective, we learn about the different antimicrobials and how to optimally use them to prevent antimicrobial misuse in the hospital.