Tara Cassidy-Smith, MD, is the Program Director of the Emergency Medicine Residency at Cooper University Hospital and an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at the Cooper Medical School of Rowan University. She graduated cum laude from the College of the Holy Cross with a degree in Biology. She was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship and studied in Innsbruck, Austria before matriculating in medical school. She earned her medical degree from UMDNJ/Robert Wood Johnson Medical School -Camden where she was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society. She then went on to complete an Emergency Medicine residency at Cooper University Hospital, where she was selected to be a Chief Resident. She is board certified in Emergency Medicine.

Dr. Cassidy-Smith is passionate about resident education. She is thrilled to be the program’s fourth Residency Director. She enjoys supporting the program’s social media platforms, both our EM Daily educational website and twitter handle. She enjoys innovating the curriculum for today’s learners and has worked with her team to implore many flipped classroom techniques.

Dr. Cassidy-Smith is also very passionate about the patient and the provider experience. She believes resiliency is built on the relationships with the patient at the bedside. She is a patient experience champion in the ED to improve both patient and physician experience. She enjoys caring for patients in all stages of life and spends a portion of her clinical time caring for children in the Pediatric Emergency Department at Cooper.

Elizabeth (Lisa) Cerceo is an associate professor of medicine at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University and a teaching fellow of their Academy of Master Educators. She completed her medical degree at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey/Robert Wood Johnson Medical School where she was AOA and then completed her residency at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. She is a board-certified general internist in the Department of Hospital Medicine and is a fellow in the American College of Physicians and the Society of Hospital Medicine where she is on the national Education Committee and leads an online faculty development resource, Clinical Quick Talks.

Dr. Cerceo is the co-chair for Physician Engagement and serves as an associate program director for the internal medicine residency where she develops novel curricula including a comprehensive research curriculum. She spearheads Wellness initiatives for Graduate Medical Education and runs the Art of Medicine series for the internal medicine residents as well as Medicine Grand Rounds, Wellness in Medicine, and started Hospitalist Grand Rounds. She is the course director for the Selectives in the Medical Humanities at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University. She co-chairs Cooper’s Green Team and is the chair of Wellness and of Health and Public Policy for ACPNJ, in which role she has been advocating for sustainability efforts for health care systems.

As a clinical hospitalist, she is involved with education from the medical student level to faculty development. Her research interests focus on medical education, medical humanities, and the effects of gun violence and climate change. Dr. Cerceo is an editor for Cooper Rowan Medical Journal and is a reviewer for several journals, including Critical Care Medicine and the Journal of Hospital Medicine where she has been named a top reviewer. She also is a reviewer for MKSAP, SHM question banks, and for various annual meetings.

Michael E Chansky, MD, FACEP, FAAEM, is Professor and Chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University. He received his medical degree at the University of Rochester School of Medicine in 1980 and was inducted into AOA. He trained in internal medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) and served as Chief Resident. From 1984-85, he was an instructor in medicine at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (RWJMS) - Camden, teaching emergency medicine and internal medicine. At the conclusion of his chief resident year, he was recognized at HUP with the prestigious Donna McCurdy House Staff Teaching Award. In July of 1985, he returned to Cooper and accepted the position to direct emergency medicine and the third-year internal medicine clerkship at RWJMS/Camden. He is board certified in both internal medicine and emergency medicine.

Dr. Chansky’s teaching excellence was recognized with two Department of Medicine and eight RWJMS/Camden teaching awards. He was nominated twice for the UMDNJ Excellence Award for “Distinguished Service in Education”, and invited three times to recite the Hippocratic Oath at Convocation. In 1999 the RWJMS students nominated him as an Honorary Member of the RWJMS Alumni Association. In 1997, RWJMS established the 54th Academic Department of Emergency Medicine, and named him the founding Chair in 2000. In 2003, he was inducted in the Masters Education Guild at UMDNJ. He was awarded the Dorothy and Sol Sherry Award for Teaching Excellence in June of 2014, the highest honor an educator can receive at Cooper and the medical school.

Dr. Chansky was honored with the 2019 Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award from the Cooper Medical School of Rowan University (CMSRU) Chapter of the Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS). The Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Awards recognizes exemplars of clinical excellence and outstanding compassion in their delivery of care. Dr. Chansky was cited for “his tireless dedication to service to patients, families, colleagues, and the students at CMSRU”.

In 2023, Dr. Chansky was awarded the Diana Barton Award. This award recognizes the faculty member at Cooper who best demonstrates empathy, compassion and patient centered care.

Interests beyond spending time with his supportive family (Stephanie and Andrew, Peter, and Ben) have focused on the success of the Cooper Health System, serving as a board trustee and mentorship/development of students, residents, faculty and Cooper leaders. Dr. Chansky’s personal philosophy as a physician is embracing the privilege to be at the bedside, and treating each patient with the utmost respect, kindness, and empathy. The Department of Emergency Medicine has contributed significantly toward the development of our own four-year Cooper Medical School of Rowan University. Dr. Chansky continues to enjoy caring for patients and bringing young learners to the bedside.

Areas of Interest:  I love teaching medical students and residents as I strive to provide excellent care to all patients regardless of socioeconomic status or background. My practice primarily focuses on high-risk and surgical obstetrics, prevention and investigation of maternal mortality, women’s health, resident wellness, as well as community health, prevention, and outreach. I currently assist medical students in the residency application process through a company called Residency Success, working with them on their application strategy, personal statements, and interview skills. In the past, I have volunteered on several medical missions to both Honduras and Ecuador. I hope to continue doing mission trips through global health initiatives at Cooper.  

​Hobbies: When I’m not at work, I enjoy exercising, seeing live music and Broadway shows, photography, traveling, playing acoustic guitar, singing, and spending time with my family and friends. I also have two rescue cats who allow my husband and I to live with them.  

Why am I passionate about Family Medicine? I grew up in a very small, rural community in northern New Jersey where one Family Medicine physician took care of everyone. I always admired his ability to make every patient feel as though their particular issue was his specialty, be it a tearful infant with a cough, an adult female struggling with a pregnancy issue, or an elderly male with hypertension. I find the challenge of interacting, building rapport, and caring for patients across different age groups to be emotionally and intellectually stimulating on a daily basis.  Family Medicine also allows me to form long term relationships with my patients (and their families). I look forward to meeting you so we can work together to not only meet, but surpass your health goals!​