Paula Smith is the Deputy Director for the MSc in Critical Care programme at the University of Edinburgh and the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

Dr Smith has been in continuous academic employment since completing her PhD in 1995, and has been involved in devising, developing, and delivering online education for the past 15 years. As well as teaching medical science degree programmes on-campus and online, she is also responsible for the implementation and evaluation of experiential learning and integrated skills development. Dr Smith conducted seven years of postdoctoral research in biomedical science, including a Wellcome Trust Prize Fellowship at Toronto University, Canada. She held lectureships in Neuropharmacology (UoE) and Biomedical Science &Toxicology (Edinburgh Napier University), before spending nine years as an Academic eFacilitator/Senior Lecturer for Edinburgh Surgery Online, Deanery of Clinical Sciences (UoE). She has taught in industry (Aptuit) and overseas (Université Paul Verlaine-Metz, France; Hong Kong HKU Space), and has been a member of IAMSE since 2013. In 2017, she completed the Edinburgh Teaching Award for Senior Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy. Paula has been an Associate Editor for Medical Science Educator since 2015.