Northern European Countries to Learn From Canada’s Strategies to Attract Health Professionals to Underserviced Areas

Recruiting and retaining health-care professionals for rural and remote communities is an ongoing challenge in many parts of the world. Beginning today, Canada’s Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) is hosting an international conference aimed at sharing strategies for attracting health-care professionals and other public sector workers to underserved areas. The conference will conclude on Friday, January 17, 2014.

The Canadian Recruit and Retain Conference, taking place in Thunder Bay, Ontario, brings together international delegates from several northern European countries to discuss best practices for ensuring that people living in remote communities benefit from high-quality health care. The conference is part of the Recruit and Retain project funded by the European Union, of which NOSM is the only non-European partner.

NOSM’s inclusion in the Recruit and Retain project stems from its social accountability mandate responding to the health-care needs of rural and remote communities in Northern Ontario. Since it opened in 2005, NOSM’s made-in-the-North solution has garnered international recognition for its unique and effective model. In a very short time, NOSM has become a world leader in community-engaged medical education and research, while staying true to its social accountability mandate of contributing to improving the health of the people and communities of Northern Ontario.

“I am very excited about working with our international partners,” explains Dr. Roger Strasser, NOSM Dean. “We all have the same goal in mind: ensuring that people – no matter where they live – have equal access to quality medical care. I am sincerely looking forward to sharing the experiences of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, and hearing more about the strategies of our European collaborators.”

Conference participants include policy makers, educators, and health professionals from across Europe and Canada, including representation from the Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement’s (CFHI) Northern, Rural or Remote Pan-Provincial Collaboration who will share how the Collaboration is uniting regions across five provinces to address common health care challenges. CFHI is providing in-kind support for the conference, where many of the European project partners in attendance are from European agencies equivalent to the Canadian regional health authority partners that make up the Collaboration.

The other participating countries are Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Greenland, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland.

“The Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement is pleased to support this conference focusing on the recruitment and retention of health-care professionals in rural and remote communities,” says Maureen O’Neil, President, CFHI.  “Bringing together Canadian and international experts to share best practices for improving health care aligns perfectly with CFHI’s focus on spreading health care innovations across jurisdictions.”   ​

About CFHI:

The Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement ( www.cfhi-fcass.ca ) is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to healthcare improvement and transformation for Canadians. CFHI collaborates with governments, policy-makers, and health system leaders to convert evidence and innovative practices into actionable policies, programs, tools and leadership development. CFHI is funded through an agreement with the Government of Canada.

For further information, please contact:

Paulette Roberge
Senior Communications Specialist
Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement
613-790-1070
paulette.roberge@cfhi-fcass.ca

On Thursday, November 28, 2013, faculty of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) presented their innovative research projects at a provincial showcase in Toronto. Titled “Innovation Fund Showcase 2013: From Innovation to Practice,” the showcase featured a selection of research projects being led by academic physicians committed to transforming healthcare delivery in Ontario. The conference was a joint initiative of the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, and the Ontario Medical Association.

The showcase highlighted projects that have been funded by the Innovation Fund – a pool of funding that was established to encourage physicians to develop new approaches to deliver better medical care in Ontario. Each year, $10 million is released to the 17 academic health science centres across the province. NOSM receives an allocation from this fund which is administered by the Northern Ontario Academic Medicine Association (NOAMA). Through NOAMA, NOSM’s physician clinical faculty from across Northern Ontario can apply for funding to pursue research that will improve patient care. 

Through a very competitive process, physicians submit projects to be evaluated, and they are reviewed at the provincial level for this funding. Since 2005, NOSM’s physician clinical faculty have received nearly $2 million in funding to pursue research to improve medical care for patients in Northern Ontario. 

Of all the projects funded across Ontario through the Innovation Fund in 2013, only a small group of projects are selected to showcase their work at the annual showcase. This year, three projects from NOSM faculty were selected to showcase their work at the provincial conference: 

• Presenting their research project titled “Sachigo Lake Wilderness Emergency Response Education Initiative,” Assistant Professors in Family Medicine Drs. Aaron Orkin and David VanderBurgh presented in the category of Creative Patient-Centred Care.

