Rate My Professor Sam Murton

Dr Samantha Murton is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Primary Health Care and General Practice at the University of Otago, Wellington, a position she has held since 2016. A graduate of the University of Otago with an MBChB (1988) and Postgraduate Diploma in General Practice (distinction), she also holds Fellowship of the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners (FRNZCGP, 2004). Currently pursuing a PhD titled 'Art in the art of medicine', her research explores the use of drawing by health practitioners to facilitate explanation during patient consultations. As a practising general practitioner specialising in minor surgery, she authored and illustrated a self-published book on the subject and integrates artistic techniques into her clinical and teaching practices. Murton serves as Trainee Intern Convenor, teaching suturing skills and dermatology to fourth- and fifth-year medical students, and has co-convened the Wellington sixth-year attachment learning module in general practice. She co-convenes two postgraduate distance-taught papers: PRHC701 New Zealand Primary Health Care and PRHC703 Strategy and Leadership in Primary Health Care.

Murton's career includes roles as Medical Educator in the Wellington General Practice Education Programme since 2007, National Clinical Lead for first-year GPEP and the Postgraduate Rural General Practice programme since 2009, and the first Medical Director of the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners from 2012. She was elected President of the College in 2018. Her research interests encompass medical education, patient communication, AI scribes in primary care consultations, bullying in the general practitioner workforce, medication review and deprescribing, and COVID-19 impacts on primary care. Key publications include 'Using AI scribes in New Zealand primary care consultations: an exploratory survey' (Ballantyne et al., 2025, Journal of Primary Health Care), 'Bullying in the New Zealand general practitioner workforce' (2021), 'Prescribing deprescribing for polypharmacy in Aotearoa New Zealand: experiences of a medication review activity in final year medical students' (2024), and 'Art in the art of medicine: The use of drawing by health practitioners for explanation during patient consultations' (2025). She received the Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) in 2021 for services to medical education, particularly general practice, and the Distinguished Fellowship of RNZCGP in 2016.