Dr Samantha (Sam) Murton is the Chair of the Council of Medical Colleges and Deputy Dean of the Waikato Medical School. She has been involved in medical education since 2004 and has a Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Educators, UK. She has significant governance experience having held the role of Chair and President of the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners from 2019 to 2025, leading the profession through the COVID pandemic. She is a working Wellington GP and advocates for the  medical profession at a national level, and she does this while maintaining practical experience that keeps her advice relevant and realistic. In 2021 Dr Murton was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to medical education. She is also an accomplished artist and has writtent and illustrated a book on Minor Surgery.