The Avengers may be the world’s favourite superhero team. Or, is it the Justice League or the X-Men? What they have in common is the collection of a diverse group of heroes working toward a common purpose. If you don’t know, The Avengers use their various skills and superpowers to address a villain threatening the future. They know to trust in the people around them and they become the ultimate superhero team.

Superhero teams can teach us how to look splendid in capes and spandex and about the value of teams themselves and being part of a movement that makes a difference. Being part of a team, participating in a plan, being able to urgently collaborate and being able to set aside ego for the collective good is what The Avengers is all about. Iron Man and Captain America do not always see eye-to-eye, but they know how to come together to win against the “bad guys” and work through a conflict before it turns into an ugly argument. As The Avengers learn to keep aside their differences, they also communicate more often to build a rapport, and thus their success ensues. Okay, yes, having the Hulk on your side also helps!

Don’t we all enjoy watching superheroes save the world? (See my latest Dean’s Report, Meeting The NOSM Challenge, A Year in Review.)

NOSM’s very own team of superheroes is working towards a future for health care research and education in Northern Ontario. NOSM has enjoyed the support of government, industry and community along the way. But we’re the smallest and youngest of Canada’s medical schools, and marshaling all of the support NOSM needs to create meaningful and sustained change in the North sometimes feels like an Avengers-sized task.

That’s why it has been so encouraging of late to feel a renewed groundswell of support. It started about a year ago with that jaw-dropping surprise gift of $1.2 million from Dr. Hugh Robertson. Remember that? That was to support our social accountability efforts at NOSM, and was the largest single donation in our history. An incredible gift, to be sure: but it’s so important to note that every bit of help and encouragement we’ve received of late is invaluable.

The Ontario Medical Association’s strong focus on NOSM and the North (unprecedented in their 140 years) back in November was so important. In a visit to Sudbury, the OMA signaled strongly that it not only understood the medical challenges that the North is facing, and was coming up with some recommendations for change, but they told a local paper, “We are going to spend between now and the election next June, to ensure that every one of the political parties and their leaders adopt these recommendations into their platforms.” We know we can be an integral part of the OMA’s “Prescription for Northern Ontario.”

Local government has been advocating for NOSM, too. Both the Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities and the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association passed resolutions to support the expansion of NOSM. As a result, Sundridge council put pen to paper in an effort to encourage the province to help us add more seats so that we can continue to whittle away at this doctor shortage we have. North Bay’s city council, Sault Ste. Marie’s city council and others have done the same.  Merci, marsi, miigwetch and thank you to all the cities and leaders who are leading this charge.

And we can’t forget our town hall meetings all around the North. Hand to my heart: the innovation, creativity and collective will from northerners all across the region to see NOSM University thrive and live out its purpose was truly amazing. Now that we’ve made clear NOSM University is not leaving Thunder Bay, or anywhere else for that matter, everyone is pulling in the same direction.

NOSM is about to undergo a historic change when we transform into Canada’s first stand-alone medical university, but our mission—our focus—has not waivered. We all are on the same team, and we all wear the same superhero cape—in the North, by the North and for the North

Private gifts, provincial support, community cheerleaders, superheroes: this is that moment in the NOSM movie when Northern Ontario lays its committed hand on top of the government’s, and then community slaps its hand on top of another community’s, and then one, two, three: we’re all in!

Miigwetch, thank you, marsi, merci,

Dr. Sarita Verma
Dean, President and CEO
Northern Ontario School of Medicine

If you have any feedback or comments, please reach out at dean@nosm.ca  and follow me on Twitter @ddsv3.

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Congratulations to NOSM’s Everyday Heroes and Rising Stars!

I would like to say welcome back to school, but the latest on Omicron and COVID-19 restrictions feel more like welcome back to 2021!

Effective Wednesday, January 5, for at least 21 days—until January 26, 2022—subject to trends in public health and health system indicators, Ontario is reducing social gathering limits to five people indoors and 10 people outdoors, and limiting capacity at organized public events to five people indoors.

We are back to working from home, which requires businesses and organizations to ensure employees work remotely unless the nature of their work requires them to be on-site. Capacity restrictions, closures and limitations on businesses and schools moving to online learning all have a huge impact on us. The surgical and routine health care backlog is going to be immense, and our recovery period will be a challenge.

To prevent hospitals and the entire health system from becoming overwhelmed, Ontario is back in a Phase 2 lockdown. The tsunami of new and emerging cases due to the Omicron variant cannot be stopped, but it can be slowed. And, vaccinations, boosters and self-protection measures with N95 masks, sanitizing and only essential travel is here for a while longer.

We should not wait to plan the recovery stage. Although the first step is to manage the crisis and to implement the emergency measures, NOSM is also planning for the return to normalcy (whenever that will be). At least planning is a good coping mechanism, isn’t it? We will keep responding, but we will move beyond that toward recovering and thriving. Ensuring that everyone is engaged, informed and keeping well—both physically and mentally—is at the top of our 2022 New Year’s Resolutions list.

Resolution #1: Ensuring that everyone is engaged, informed and keeping well—both physically and mentally— is our top priority.