Dr. David Marsh to Assume Deputy Dean and Dr. Catherine Cervin to Assume
Senior Associate Dean, Laurentian University Roles

The Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) is pleased to announce the reappointment of Dr. David Marsh as NOSM’s Associate Dean of Community Engagement for a second five-year term, effective July 1, 2015. In addition, Dr. Marsh will take up the new role of Deputy Dean, effective January 1, 2015.

Community Engagement at NOSM is a mechanism to deliver on the School’s social accountability mandate by ensuring all NOSM’s activities are conducted in active partnership with the communities the School serves. Dr. Marsh’s Aboriginal ancestry, coupled with a firsthand engagement with distinct populations and his strong clinical experience ideally position him to respond to the needs of Northern Ontario’s diverse cultural groups.

In his role as Deputy Dean, Dr. Marsh will be responsible for leading whole-school academic program developments by enabling, facilitating, and coordinating cross-portfolio collaborative initiatives which are consistent with the NOSM Strategic Plan and determined by the Executive Group. The Deputy Dean may assume the Dean’s responsibilities during the Dean’s absence.

In addition, Dr. Catherine Cervin, NOSM’s Associate Dean of Postgraduate Education (PGE) will assume the role of Senior Associate Dean at NOSM at Laurentian University as of January 1, 2015. Dr. Cervin has been successfully leading NOSM’s residency training programs since 2011, and has continued to fortify NOSM’s reputation as a leader in residency training to meet the needs of Northern Ontario. In May 2014, NOSM underwent its first full accreditation review for Postgraduate Education. The success of this review is a credit to the Postgraduate team under Dr. Cervin’s leadership.

“It is with great excitement that I congratulate both Dr. Marsh on his renewal and expanded role as Deputy Dean, as well as Dr. Cervin on her broadened role as Senior Associate Dean,” says Dr. Roger Strasser, NOSM Dean. “The range of skills, breadth of experience, and level of commitment to distributed community-engaged learning and health research demonstrated by both of these individuals has undoubtedly contributed to the high calibre of learning experiences at the School.”

About Dr. David Marsh

Dr. Marsh graduated in Medicine from Memorial University of Newfoundland in 1992, following prior training in neuroscience and pharmacology. In July 2010, Dr. Marsh joined the Northern Ontario School of Medicine as Associate Dean, Community Engagement. He brings skills and experience with health-care administration, strategic planning, community-based research and social accountability as well as a personal background of Aboriginal ancestry to this role. Prior to moving to NOSM, David served as the Physician Leader, Addiction Medicine with Vancouver Coastal Health and Providence Health Care and Clinical Associate Professor in the School of Population and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia from 2004-2010. Previously, he held leadership roles at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto from 1996-2003. Author of over 70 peer-reviewed papers, book chapters and government reports, Dr. Marsh’s research interests focus primarily on addiction medicine, methadone maintenance, heroin-assisted treatment, and harm reduction interventions such as supervised injection. He continues to be actively engaged in the development of research and supervision of graduate students at NOSM having received over $300,000 in research funding in the past three years for studies on Opioid Agonist Treatment in partnership with the Institutes of Clinical and Evaluative Sciences (ICES). In 2004, Dr. Marsh received the Nyswander-Dole Award from the American Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence in recognition of his contribution to this field. In addition, Dr. Marsh received the 2013 Physician Achievement Award from the Ontario Medical Association (OMA) Section on Addiction Medicine.

About Dr. Catherine Cervin

Dr. Catherine (Cathy) Cervin grew up in southern Ontario, went to medical school at the University of Toronto, finished her family medicine residency at Dalhousie and then practised full-scope family medicine in Northern Ontario (Timmins and Sault Ste. Marie) for seven years before embarking on an academic career in the Department of Family Medicine at Dalhousie. While at Dalhousie, Dr. Cervin took on a number of leadership roles. She became Hospital Chief of the Department of Family Medicine at the Grace Maternity Hospital (now the IWK Women and Children’s Health Centre), she was Residency Program Director for Family Medicine for ten years, and was the Interim Department Head of Dalhousie Family Medicine. As befits a generalist, her professional interests are wide ranging and include social accountability, educating for comprehensive primary care, curriculum development, learning portfolios, communication skills and cultural competency. Her clinical interests include primary maternity care, the patient-centred approach, and chronic disease care.

Recognized by her peers and colleagues, Dr. Cervin received a Certificate of Merit from the Canadian Association of Medical Education in 2009 and also received an Award of Excellence from the College of Family Physicians in 2010. That same year, she completed her Masters of Medical Education. Dr. Cervin was also recently appointed as a new Director on the Board of the Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMS). Dr. Cervin also holds leadership roles at the College of Family Physicians of Canada as Chair of the Board of Examiners and Vice Chair of the Research and Education Foundation.

Members Hear Medical Student Experiences and Say Farewell to Ken Adams, Departing CAO 

The Board of Directors of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) held a face-to-face meeting in Sudbury on November 28 and 29, 2014.

On the first day of the two-day meeting, Board members heard presentations from NOSM Associate Deans on the topics of faculty engagement, research ethics, patient safety and simulation in health care, and community engagement.

