Dr. Preston Smith has been appointed inaugural dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI) for a five-year term, effective April 1, 2024.

Originally from Summerside, P.E.I., Dr. Smith brings a wealth of experience and a strong commitment to advancing medical education and research to benefit the province’s communities.

Dr. Smith has been dean of the College of Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan (USask) since 2014. He led the college’s extensive restructuring to improve all facets of medical education, increase research capacity and prioritize Indigenous health, learner wellness and faculty and staff engagement.

An experienced change management leader committed to equity and diversity in the workplace, Dr. Smith was instrumental in commissioning an independent review to help the college better address issues of systemic inequity, which helped inform their increased efforts to change and improve as an equitable, diverse and inclusive medical school.

Under his leadership, USask was the first faculty of medicine in Canada to introduce a department of Indigenous health and wellness and the only Canadian medical school to be selected to participate in the Anti-Racist Transformation in Medical Education initiative alongside prestigious institutions such as Columbia University and University of California, Los Angeles and led by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. 

Dr. Smith received the 2023 Chris Carruthers Excellence in Medical Leadership Award — a national award from the Canadian Society of Physician Leaders — recognizing his outstanding leadership in culture change and system transformation at the USask College of Medicine. Throughout his time in Saskatchewan, he has built effective relationships and partnerships across the province’s healthcare system.

He will also assume the new chief of academic affairs role at Health PEI, a role instrumental in evolving the system towards a more academic culture and preparing it to integrate medical learners, residents and future made-in-PEI physicians.

Dr. Smith was previously the senior associate dean of education in the Faculty of Medicine at Dalhousie University. He played a key leadership role in developing and overseeing their new medical education program, launched in New Brunswick in 2010, which included critical relationship-building with New Brunswick partners. He’s also been instrumental in starting new family medicine residency programs in P.E.I., N.B. and N.S.

"Dr. Smith will work closely with us on the creation of our new joint medical program with UPEI," said Dr. Dolores McKeen, dean, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University. "We look forward to working with Dr. Smith, who has a proven track record for excellence in medical education and a wealth of knowledge on what is needed to achieve medical excellence, which will benefit medical students and the communities where they learn."