Kenneth Cooper

Biography

After graduation, I served as a naval officer on both coasts and earned an MBA from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1984, through part-time study.

I entered medical school at Dalhousie University in Halifax in 1984 and graduated with a MD in 1988. After a rotating internship (also through Dalhousie), I came to service as a Medical Officer in the summer of 1989 in Halifax. In 1990 I was serving as the Medical Officer of HMCS Protecteur when the Gulf War broke out, and I spent the last half of 1990 and early 1991 in the Persian Gulf. On return, I did post-graduate training 1992-1994, completing a MHSc in Community Health and Epidemiology at the University of Toronto and did a clinical fellowship in Addiction Medicine at the Homewood Health Centre, Guelph, Ontario. From 1994 to 1996 I was the Director of the Canadian Forces Addiction Rehabilitation Program in Ottawa, and from 1996 to 1998 was also the Director and Medical Officer of the CF Addiction Rehabilitation Clinic in Halifax.

In August 1998 I retired from the military and entered a residency program in psychiatry at Dalhousie University, obtaining my Fellowship in June 2002. I then worked as a civilian staff psychiatrist at the Canadian Forces Operational Trauma and Stress Support Centre (OTSSC) in Halifax. In September of 2008, I re-enrolled in the CF and was appointed the Clinical Leader of Mental Health Services in Halifax and the CF National Practice Leader for Addiction Medicine.

From July through September 2011, I was deployed to Kandahar Airfield (KAF), Afghanistan as part of Operation Athena Roto 11 (MTTF). I worked in the mental health section of the Canadian Role 1 Health Services Unit, and at the American Role 2 HSU. For my work at KAF I was awarded the HSU Commanding Officer’s Commendation and the HSU Commander’s Coin of Excellence. In 2015, I was awarded the Surgeon General’s Coin of Excellence.

In 2009 and 2016, I was a member of the CF Expert Panels on Military Suicide Prevention. From 2011 to 2015 I was the RCMS representative on a NATO working group on military suicide prevention.

I was promoted to Commander in November 2013. In May 2014 I transferred to the Primary Reserve and set up a private practice in Halifax, continuing to provide psychiatric service to CF Mental Health Services in Halifax on a part-time basis as a civilian staff psychiatrist. I retired from the Primary Reserve when I reached CRA in November 2015. Since March 2020, I have continued solely in private practice in Halifax. I have been an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Dalhousie University since 2002.

Lynn and I married in May 1988. Lynn is an avid gardener, as you can see by the photo. Our daughter Christine is a lawyer in Halifax. We live with three dogs. I golf frequently and walk and run to keep in shape.