Program Directors

Teresa Smith MD – Program Director

Dr. Smith is a graduate of our department’s Emergency Ultrasound Fellowship. She completed her residency training at NYU/ Bellevue, and completed a Masters of Medical Education from the University of Pennsylvania. Her goal is to provide an educational buffet of dynamic learning experiences for each resident as an adult learner. She is dedicated to customizing the training program to fit each resident’s learning needs. Ultimately, her goal as the program director is to not only recruit diverse candidates with leadership potential, but to also produce residents who are empathetic physicians, clinically astute doctors, community advocates, leaders in emergency medicine, and academicians. It is her belief that these are the training grounds for the future leaders of healthcare.

Interests: Innovative Learning Curriculums, Health Disparities Research, Resident Wellness, and FeminEM Blog Contributing Author

Mark Silverberg MD – Associate Program Director

Dr. Silverberg is a graduate of one of the first classes of the SUNY Downstate Emergency Medicine Residency. He has been an integral aspect of the residency since its inception, and has helped build the national recognition of the residency program. He continues to be dedicated to the residents, and educating future leaders in the field of emergency medicine.

Interests: Medical Photography, Educational Research, particularly low fidelity simulation, electronic resources for medical education (creator of: KCH EM EKG), and wilderness medicine especially hyperbaric medicine and envenomations

Dr. Willis is a graduate and former Chief Resident of our residency program, and has been APD since 2013. As alum of SUNY Downstate College of Medicine, and now APD, Dr. Willis brings his commitment to the education and career planning of our medical students and residents.

Hannah LoCascio MD – Assistant Program Director

Dr. LoCascio is a graduate and former Chief Resident of our residency program, and as a former SUNY Downstate College of Medicine graduate she brings her familiarity with the medical school and its participating graduate schools.

Interests: Health Policy and Resident Wellness

Scott Kendall MD – Assistant Program Director

Dr. Kendall attended medical school at UC Irvine. He is a graduate and former chief resident of our program and stayed on to complete an Emergency Ultrasound Fellowship. The newest addition to the residency leadership, Dr. Kendall will serve as the PGY 1 Class Dean and Resident Scheduling Liaison.

Interests: Bedside Ultrasound, Global Health, Wilderness Medicine

Joshua Schechter MD – EM/IM Program Director

Dr. Schechter has been dedicated to resident education since graduating from our prestigious EM/IM program. As an Emergency Ultrasound Faculty, and former director of resident ultrasound education, he helped develop the first observation unit in the HHC system. His goal with the EM/IM residency program is to continue to uphold its tradition of high quality training while advancing the program for the better. He hopes to establish an EM/IM/CCM track in the not too distant future.

Interests: Education, Observation Medicine, Ultrasound

Allison Regan MD – EM/IM Assistant Program Director

Dr. Regan is a graduate of our EM/IM residency program.She is taking on the role of Assistant Program Director for the EM/IM program. She hopes to work to develop combined EM-IM milestones as well as medical student curriculum and/or rotation specific to students interested in EM-IM.

Joel Gernsheimer MD – Senior Educational Faculty

Dr. Gernsheimer is a former Director of the Lincoln Emergency Medicine Residency Program, and has been instrumental in educating many Emergency Medicine residents, including many of our administrative faculty. He has been teaching and advising medical students at SUNY Downstate since he joined the campus. He has been actively involved in teaching the Clinical Skills and Physical Exam courses to the first and second year students, and in teaching the Emergency Medicine clerkships and electives.

Interests: Geriatric Emergencies, Infectious Disease Emergencies, and Medical Education

Stephan Rinnert MD – Vice Chair of Education and Faculty Development

Dr. Rinnert is a former residency director of our residency program. He served two terms and spent over 10 years in residency leadership. He was one of the pioneers of the residency program, and through his leadership he has made our Emergency Medicine Residency one of the most competitive and diverse emergency medicine training programs in the world.

Interests: Global Health, Faculty Governance, Adult and Health Care Provider Education

Stephanie Lane – Residency Coordinator

Ms. Lane is a graduate of Brooklyn College with her MPH in Health Care Policy and Administration. She been committed to the training of emergency medicine residents for over 10 years and has worked under now three program directors, and seen 10 classes of residents through completion of training. Through her guidance, everything residency related runs WELL! She serves as the backbone of the residency, program directors, and residents.