Education

Sarah Peyre Named to New Education Leadership Position at the School of Medicine and Dentistry

May. 16, 2024

Sarah Peyre, EdD, a highly respected medical education scholar, has been appointed to a new leadership position to oversee graduate and medical education at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry (SMD). Peyre, who has served as dean of the Warner Graduate School of Education and Development since 2020, will step down from that role on June 30 to take on the newly created dual role of SMD vice dean for education and associate vice president of clinical education on July 1.

“This new position was created to build on the legacy of curriculum innovation and to be at the forefront of how we train and prepare our medical and science leaders. I cannot imagine a person better suited for this opportunity than Sarah Peyre,” said David Linehan, MD, SMD dean and CEO of the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC). “Sarah’s expertise in medical education innovation and her familiarity with SMD make her uniquely qualified to create a nimbler and more progressive educational ecosystem that inspires even more robust intersections with our clinical care. I am extremely excited to welcome her back to the medical center.”

Peyre is nationally recognized for her work in the field of simulation and for developing educational innovations that support collaborative health care. Reporting to Linehan, Peyre will oversee SMD’s graduate education, medical education, and graduate medical education programs. To position SMD as a leader in educational innovation, she will develop a strategic vision for these programs that fosters innovation, focuses on students, supports faculty, and aligns program goals with learning outcomes needed for students to build successful careers. 

She will also embed the spirit of meliora into our education programs by supporting the continuous development of teaching faculty and curricula to ensure we provide evidence-based, equitable, and culturally responsive education content to our students. Medical education, for example, must align with and adapt to clinical care and population health needs as they shift over time.

Over the past four years, Peyre has sharpened her strategic leadership skills. As dean of the Warner School, she helped develop and implement the Warner 2030 Strategic Plan. From July 2021 to June 2022, she also served as interim provost helping the University navigate the challenges and complexities of the COVID pandemic and launching the first steps of the University’s strategic plan.

“I have learned so much about educational leadership over the last four years, and am thrilled to bring back that knowledge to strengthen the graduate, medical, and clinical education at the Medical Center,” said Peyre. “Thinking about how to further align clinical practice with the growth and development of our professionals and care teams is in the fabric of how I view education. I cannot wait to partner with SMD education leaders—whom I respect and admire—to continue the legacy of innovation that SMD and URMC is known for.” 

Having joined the University in 2011, Peyre is no stranger to SMD. Prior to her time at the Warner School, she was URMC’s associate dean for innovative education and executive director of the Institute for Innovative Education, which provides centralized educational support for SMD, Eastman Institute of Oral Health, Strong Hospital, the School of Nursing, and the Faculty Practice Group. In that role, she advanced education for health professionals through the use of simulation, adaptive technology, team science, and novel approaches to information and education delivery.

Peyre also has a wealth of experience in interprofessional education—educating health professionals to work effectively with all members of a health care team—which will be a key focus of her new role. As a Macy Faculty Scholar in 2014, she developed an interprofessional education program to help health care providers and patients better integrate electronic health records into patient care. In 2020, she received the Madeline H. Schmitt Award for Interprofessional Education from the Rochester Academy of Medicine, in recognition of her lifetime achievement in teaching the importance of collaboration and teamwork and for changing the landscape of health care education.

Prior to joining the University, Peyre served as the director of education and research for the STRATUS Center for Medical Simulation at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and as assistant professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School. She holds a master’s degree in medical education and a doctorate in educational psychology from the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California.

Learn more at the University of Rochester News Center.