Faculty

Sundip Patel, MD, is an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine and Assistant Dean of Curriculum - Phase 2 at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University (CMSRU). Dr. Patel graduated from Villanova University summa cum laude and received his medical degree from UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School - Camden. He completed his residency in Emergency Medicine at Cooper University Hospital where he served as chief resident of the program. In addition, Dr. Patel completed the EMF/ACEP Teaching Fellowship Program to further enhance his skills in teaching medical students.

Since 2007, Dr. Patel has been working in the Emergency Medicine Department at Cooper University Hospital with a focus on medical education. He has taught and mentored numerous medical students during this time, closely guiding many into a career in Emergency Medicine. He served as the Emergency Medicine Clerkship Director at Cooper for 15 years.  During this time, Dr. Patel also served as the M4 Director at CMSRU for 5 years, concentrating on the overall curriculum of the fourth year while helping to create new elective rotations for students. He now serves as the Assistant Dean of Curriculum, Phase II, which oversees the third- and fourth-year student educational activities. Dr. Patel most recently helped develop the curriculum for the Medical Education Fellowship at Cooper where he serves as the Fellowship Director. 

In 2023, Dr. Patel was awarded the Sol Sherry Teaching Award. This is a peer-selected award which recognizes the faculty member at Cooper who excels in education, teaching and educational innovation.

His interests have included teaching learners how to be teachers, the use of technology in education, and the use of asynchronous learning to replace in-class lectures. Dr. Patel has received teaching awards for his efforts, including the Foundation of UMDNJ Excellence in Training Award.

Andrew L. Nyce, MD, is an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine and Assistant Dean for Graduate Medical Education at CMSRU. After graduating from the Pennsylvania State University, he attended Jefferson Medical College where he earned his MD. He was a member of the founding class of the Emergency Medicine Residency Program at Cooper University Hospital and joined as a faculty member at Cooper immediately after residency. Over the past 20 years, he has served the Director of Undergraduate Medical Education, Program Director for a decade and is currently the Vice Chairman of the Department where he concentrates on education and ED operations. He has earned multiple teaching awards in addition to being awarded membership to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society. Dr. Nyce has multiple publications and has contributed meaningfully to multiple educational innovations. He remains passionate and committed towards undergraduate and graduate medical education and serves on GMEC at Cooper to help mentor young programs and/or programs in need. He lectures on orthopaedic emergencies, bedside communication and leads a senior resident curriculum designed to assist residents as they transition out of residency to independent practice.  

Richard Byrne, MD, is an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University (CMSRU). He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and received his medical degree from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey Robert Wood Johnson Medical school (Camden campus). He completed his Emergency Medicine residency at Cooper, where he served as chief resident.

Dr. Byrne has worked in various roles in both undergraduate and graduate education. He contributed to the development of the fourth year Emergency Medicine Clerkship curriculum and has served as faculty advisor to the Emergency Medicine Interest group. In his role as Assistant and Associate Residency Director he designed and implemented a high-fidelity simulation and procedural education curriculum as well as a modern didactics curriculum. Dr. Byrne also works as an editor on the Cooper EM Residency educational FOAMed website EMDaily.

His research interests are in the fields of medical education and resource utilization in the Emergency Department. He has lectured regionally and nationally on a variety of topics including airway management and cognitive bias in medical decision making. Dr. Byrne's primary passion is in the clinical education of medical students and residents in the Emergency Department.

Rachel Jennings, MD, is an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine and currently serves as the Assistant Program Director of the Emergency Medicine Residency at Cooper University. Dr. Jennings graduated from the University of Virginia where she was also a D1 student-athlete, serving as two-time captain of the varsity field hockey team. She received her medical degree from the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University in Philadelphia where she was awarded membership to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society as well as the Gold Humanism Honor Society. Dr. Jennings completed her residency in Emergency Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN.  At Vanderbilt was the recipient of the Resident Didactic Teaching Award, ACE Clerkship Resident Teaching Award, and the Resident Bedside Teaching Award. Dr. Jennings then went on to serve as the inaugural fellow of the Medical Education Fellowship at Cooper during the 2022-2023 academic year. During her fellowship she built a strong foundation of educational principles and notably completed the MERC (medical education research certificate) through CORD and was award the Presidential Grant through the Macy Foundation. She continues to pursue her educational interests through her roles as Assistant Program Director of the EM residency and core faculty member of the Medical Education fellowship.