Northern Routes

“The Only Constant in Life Is Change.” – Heraclitus

A disruptive pandemic. The emergence of web-based meetings. The loss of physical contact. A shortage of ventilators. A new vocabulary—pivot, PPE, masking, lockdown, red zone, variants… The pandemic has forced us to change, adjust and innovate to a point where transformation is no longer an option, it is a necessity. Despite the struggles amid the complexities that we have experienced this year, sustainable change is within reach. We have seen how new technologies are increasing the speed of discovery and collaboration. And although machines are enabling digital innovation, the main driver of it is people. Exceptionally talented a...

Constellation of Shining Stars

A constellation is a group of stars that form an easily recognizable pattern to help people navigate using the night sky. Constellation is a symbolic reference not only for NOSM students and faculty, but the many people and communities of Northern Ontario that play a role in NOSM’s achievements and success. If you ask anyone involved in advocating for the creation of NOSM—and there were many—they will tell you it was their idea. And they would be right. The School was created in the North, by the North, for the North by all who advocated for a solution to health-care disparities and to address the severe doctor shortage in North...

What I can say. What I can’t say. What I must say.

As you have likely heard by now, on April 15, 2021, the Government of Ontario introduced legislation to establish the Northern Ontario School of Medicine as an independent, standalone degree-granting institution. I have received many questions since this happened asking about NOSM’s future. In light of Laurentian University’s Companies’ Creditor Arrangement Act (CCAA) proceedings, I am not allowed to comment further at this time. And as many of you know, we are still trying to navigate the loss of our revenue ($1.6 million) and to try to protect our endowments ($14 million) as a result of that situation. As well the accreditation...