The Future Will See You Now
President’s Report — Winter 2022
Life is all about choices.
Choices are starting points: they represent the exact moment when a vision vaults forward toward a goal.
Community
Advance Social Accountability
STRATEGIC DIRECTION 2: Advance Social AccountabilityGOALTo embed social accountability throughout NOSM University with a focus on measurable, transformative, and sustainable change in health-care systems for Northern Ontario. ASPIRATIONSocial accountability defines...
It takes a village
It takes a village Wasaya Airways and partners support NOSM University students’ second annual menstrual product driveAshley Perreault and Lucie Ménard, medical students at NOSM University, have wrapped-up their second annual menstrual product drive—this year for the...
NOSM University’s response to the TRC Calls to Action
NOSM University’s response to the TRC Calls to ActionWe remain steadfast in our commitment to address the 94 Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Canada. We are making strides, and our work towards reconciliation continues. Many...
Collaborative Specializations
Collaborative Specializations what they are, and why they matter so muchRacism in medicine, physician shortages, and lack of access to French-language health care is fueling a new group of medical students—future doctors who will be committed to improving health...
Education
Innovate Health Professions Education
STRATEGIC DIRECTION 3: Innovate Health Professions Education GOALTo be recognized across Northern Ontario for developing innovative models of education in Northern, Indigenous, Francophone, rural and remote medicine that lead to well-trained health-care practitioners...
Becoming a University
The proclamation on April 1, 2022, was another
historic moment for health education in Northern
Ontario and will have impacts nationwide. A
recognized trailblazer, NOSM University will shape
what it means to be an independent medical
university in Canada.
NOSM University’s response to the TRC Calls to Action
NOSM University’s response to the TRC Calls to ActionWe remain steadfast in our commitment to address the 94 Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Canada. We are making strides, and our work towards reconciliation continues. Many...
We’re like nothing else in the world
We’re like nothing else in the worldDr. Joseph LeBlanc on social justice in medical education, what NOSM University is getting right on that score—and what he says has to happen next.The Associate Dean of Equity and Inclusion at NOSM University is frank, unfazed and...
Planning
Transform Health Human Resource Planning
NOSM University’s transformative approach to
the planning and delivery of workforce supply
eliminates the gaps in Northern Ontario health
human resources.
Practise in the North makes perfect
Practise in the North makes perfectNOSM docs heed the call—and they’re loving it There are so many reasons to live and work in Northern Ontario, but practising to the fullest scope of her training is a source of great interest and pride for at least one NOSM...
Transforming health education
Transforming health educationWe know that building and maintaining strong and healthy relationships is critical to creating sustainable local health systems across Northern Ontario. We also know that we simply have to work together if we’re going to cover a population...
Towards Health Equity and Beyond
Towards health equity and beyond. This year marks 780 MDs who have graduated from NOSM—55 self-identify as Indigenous and 165 self-identify as Francophone. In addition, 692 residents have completed NOSM programs. More than half of these health-care professionals have...
Research
Strengthen Research Capacity in Northern Ontario
NOSM University is the connective tissue between
research entities, Northern Ontario Health Teams
(OHTs), research institutes and hospitals.
NOSM University research: a nexus in understanding
NOSM University research: a nexus in understandingNOSM University was purpose-built to address the health-care needs of people in the North. Naturally, our research aims are focused on the same, though (as is so often the case for us), we are doing things a little...
Behind every superhero is a great researcher
Behind every superhero is a great researcher.Northern Ontario has many opportunities to expand NOSM learning sites. We will develop stronger relationships, explore new sites, align clinical education leadership with administration and broaden the Academic Health...
Transformative virtual health care
Transformative virtual health careDelivering safe care during the pandemic resulted in a quick, burgeoning shift to virtual care. For the first time, primary care was able to offer expanded online access, allowing many patients to remain at home, avoiding lengthy...
Enablers
A grateful nod to the board
A grateful nod to the boardSince 2004, successive members of NOSM’s Board of Governors have been working tirelessly to guide us forward. This diverse, generous group of volunteers has brought with them experience and expertise that saw a seedling vision become a...
Superheroes in action
Superheroes in action(May 10 - November 15, 2021) There are many outstanding faculty, learners and staff at NOSM who make a difference in their community—they are the School’s superheros in action. Miigwetch, merci and thank you for your ongoing work and commitment....
Big data is key to identifying strategic opportunities for health care in Northern Ontario
Big data is key to identifying strategic opportunities for health care in Northern OntarioBig Data is a tool increasingly used to link structured, partially structured and unstructured information collected by a diverse group of units to assist with measuring success,...
A donor who made a difference
A donor who made a difference Dr. Hugh Robertson explains what sparked the largest individual donation in NOSM’s history“In terms of residency training, you develop to be progressively more skilled at local community hospitals. You understand the challenges and learn...
From Informative to Transformative
THE NOSM UNIVERSITY OF TOMORROW
As we look forward with hope to the post-pandemic era, NOSM University has a window of extraordinary opportunity in which to fundamentally and strategically transform itself to meet the health research, education and health care demands of tomorrow. The turbulence caused by the global COVID-19 crisis touched—and forever changed— every element of work in which we were engaged during this historic time. The crisis revealed that the prevailing medical education paradigm, a legacy of past centuries, is outmoded, and too brittle to bend and adapt to the realities of the day. It also demonstrated the need for research and scientific discovery to respond quickly to the issues of the day, and for evidence-based clinical practice to inform public policy.
2021 Research Annual Report
A Treetop View
Research focused on a Healthier North
Research at NOSM University stems from unique questions rooted in the need to improve the health of the peoples and communities of Northern Ontario. For years, Canadian health research took place primarily in large centres. This meant many questions related to the health of Northerners were going unanswered, including the incidences of chronic disease, outcomes for patients with mental illness and how work in industries such as mining or forestry affect one’s health. Also left unanswered were specific questions about the health of Indigenous and Francophone communities in the North—two groups that have historically been under-represented in research.
