Dr. Gilles Arcand Centre for Health Equity

ANNUAL REPORT

It’s been two years since the Centre for Social Accountability was established at NOSM University. It was born of the principle that everyone—regardless of circumstance or geography—has a right to access health-care practitioners who are culturally competent, understand the realities of living in the rural and remote North, and lead with compassion and integrity.

The Temerty Foundation, established by James and Louise Temerty, made a $10 million gift in September 2023 to support NOSM University medical students and to advance and grow social accountability and health equity initiatives. In recognition of this transformational gift, NOSM University’s Centre for Social Accountability was renamed the Dr. Gilles Arcand Centre for Health Equity. This report details the achievement of the Centre’s research activities completed in the past year, impacts across the four pillars, challenges and lessons learned, and future directions.

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. 

2022 Research Annual Report

REFLECTIONS

Research focused on a Healthier North

In NOSM’s first year as a university, we are proud of thecollaboration across disciplines that fostered partnershipsacross Northern Ontario, nationally, and internationally. Notably, we celebrated the launch of the Centre for SocialAccountability—a truly interdisciplinary research centre, andthe only centre of its kind. With the help of partners, we builtour research capacity within clinical settings and grew ourability to offer graduate-level training. Our research is enhancedby partnerships, such as the new research agreementssigned with Lakehead University and Laurentian University.Our efforts support the priorities of our strategic plan andwill work to innovate health professions education, advancesocial accountability, and transform health human resourcesplanning.