The Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) held a two-day Board of Directors meeting in Thunder Bay on November 27 and 28, 2019.
On the first day, the Board attended the Lakehead University Report to the Community where they learned about annual achievements and viewed interactive research exhibits. The afternoon was spent in a workshop discussing the future of social accountability and what the School’s role could be moving forward. This session was facilitated by Drs. Alexander Anawati, Erin Cameron and Joseph LeBlanc.
The second day of meetings focused on the School’s strategic priorities with Dr. Sarita Verma, Dean, President and CEO along with facilitator Erik Lockhart led a strategic planning workshop. The Board discussed long-term directions and desires for NOSM; contributed to an environmental scan by identifying issues, opportunities and challenges for the School; and discussed priorities over the next five years.
The day concluded with an open meeting of the Board of Directors, the Financial report for the months ending September 30, 2019, the Occupational Health & Safety Policy, and the Joint Benefits Committee recommendations for Health and Dental benefits effective October 1, 2019 were approved.
Nancy Jacko will be the new Nominations and Community Relations (NCR) Sub-Committee Chair. In addition, there will be three new members on the NCR subcommittee: NOSM Director, Donna Dorrington, Indigenous Reference Group Chair: Ed Wawia, Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association Representative and Shelby Ch’ng.
The next meeting of the Board of Directors is scheduled for March 18, 2020.
For a complete list of Board members, please visit our website at nosm.ca/board.
Dr. Rob Anderson is a highly regarded clinician at Health Sciences North in Sudbury where he has practiced anesthesiology and critical care medicine since 2006. He completed his medical degree at McMaster University and then went on to Queens’ University to train in anesthesiology, perioperative transesophageal echocardiography and critical care medicine. He is a former program director, Competency-Based Medical Education lead and a passionate educator.
Dr. David Marsh joined NOSM in July 2010 as Associate Dean, Community Engagement—a position he held until February 2018. Prior to joining NOSM, Dr. Marsh held leadership positions with Vancouver Coastal Health and Providence Health Care and faculty appointment with the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Marsh’s research interests focus primarily on treatment of opioid dependence including heroin-assisted treatment and supervised injection.
Dr. William McCready is a clinical nephrologist who has provided specialized kidney care to the patients of Northwestern Ontario for 38 years. Dr. McCready is the former Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs and was NOSM’s Senior Associate Dean at Lakehead University. He also served as interim President and CEO of the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre for nine months. Dr. McCready has also been on the board of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario and continues to sit on their Discipline, Fitness to Practice and Quality Assurance committees.
Dr. Brian Ross joined NOSM in 2004 as one of the School’s founding faculty members. He has been involved in leading the first two years of the MD program, teaching medical students about the nervous system and has conducted research into medical education, nutritional neuroscience and metabolomics. Dr. Ross earned a PhD in neuroscience and pharmacology from the University of Glasgow and a Master of Education from Lakehead University. He has been NOSM’s interim Associate Dean Undergraduate Medical Education since January 2019.