Sletten named Chair of Department of Medical Education

Sarah Sletten, Ph.D., associate professor in the UND School of Medicine & Health Sciences (SMHS) Department of Biomedical Sciences, has been named Chair of the SMHS  Department of Medical Education.

“Establishing the Department of Medical Education represents a transformative step forward for the UND School of Medicine & Health Sciences,” said Sletten. “My focus as founding Chair is to build a collaborative environment where our faculty are empowered to innovate in the classroom, supported in their professional growth, and equipped to advance educational scholarship.”

An educator-scholar with a distinguished 16-year career in higher education, Sletten most recently served as the SMHS Director of Learner Research, where she championed the expansion of medical research opportunities and built infrastructure to support student engagement across all healthcare-related research disciplines.

A dedicated advocate for active learning models and continuous quality improvement in the health sciences education, Dr. Sletten’s vision for the Department of Medical Education focuses on cultivating an inclusive academic home for teaching-centric faculty, modernizing curriculum structures, and fostering robust educational research.

“I’m committed to empowering faculty, mentoring educators through promotion and tenure pathways, and driving curricular transformations that meet the highest standards of excellence,” she said. “By investing in our teachers, we can ensure our students will receive an exceptional education.”