A full range of academic conferences takes place at Cooper University Hospital, providing consistent forums for direct communication between the residents and faculty regarding the care of their patients. Dedicated time every Tuesday and Friday morning is devoted to resident education in order to allow residents ample protected time for academic activities.
Urology Didactic Conferences
This weekly conference covers the core urology curriculum. Topics include core urology, medico-legal and ethical issues. Most of the conferences are discussions in a Socratic format, with the assigned faculty asking residents to explain specific aspects of the urologic topic under discussion. Some topics (such as fundamentals of chemotherapy, radiation therapy, renal transplantation, geriatrics, medico-legal, and risk management) are presented by experts outside of the department. Each resident is expected to present one conference per year. Topics are chosen by the resident, with approval from the faculty, to allow the residents to pursue areas of interest in more detail.
Journal Club (Monthly)
Each month the Urology department holds a Journal Club dinner to keep the residents and faculty up to date with current urology literature and to train them to read scientific articles critically by discussing pertinent articles from various urologic disciplines in the Journal of Urology, Urology, JAMA, NEJM, American Urology Associations (AUA) Evidence Based Reviews in Urology (EBRU), and other specialty-specific journals. Articles are selected by the Associate Program Director and span the breadth of urology. Each resident reviews their selected articles and completes a template which forces an organized and comprehensive approach to medical literature. The objective is to teach methods of study design, how outcomes are measured, and how to determine if the statistical methods used were appropriate for the type of study.
Morbidity and Mortality Conference
This monthly conference provides quality assurance and peer review for the Division of Urology by discussing all surgical cases from the previous month which merit educational discussion. Specific complications are presented by the resident who participated in the care of the patient, and the case is reviewed to analyze opportunities for patient care and process improvement.
Uropathology Conference
This conference is set up as a topic-oriented conference reviewing normal and abnormal pathology of the entire genitourinary tract, led by a member from the Department of Pathology. The yearly schedule is based in part upon the previous year’s topics and covers the major areas in urologic pathology: the prostate, bladder, testis, kidney, penis, and adrenal gland. To guide the pathology faculty, we use the American Urological Association genitourinary pathology curriculum.
Pediatric Uroradiology Conference
This conference is held once a month with the pediatric urology faculty and functions as an introduction to pediatric urologic radiology and pediatric urology case management. The resident assigned to the pediatric service selects three to four cases of a particular theme in pediatric urology. The cases are discussed individually, and then a resident presents a-15 minute summary of the topic often with a handout and references. The pediatric urology faculty members will also question the residents about the case and the urologic condition presented.
Pediatric Urology Morbidity and Mortality Conference
This conference is held on the second Wednesday of every month at DuPont Hospital for Children and teleconferenced with the urology staff at Cooper. Residents are assigned some of the cases that have educational value. They are expected to be familiar with the case and complication that occurred, be familiar with the Clavien classification of surgical complications, and be able to conduct a literature review that specifically addresses the complication and methods to prevent future recurrence.
Multi-Disciplinary Cancer Conference
This conference is attended weekly by academic faculty from urology, radiation oncology, genitourinary pathology, radiology, and medical oncology and is designed to discuss and employ the most up-to-date treatment of urologic cancers. This conference importantly highlights genitourinary malignancies and the multidisciplinary approach to patient care.
Basic Science Conference
Dr. Michael DiSanto, Associate Professor Biomedical Sciences at CMSRU, conducts basic science review lectures with the urology residents and faculty throughout the academic year. Lectures include renal physiology, renovascular hypertension, clinical and research bioethics, biostatistics, neuro-urology physiology, etc.
Monthly Didactic Schedule Example
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday* | Friday |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adult Journal Club |
Preoperative Conference |
|
AUA Core Curriculum and AUA Updates; Uropathology Lecture |
| Morbidity and Mortality | Pediatric Morbidity and Mortality | AUA Core Curriculum and AUA Updates; Tumor Board | |
| Preoperative Conference | AUA Core Curriculum and AUA Updates; Tumor Board | ||
| Lecture by Resident or Faculty | AUA Core Curriculum and AUA Updates; Tumor Board |