In the afternoon, two NOSM medical students relayed their experiences to the Board. Reflecting on her upbringing in Sault Ste. Marie and medical school learning placements, fourth-year medical student Kendra Komsa spoke about the various influences that have led her to want to be a rural physician in Northern Ontario. Next, third-year medical student Nicole Ranger, via WebEx from the community of Hearst, spoke about the rich cultural and linguistic dimensions of her Comprehensive Community Clerkship (CCC) placement in that community. Both students agreed that NOSM’s distinctive, distributed community-engaged model is preparing students well for practice in rural settings.

Before dinner, Board members were provided a tour of Laurentian University’s Laurentian Architecture Laurentienne (LAL). Opening in September 2013, LAL is the first new school of architecture in Canada in over 40 years, and the first outside of the province of Québec to offer French programming. The Bachelor of Architectural Studies (BAS) undergraduate program focuses on design, culture, technology and professional practice, highlighting design and culture for the North.

After dinner, Board members said farewell to NOSM’s departing Chief Administrative Officer, Ken Adams. The Board congratulated Ken on his new appointment to the position of Vice President, College Services at Confederation College in early January 2015, and thanked him for his significant contributions to the administration of the School over the last six and a half years of service at NOSM.

To begin the second day of meetings, the Board toured the Northern Ontario School of Medicine at Laurentian University.

After a presentation on finance led by Ben Petersen, Treasurer and Chair of the Finance Audit and Risk Management Committee, Ken Adams, NOSM’s CAO, and Joe Lipinski, NOSM’s Director of Finance, Board members participated in a workshop to consider implementation planning for NOSM’s 2015-2020 Strategic Plan. This session, led by Dr. Roger Strasser, NOSM Dean, Dr. David Marsh, NOSM’s Associate Dean of Community Engagement, and Grace Vita, NOSM’s Director of Planning and Risk, asked Board members to reflect on how, during the implementation phase, NOSM can learn from, and build upon, the strong community engagement that occurred during the development of the plan. From May to September 2014, senior leaders and staff travelled 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 received has provided important guidance to setting the priorities of NOSM’s 2015-2020 Strategic Plan.

At the formal Board meeting in the afternoon, members received reports from the Finance, Audit and Risk Management, Governance, and Executive committees, and the Nominations and Community Relations sub-committees. The Board also received reports from the School’s Francophone and Aboriginal Reference Groups. In addition, Board members received a copy of The Scope, a new biannual publication that highlights research by faculty members in the School’s Human, Medical, and Clinical Sciences Divisions, residents, medical students, a broad range of health-professional learners, and collaborators-all with a view to improving the health of Northern Ontarians and beyond. The Scope is now available at  nosm.ca/thescope .

The Board of Directors approved Financial Statements from the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee for the five-month period ending September 30, 2014.

Dr. Brian Stevenson, Chair of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine’s Board of Directors and President of Lakehead University, noted that the two-day meeting in Sudbury was a great success. “I am always inspired by the rich discussions and collaboration that occurs when NOSM Board members meet,” he said. “The Board takes such pride in what the medical school is accomplishing, and the incredible contribution NOSM’s staff, faculty, learners, and alumni are making to improve the health of people and communities across Northern Ontario.”

The Northern Ontario School of Medicine’s next Board of Directors meeting is scheduled to occur on March 18, 2015.

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

Contact:

news@nosm.ca

Earlier this month, the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) and the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy signed a Collaboration Agreement that will allow the two schools to work together towards improving health in Northern Ontario’s communities.

Both organizations share a commitment to expanding educational opportunities for students in the Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) program to train in Northern Ontario. Students with a strong desire to pursue pharmacy practice in Northern communities will benefit from enhanced experiences while on their Northern co-op experiences during the first three years of the program. In addition, students in their final year of studies will undertake 24 weeks of patient care rotations that include variety of NOSM’s distributed teaching sites. Starting in January 2015, selected Waterloo students will complete their last term of studies in Northern Ontario at one of three regional sites – Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie, or Thunder Bay.

The agreement between NOSM and the University of Waterloo lists a number of additional areas of potential collaboration, including integrating pharmacy students in interprofessional learning experiences, and continuing professional development opportunities during their training in Northern Ontario. Faculty from the two schools will also explore collaborative educational and research initiatives related to improving the health of Northern populations.

“We believe that the partnership with NOSM will provide pharmacy students from the University of Waterloo with expanded opportunities for interprofessional education and experiential learning,” says David Edwards, Hallman Director, School of Pharmacy and Associate Dean, Faculty of Science. “This will help us to produce outstanding health care professionals who are able to meet the unique needs of patients in Northern and rural Ontario.”

“We are excited that as a result of this collaboration these pharmacy students will experience the rewarding opportunities that come from living, working, and learning in Northern Ontario,” said Dr. Roger Strasser, NOSM Dean. “Our hope is that one day they will join the dedicated health professionals already delivering exceptional care across the North.”

About the University of Waterloo
In just half a century, the University of Waterloo, located at the heart of Canada’s technology hub, has become one of Canada’s leading comprehensive universities with 35,000 full- and part-time students in undergraduate and graduate programs. Waterloo, as home to the world’s largest post-secondary co-operative education program, embraces its connections to the world and encourages enterprising partnerships in learning, research and discovery. In the next decade, the university is committed to building a better future for Canada and the world by championing innovation and collaboration to create solutions relevant to the needs of today and tomorrow. For more information about Waterloo, please visit www.uwaterloo.ca.

For further information, please contact:  

Nick Manning
Director of Media Relations and Issues Management
University of Waterloo
Phone:     519-888-4451
Cell:         226-929-7627
Email:      nmanning@uwaterloo.ca