The Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Tariq Al-idrissi to the position of Director, Academic Information Management Solutions. In this role, Mr. Al-idrissi is responsible for all aspects of planning, implementing, and evaluating the information systems that support the storage, retrieval, and processing needs of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, as well as those that support educational activities at the School.

Expertise in medical education and information systems are unique strengths Mr. Al-idrissi brings to his new role. Among his career achievements are the various tasks he previously performed at the Medical School in the capacity of Lead Developer and Applications Architect. Mr. Al-idrissi’s innovation skills, demonstrated in the design of in-house systems and development methodologies, are supported by project management accomplishments, essential to the results-driven demands of the position.

In his capacity of Application Services Manager at TBayTel in Thunder Bay, Mr. Al-idrissi supported the strategic direction of the company by managing multiple projects involving cross-functional teams while coordinating all development projects.

The position of Director, Academic Information Management Solutions includes critical responsibilities: chief among them is the creative utilization of information technology to ensure that NOSM learning programs and curriculum are in a process of continuous improvement through the implementation of advances in medical and educational technology, informatics, and simulation. Mr. Al-idrissi’s command of software applications, programming, and operating systems are key strengths in utilizing electronic communications and information technology to deliver a fully distributed education program at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine.

Mr. Al-idrissi’s degrees in business and system design in medical education fully prepare him to assist in the School’s mission of providing excellence in medical education.

Nearly 400 prospective medical school students were recently at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) campuses in Sudbury and Thunder Bay to undergo in-depth interviews as part of their application to the School’s M.D. program.

This year, NOSM received 1,845 applications. The applicants, many from Northern Ontario, are competing for 56 coveted student seats. Roughly half of the candidates selected for interviews were assessed in Sudbury at the School’s East Campus on March 28 and 29, 2009 while the remainder was assessed in Thunder Bay on April 4 and 5, 2009.

“This year marks the fifth year the Northern Ontario School of Medicine has accepted student applications. Just as in previous years, we are searching for highly motivated students from a variety of backgrounds who are self-directed, and who will excel in a small group-based, distributed learning environment,” said Dr. Marc Blayney, Associate Dean, Community Engagement. He added, “Our goal is to find those who have a strong interest in practicing medicine in communities in Northern Ontario.”

Candidates in both Sudbury and Thunder Bay were also given the opportunity to tour the medical school buildings and facilities, the respective city, and meet with currently enrolled students. “We have a team of trained community volunteers, medical school faculty, staff, and medical students helping us with the interview process,” said Dr. Blair Schoales, Assistant Dean of Admissions. “We sincerely thank all the volunteers for giving their time and expertise. They certainly made all the candidates feel welcomed.”

NOSM seeks to reflect the demographics of Northern Ontario, and encourages applicants who have spent five years or more in rural, remote or urban communities in Northern Ontario, as well as those who are Francophone, Aboriginal, or from other parts of rural Canada. Eighteen percent of the 391 interviewees self-identified as Francophone, while seven percent self-identified as Aboriginal. Females accounted for 62 percent of the applications, while 38 percent of the candidates were male.

Offers of admission from the Northern Ontario School of Medicine will be sent out to successful candidates on May 15, 2009. Orientation Week for NOSM’s entering class of 2009 will begin on August 24, 2009.

Dr. Fred Gilbert, Chair of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) Board of Directors and President of Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, is pleased to announce that Dr. Roger Strasser, NOSM’s Founding Dean, has been reappointed for a five-year term as Dean to follow his current term which ends in June 2009.

“Dr. Strasser has worked diligently to transform a Northern Ontario dream into an internationally recognized School of Medicine with a community-engaged model of education,” said Dr. Gilbert. “As we move into the next five years of NOSM’s development under Dean Strasser’s leadership, we look forward to further strengthening of relationships with the universities and the clinical faculty, as well as with people from the Northern Ontario communities ”

Since taking up his current position as NOSM’s Founding Dean in September 2002, Dr. Roger Strasser has assembled a strong administrative team and worked to respond to the unique health-care challenges of Northern Ontario by leading the creation of a medical school with an innovative model of distributed medical education that draws on the commitment, expertise, and generosity of people in communities across the North. Training and graduating physicians and health professionals with a particular understanding of, and affinity for, people in Northern, rural, and remote settings is a key component of the School’s mandate to be socially accountable to the cultural diversity of the region it serves.

Under Dr. Strasser’s leadership, and with each year since the School’s official opening in 2005, there has been increasing recognition of NOSM’s innovative approaches to medical education from medical faculties around the world, and the School is fast becoming a must-see location for their educators to learn about NOSM’s curriculum, model for distributed community-engaged learning, and use of new technology to advance medical education.

Dr. Roger Strasser came to Canada from Australia where he was Professor of Rural Health for Monash University and Head of the Monash University School of Rural Health in, and around, Melbourne. Dr. Strasser has been awarded a number of prestigious awards including: Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of General Practitioners in recognition of his world leadership in the field of rural health; the Louis Ariotti Award for excellence and innovation in rural and remote health in Australia; Fellow of Wonca in recognition of his outstanding service to Wonca and family medicine around the world; the inaugural Small, Rural and Northern Award of Excellence by the Ontario Hospital Association; and, the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine Life Fellowship Award for outstanding and meritorious service to Rural and Remote Medicine in Australia.