Cooper University Health Care joined with the U.S. Navy to expand the Camden hospital’s military training program to provide clinical rotations to the service’s senior anesthesia medical residents.
Under the partnership, residents now being trained at the Portsmouth Naval Medical Center in Virginia will participate in two-month rotations at Cooper. The first resident arrived in Camden over the summer.
“Cooper is proud to be the leading academic health system in the nation providing specialized medical training to United States military professionals,” said Cooper Co-Chief Executive Officer Kevin O’Dowd in a statement.
Cooper provides a variety of military, diplomatic and field affairs training programs. In 2019, the facility became the third in the country to provide specialized medical training to active duty and reserve personnel from all military branches as part of Operation SMART (Strategic Medical Asset Readiness Training). That program was developed by the U.S. Army Medical Command as part of an effort to establish a national network of civilian health care facilities to train and enhance the skills of service members.
Cooper University Health Care, Roberts Pavilion – Camden Campus – COOPER UNIVERSITY HEALTH CARE
“As a high-volume, Level I Trauma Center and academic health system, Cooper is uniquely qualified to provide the hands-on training members of military medical teams need to gain the experience and skills to save lives on battlefields around the world,” said Anthony Mazzarelli, another Cooper co-CEO.
Last year, Cooper became the first U.S. health system to enter into an agreement with the Army to provide advanced surgical trauma training to the Forward Resuscitation Surgical Team through the Army Medical Department Military-Civilian Trauma Team Training program. Cooper is also the only hospital that has trained elite medical providers from every military branch; multiple local, state and federal government agencies; and international partners.
“Because Cooper already offers an outstanding anesthesiology medical residency, this new agreement with the Navy was a good fit,” said Cooper trauma surgeon John Chovanes of the anesthesia partnership. “These Navy residents are a welcome addition to our program.” Chovanes is also the founding medical director of Cooper’s Section of Military, Diplomatic and Field Affairs.