“The portion of the Innovation Fund allocated to Northern Ontario School of Medicine faculty is specifically allocated to physician clinical faculty – doctors who not only have a very full patient case load, but who also accept NOSM learners,” explains Dr. Roger Strasser, NOSM Dean. “Their decision to undertake research to improve patient care in addition to their regular duties demonstrates how committed our faculty are to improving the health of Northern Ontarians. I express my sincere gratitude for the commitment, dedication, and innovation of these physicians.”
 

The Board of Directors of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) held a face-to-face meeting in Thunder Bay on November 28 and 29, 2013.

On the first day of the two-day meeting, Board members were provided a tour of the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (TBRHSC), led by TBRHSC’s Andrée Robichaud, President and CEO; Tracie Smith, Senior Director, Communications and Engagement; and, Karen Anderson, Academic Liaison Coordinator. The TBRHSC is a state-of-the-art acute care facility and teaching hospital where NOSM medical students and residents undertake rotations in various specialties (e.g., Surgery, Internal Medicine, Children’s Health, Women’s Health, Mental Health, Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine, etc.) as part of their medical education.

In the afternoon, Board members heard presentations from Omair Quraishi, NOSM’s Chief Information Officer, on exciting technological innovations underway at the medical school. Hugh Goldie, a facilitator specializing in Board governance, strategic planning, and organization design and an Associate of The Exchange Group, led a lively interactive session titled “Confidence at the Board Table.” The Board identified several concepts presented by Goldie as valuable to guiding future discussions.

Later that evening at the Board dinner, Awards of Excellence were presented to learners, faculty, and preceptors by Dr. Bill McCready, Senior Associate Dean, West Campus, and Dr. Janice Willett, Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs. Learners receiving awards included second-year medical students Ms. Mallory Granholm and Mr. Samuel Peters. Dr. Maurianne Reade, a rural family doctor and Assistant Professor based in Mindemoya on Manitoulin Island, and Ms. Crystal Morra, a Registered Dietician and Northern Ontario Dietetic Internship Program (NODIP) preceptor at Noojmowin Teg Health Centre in Little Current on Manitoulin Island were the recipients of faculty and preceptor awards.

On the second day of the meeting, the Board toured the Faculty of Law at Lakehead University, located in the historic Port Arthur Collegial Institute, with Dean Dr. Lee Stuesser. The first new law school in Ontario in over 40 years, the school focuses on preparing students for the practice of law in rural and smaller centres where there is a pressing need for new lawyers.

Following the tour, Board members were introduced to a proposed process to create a 2015-2020 Strategic Plan for NOSM. At this session led by Ken Adams, NOSM’s Chief Administrative Officer, and Grace Vita, NOSM’s Director of Planning and Risk, Board members were invited to contribute their ideas with respect to the proposed process, which includes plans for extensive consultation with NOSM stakeholders to arrive at the Strategic Plan’s key objectives. The Board approved the scope and guiding principles of the process presented.

At the formal Board meeting, members received a copy of the Rendez-Vous 2012 Conference Report, which provides an overview of the activities that took place at this successful health professional education conference, hosted by NOSM, in October 2012. Rendez-Vous 2012 attracted more than 850 international participants from around the world to consider community participation in education, research, and service. The report is now available at www.rendez-vous2012.ca.

The Board of Directors approved Financial Statements from the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee for the six-month period ending October 31, 2013. The Board also approved a Conflict of Interest (COI) with Commercial Entities policy for the School, along with a proposed strategy to implement the policy.

Mr. Dominic Giroux, Chair of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine’s Board of Directors and President of Laurentian University, noted that the two-day meeting in Thunder Bay accomplished several important objectives. “With NOSM Board members distributed across Northern Ontario, our semiannual face-to-face meetings provide an opportunity to foster cohesion and collaborate in an extremely valuable way. The two-day meetings have allowed us to participate in thought-provoking presentations, engage in important discussion, and celebrate the exceptional commitment of our learners, faculty, and preceptors. Our meetings were a resounding success,” he said.

The Northern Ontario School of Medicine’s next Board of Directors meeting is scheduled to occur on March 19, 2014.

For a complete list of Board members, please visit our website at nosm.ca .