Together, the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) and the people and communities of Northern Ontario are creating a Strategic Plan for the School for the years 2015-2020.

From May to September 2014, NOSM’s Dean and CEO Dr. Roger Strasser, Associate Dean of Community Engagement and Senior Associate Dean at Laurentian University, Dr. David Marsh, senior leaders, and staff are travelling to more than 50 Northern, rural, remote, Francophone, and Aboriginal communities across the North to meet with individuals, organizations, health-care professionals, and faculty to discuss Northern Ontarians’ ongoing health-related needs. The input provides important guidance and sets priorities for NOSM’s future. All feedback is extensively recorded, and will inform the direction that the School takes for the next five years.

Established in 2005, NOSM is closely approaching its tenth anniversary. While the last ten years have proven to be very successful for advances in medical education and research in the North, the School is committed to ongoing innovation and excellence.

“The Northern Ontario School of Medicine was born out of a widespread community movement that said: if we’re ever going to change the shortage of physicians in Northern Ontario, we need our own, stand-alone medical school in Northern Ontario,” says Dr. Roger Strasser, NOSM Dean. “Now, nearly ten years after NOSM opened its doors, the input of Northern Ontario communities is just as important as it was nearly a decade ago. Discussion with Northern Ontarians is vital in identifying how we can work together for a healthier North.”

“At NOSM, all of our activities regarding education, research, and service centre around improving the health of Northern Ontarians,” says Dr. David Marsh, NOSM Senior Associate Dean at Laurentian University and Associate Dean of Community Engagement. “So far in August, for example, we have visited Sundridge, Burks Falls, Huntsville, Bracebridge, Parry Sound, Espanola, Blind River, Thessalon, Sioux Lookout, Thunder Bay, and Sudbury. Next week, we will visit Atikokan, Fort Frances and Emo, Kenora, and Red Lake. We are doing this to ensure that our Strategic Plan for 2015-2020 reflects the needs of the people and communities of the North.”

Help Create NOSM’s 2020 Vision

There are continuing ways to have your say in NOSM’s priorities for the next half of this decade. NOSM invites:
a. Northern Ontarians to visit nosmsp2020.ca to rank current strategic priorities identified in community meetings to date. Northern Ontarians are also invited to submit personalized feedback via the website. The site will be continuously updated as the School further refines its priorities based on received input.

b. Partner organizations to send written submissions identifying priorities, strategic enablers, and other important areas of collaboration to strategicplan2015-2020@nosm.ca. Further information about written submissions can be found at nosmsp2020.ca/your-input.

From August 13-15, 2014, Chapleau Cree First Nation hosted the Northern Ontario School of Medicine’s (NOSM) fourth Aboriginal Community Partnership Gathering, called “Walking the Vision.”
NOSM senior leaders, faculty, and staff gathered with over 100 Aboriginal community members from across Northern Ontario to:

• Develop, strengthen, and enhance relationships.
• Provide information regarding past recommendations made to the School at the last gathering May 2011.
• Report about the tangible progress the School has made in implementing those recommendations.
• Seek recommendations about how the School can refine its practices, activities, and outcomes to ensure that NOSM continues to meet the needs of Aboriginal peoples across Northern Ontario.

“At these gatherings we ask, ‘What do you think about NOSM’s progress? What next steps can we take to ensure that NOSM truly meets your needs, and the needs of your community?'” says Dr. David Marsh, NOSM Associate Dean of Community Engagement and Senior Associate Dean of Medicine at Laurentian University. “This process of collaboration ensures that Aboriginal people of Northern Ontario have a voice at NOSM, and that the School is accountable to the priorities that our communities identify for us.”

“Engaging Aboriginal people across the region in the School’s activities and development is an important part of NOSM’s commitment to social accountability,” says Tina Armstrong, NOSM’s Director of Aboriginal Affairs. “Gchi-miigwetch to Chapleau Cree First Nation for hosting this event in their traditional territory, and to all of our delegates who travelled across the North to share their wisdom with us.”