This week, four third-year medical students of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) are beginning their Comprehensive Community Clerkships (CCC) in the community of Sioux Lookout.

Jessica Moretti, Lise Mozzon, Elaine St. John, and Tracy Michano-Stewart will be learning in the community’s principal health-care facility, the Sioux Lookout Meno-Ya-Win Health Centre.

An affiliation agreement between NOSM and Meno-Ya-Win has been signed, solidifying a partnership between the two institutions and allowing NOSM medical students to gain valuable hands-on practical experience in the community.

To welcome the four medical students, the Local NOSM Group (LNG) has organized an informal breakfast at Knobby’s, a local hotspot and well-known landmark located on Pelican Lake. The students will also join members of Town Council and the Chamber of Commerce on a ‘meet and greet’ houseboat cruise. The local physicians and other community members who make up Sioux Lookout’s LNG are an important link between the community and the medical students, providing a smooth integration into Sioux Lookout through orientation, relevant information and introductions to other community members.

Roger Walker, CEO of the Sioux Lookout Meno-Ya-Win Health Centre, is proud to be a part of a true community-based medical school. “Welcoming NOSM medical students into our community is an important part of our commitment to developing physicians who understand and appreciate the unique features and benefits of practicing medicine in Northern communities,” he said. “As a Comprehensive Community Clerkship site for medical students, our professional staff is given the opportunity to instruct students in a unique medical environment where students are able to observe, learn and participate in the care of patients.” During their eight months in Sioux Lookout, students will be taught by local physicians and other healthcare providers who are NOSM faculty members.

Dr. Roger Strasser, NOSM Founding Dean, says the people and communities of the North are integral to the success of the Comprehensive Community Clerkships. “The Northern Ontario School of Medicine is committed to building long term partnerships with communities and health organizations across Northern Ontario. Meno-Ya-Win Health Centre, local physicians, healthcare providers and other community members are welcomed partners,” he said.

Ten communities throughout Northern Ontario are hosting NOSM third-year medical students for the first time this September 2007. All 56 students of the School’s Charter Class are participating in the Comprehensive Community Clerkships.

The Ontario government is strengthening the health care and prosperity of northerners by investing in a new Cancer and Cardiac Research Centre in Thunder Bay, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty announced today.

“All of us know family and friends receiving cancer or cardiac care, and we all know how important research is to bringing our loved ones back to full health,” said Premier McGuinty. “This research will not only benefit northerners, but Ontarians and Canadians whose health care could depend on the answers this type of research will provide.”

The Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation will provide $2,214,167 to make the former site of the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Cancer Centre suitable for the new research facility.

The Cancer and Cardiac Research Centre is expected to house several different research initiatives that will be supported by local medical professionals, educational institutions and private sector partners.

“The new centre will enable researchers to compile a wealth of oncological and cardiac- related knowledge that will contribute immensely to ongoing research efforts,” said Thunder Bay- Superior North MPP Michael Gravelle. “We are pleased to bring such research excellence to the North.”

“Creating jobs in new emerging technology and health care sectors throughout the North is a priority for our government,” said Thunder Bay-Atikokan MPP Bill Mauro. “This project will create more than 25 jobs within the health care sector in the pursuit of life-saving modern medical treatment.”
“By bringing first class health care research to northern Ontario, we are strengthening the health and prosperity of hard working northerners and their families,” said Premier McGuinty.

Dr. Stephen Kish will be the guest speaker at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine’s monthly Symposium on April 21, 2005. Dr. Kish’s presentation, “The Recreational Drug Ecstasy (MDMA): Brain Neurotoxin or Therapeutic”, will review the “science” of ecstasy, and assess the strength of the evidence of neurotoxicity in humans and the possibility that the drug might be helpful in the treatment of patients with some anxiety disorders.

It is not uncommon for family physicians to encounter young patients with a wide range of psychiatric complaints, who suggest that their condition is a direct consequence of repeated exposure to ecstasy. Dr. Kish will discuss this illicit recreational drug that continues to be controversial. Expert opinions differ on ecstasy’s long-term harm effects, and whether ecstasy has some clinical use in psychiatry.

Dr. Kish is Head of the Human Neuro Chemical Pathology Laboratory at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, and Professor in the departments of Psychiatry and Pharmacology at the University of Toronto. He is also a Fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. He is presently leading a team of scientists at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Studies on the behavior and brains of young users of ecstasy. To date, he remains the only researcher who has published postmortem brain Neuro chemical findings on people who chronically used these amphetamine derivatives.

The Symposium will be broadcast from the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, East campus, Willet Green Miller Centre, 8th Floor, Laurentian University, Sudbury from 12 to 1:30 pm, Eastern time. It can be viewed via videoconference at the School’s West campus located at Advanced Technology & Academic Centre, 6th floor, Room 6022, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay. Limited seating is available at each site. Please contact Sherry Carlucci at (705) 662-7257 to reserve a spot.

Health professionals may participate in the Symposium at NORTH Network sites throughout the region. Individuals may view the live webcast from their computers by going to www.normed.ca for web cast setup and details.