Page 2 - RossMed Day SJEH April 2025 Program

Keynote Address: “Through the Eyes of a Patient:

A Dialogue on Professionalism”

Teresa Y. Smith, MD, MSEd, FACEP

Dr. Teresa Yvonne Smith, MD, MSEd, FACEP serves as the Associate Dean of Graduate Medical Education

and Designated Institutional Official (DIO) at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, where she
oversees more than 1,000 resident and fellow physicians across the institution. Previously, she directed one
of the nation’s largest Emergency Medicine residency programs, recognized for its scale and impact in
training emergency physicians.

A tenured Professor of Clinical Emergency Medicine, Dr. Smith maintains an active clinical practice in the
Emergency Department. She earned her undergraduate degree from Spelman College and her medical
degree from NYU School of Medicine. She completed her residency in Emergency Medicine at NYU/Bellevue

Hospital, followed by a fellowship in Emergency Ultrasound at SUNY Downstate. She holds a master’s in

medical education from the University of Pennsylvania and is currently pursuing an MBA in Health Services

Administration at SUNY Oswego.

Dr. Smith’s career is distinguished by her unwavering commitment to advancing diversity, equity, and

inclusion (DEI) in medicine. She has been recognized with the Dr. Dale Blackstock Award in Teaching and
Excellence for her outstanding mentorship and advocacy for medical students and trainees. A respected
thought leader, she has authored numerous publications on DEI and the diversification of the physician
workforce and has served as a consultant to accreditation agencies and state and national bodies.

In 2019, she was named one of the National Minority Quality Forum’s “40 Under 40 Minority Leaders.” Under
her leadership, SUNY Downstate received the ACGME’s Barbara Ross-Lee, DO Diversity, Equity, and

Inclusion Award in 2022. Most recently, in 2023, she was awarded a Josiah Macy Foundation President’s

Grant as co–Principal Investigator for a national project aimed at fostering inclusive clinical learning

environments where all learners can thrive.

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