A new residency program at NOSM University will help improve access to urology services in Northern Ontario.

Urologists are physicians who specialize in diseases of the male and female urinary tracts including the kidneys and bladder, and male reproductive organs. The program will train residents in voiding dysfunction, reconstructive urology, oncology, pediatrics, and infertility.

Many Northern Ontario communities do not have direct access to urological services. The program has a strong focus on health equity and will help residents to understand the challenges of offering urological care to rural patients, including patients in Indigenous communities, who may not have a urologist in their home community.

Residents will be based in Thunder Bay and will have clinical opportunities at both the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (TBRHSC) and Health Sciences North in Greater Sudbury. Additional training will take place in smaller communities and regional hospitals. Physicians will learn to deliver care to rural communities as part of outreach programs, including Teleconsultation clinics. Through an inter-institutional agreement, the University of Toronto will provide additional mandatory rotations with specific training that is not available in Northern Ontario clinical settings.

“NOSM University is pleased to continue to expand our residency programs. Training urologists in the North will encourage more specialists to stay here to practise and to fill regional health-care needs,” says Dr. Rob Anderson, Associate Dean, Postgraduate Medical Education.

The five-year program is now open for applications from medical graduates through the CaRMS R-1 match and will admit its first residents in July 2024.

Dr. Walid Shahrour, inaugural Program Director, Urology, currently serves as the surgical oncology lead for Northwestern Ontario and the lead of urology at TBRHSC. Dr. Shahrour completed a clinical fellowship in reconstructive urology and trauma at Kulkarni Hospital in Pune, India, following medical school and residency at McGill University. He joined the faculty at NOSM University in 2016. Dr. Shahrour’s clinical practice focuses on minimally invasive surgeries and on all aspects of reconstructive urology, including cancer survivorship, urethral reconstruction, men’s health, upper tract, and pediatric reconstruction. His research interests include reconstructive urology and health equity.

“I am very excited to help launch this new residency so that physicians in the North can offer better access to urology services where they are needed most,” says Dr. Shahrour.

The new program is part of NOSM University’s expansion, which will nearly double the number of postgraduate positions by 2028. This will be achieved by gradually adding new residency programs—including Urology—as well as by increasing the number of positions in existing programs. In the same time period, the capacity of the MD program will also gradually increase and nearly double.

Learn more about the new Urology program at nosm.ca/urology/.

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NOSM University welcomes incoming Board of Governors Chair, Vice-Chair

Monday November 27th, 2023 Tara Hawkes

Search begins for incoming President, Vice-Chancellor, Dean and CEO

As NOSM University welcomes incoming leadership to its Board of Governors, thanks and praise go to those who sat in the inaugural seats.

Joy Warkentin, NOSM University’s inaugural Chair, will be succeeded by Sue LeBeau effective January 1, 2024. At the same time, Virginia May “Mae” Katt will move to Vice-Chair, succeeding Mark Hurst in the role.

“There really are no words to express my gratitude to Joy and Mark,” says Dr. Sarita Verma, President, Vice-Chancellor, Dean and CEO of NOSM University. “They have been instrumental in guiding this institution through some of its most remarkable periods, including our transition to becoming a university. Their leadership inspires.”

Sue LeBeau, CEO of West Nipissing General Hospital, has been a member of the Board in various capacities since 2019. She is currently Vice-Chair of the Board’s Governance Committee.

“I am humbled by the opportunity to serve as NOSM University’s next board Chair,” she says.

NOSM University welcomes Mae Katt as the new Vice-Chair to the Board of Governors. Mae Katt is Ojibway from Temagami First Nation. She is a Primary Health Care Nurse Practitioner and holds an Honours Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing, a Masters of Education (Curriculum Specialty) and an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Trent University. She began her journey with the Board of Governors in September 2020.

After five years of dedicated leadership, Dr. Sarita Verma, NOSM University’s inaugural President, Vice Chancellor, Dean and CEO, has declined the offer of reappointment with NOSM University.

Dr. Verma became the second Dean and CEO of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine after Dr. Roger Strasser left the role on June 30, 2019. On April 1, 2022 following proclamation of NOSM University, Dr. Verma assumed the role of President, Vice Chancellor, Dean and CEO.

Dr. Verma concludes her term in June 2024. A search committee will be established by the NOSM University Board of Governors.

For further information, please contact news@nosm.ca.

In the Spotlight

Give Back this Giving Tuesday

Monday November 27th, 2023 Tara Hawkes

Tuesday, November 28 is Giving Tuesday and there is a way we can help aspiring doctors alleviate student debt even faster.

Did you know that NOSM University students graduate with nearly twice the debt of students at other medical schools in Canada?

It’s not because we’re more expensive: it’s because we recruit from the North, for the North, and typically, people in the region don’t have access to the same financial and social means as students in the south.

Thanks to the FDC Foundation, Temerty Foundation, and the generosity of countless donors like you, we are well on the way to reaching our goal of creating the first $50M endowment for NOSM University learners to use now and into the future.

Covering as much of their tuition as possible will incentivize those same students to follow their passion for health care at NOSM University, and then perhaps, to follow their hearts back to Northern Ontario to practise.

This year, the first $10,000 raised will be matched by the President’s Visionary Fund in support of our learners. That means, with your help we could raise another $20,000 towards student financial aid!

Don’t miss this opportunity to have your donation doubled. If you’d like to support our students when they need it the most, you can donate online. Can we count you in?

For more information, contact NOSM University’s Advancement team at advancement@nosm.ca or 1-800-461-8777.