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NOSM MD Program receives full accreditation: What happens next?

NOSM became the first medical school to complete a two-step virtual accreditation visit for an MD program late last year.

This extensive, voluntary peer-evaluation process is critical to ensuring compliance with accepted standards for educational quality. Through accreditation, the Committee on Accreditation of Canadian Medical Schools (CACMS) provides assurance to medical students, graduates, the medical profession, health-care institutions, health authorities, regulatory authorities and—importantly, the public—that educational programs culminating in the award of the MD degree meet reasonable, generally-accepted, and appropriate national standards for educational quality.

CACMS has submitted their findings, and I’m pleased to share that NOSM has maintained its full accreditation of the MD program. As the saying goes, “it takes a village.” I extend my sincere gratitude to everyone who played a role in seeing us through this process. I want to acknowledge the work of the medical school self-study teams (which included NOSM faculty, staff and students), John Friesen, Cathy Powell, Dr. Catherine Cervin and all those who work with the MD program. Thank you to Drs. Lee Toner, Brian Ross and David Musson, NOSM’s current and former Associate Deans, who led the School through this accreditation process at different times over the past eight years.

I’m proud of the NOSM community for taking on the challenge, committing themselves to continuous quality improvements and being dedicated to finding solutions to obstacles, which are often beyond our control. Thank you to our stakeholders, including communities, health-care centres and hospitals, who truly make this a real team effort. We can all be proud of the many accomplishments and improvements we have implemented over the last several years which benefits our learners, learning environment, faculty and our MD program.

Recently, CACMS and the American Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) came to an agreement that LCME would no longer review—but would continue to accredit—Canadian schools until 2025. This accreditation for NOSM will be amongst the first in Canada’s medical schools to be accredited by CACMS alone. Another historic first!

During the accreditation process, one of NOSM’s degree granting universities declared insolvency, which had a major financial impact on the school and certain standards of accreditation. Legislation to make NOSM a stand-alone degree granting institution was proposed and received Royal Assent. The CACMS report has taken into account these changes, I am pleased to tell you that NOSM University will continue to be fully accredited by CACMS and LCME.

Accreditation is an ongoing process. In fact, this accreditation cycle began shortly after our last review in 2012. I can assure you that the NOSM community has worked tirelessly to address all issues that required attention. And the work is not done. Of the total 95 elements that are required, the report identifies 10 elements which are “unsatisfactory” and 13 elements are “satisfactory with monitoring.” The issues raised by the Laurentian University insolvency, as one of our two degree granting institutions for the MD, played a key role in this outcome. Our strengths continue to be our award winning curriculum, the focus on social accountability and the excellence of our students, staff and faculty.

NOSM must address the areas of non-compliance within a specified time frame. This requires an action plan by August 2021, a new data submission by August 2022, and a limited follow up review in October 2022.  Dr. Lee Toner, John Friesen, and their team will continue their work on these elements. They will have my unequivocal support.

To be very clear, NOSM’s MD program is fully accredited.

As a self-regulated profession, we have a collective responsibility to make sure we stay ahead of change. Now that Canadian medical schools have our own accreditation of MD programs, we have an opportunity to be even more responsive to our unique Canadian needs. For NOSM University, it means we will continue to focus on the specific needs of Northern Ontario.

Next up, is the accreditation visit of the residency programs by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC) and the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC). This is scheduled to occur in November 2021. Stay tuned for reminders from Dr. Robert Anderson, Associate Dean, Postgraduate Medical Education and Health Sciences and the PGME Office over the next few months. A recent ‘mock accreditation’ identified the work needed to meet the standards in NOSM’s residency programs. Similar issues were raised such as: wellness, untimely student and faculty evaluation, lack of clarity about roles, and procedures for accommodations and complaints. In both the MD and residency programs, we must do better.

The accreditation of our programs is a key metric of our success. The goal is to contribute to the provision of high-quality and safe health-care services and to improve patients’ health outcomes where our graduates choose to practice. I am incredibly proud of NOSM’s MD program.

Finally, this week marks a milestone for me. It is the end of my second year here as Dean, President and CEO of NOSM. It has been quite a ride. The highlights are already historic – a pandemic, a partner’s insolvency, and a new NOSM University Act. What’s next?

Miigwetch, thank you, marsi, merci,

Dr. Sarita Verma
Dean, President and CEO
Northern Ontario School of Medicine

If you have any feedback or comments, please reach out at dean@nosm.ca and follow me on twitter @ddsv3.

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NOSM University

We are planning a series of consultations over the summer to ask your valued thoughts on the future of NOSM U. Do you have a meeting or event planned where a discussion on NOSM U would be valuable? Do you have comments or questions? Please see nosm.ca/nosmu and send questions to nosmu@nosm.ca.

Welcome to NOSM’s new residents

At the end of day on June 30, you have transitioned from a medical student to a resident doctor and the residents before you become independent, practising doctors. It’s always such an exciting time, yet these transitions can be equally unnerving. We care for our learners and alumni and protect your wellness. Welcome to NOSM! I hope you enjoy postgrad. It is the best experience here.

MCCQE II Update

The Medical Council of Canada (MCC) confirmed that it is “stepping away” from the MCC Qualifying Examination (MCCQE) Part II. The MCC Council updated criteria informing policy on the granting of the Licentiate of the Medical Council of Canada (LMCC) to candidates meeting requirements listed on the MCC website.

New Indigenous Medical Education Site

NOSM is committed to continuing to build with First Nations and Métis peoples of Northern Ontario to promote a healthier North, minobimaadziwin. The Indigenous Affairs Unit recently updated the NOSM website to include inspirational stories, resources and reports, and detailed information for Indigenous applications to the MD program.

Community Report 

I’m proud to introduce you to a new type of report that brings the spirit of our medical school to life. You will hear from our NOSM community directly—those motivated to make quality health care accessible to everyone in the region. Learn more at report.nosm.ca.

Inaugural Academic Director of NOSM’s Centre for Social Accountability

Dr. Erin Cameron is the inaugural Academic Director of the Centre for Social Accountability (CFSA) beginning a three-year term on July 1, 2021. The Centre is the only one of its kind in Canada with a core mandate to improve the health of Northern Ontarians, reaching beyond NOSM’s founding commitment to be socially accountable in education, research programs and in advocacy for health equity.

Homepage News, Media Releases

NOSM Maintains Full Accreditation of MD Degree

The Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) has received full accreditation of its educational program leading to the MD degree. The review, originally scheduled as an in-person on-site visit, became the first in Canada to undergo a two-step virtual visit due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Accreditation is a process by which institutions and programs voluntarily undergo an extensive peer evaluation of their compliance with accepted standards for educational quality. Through accreditation, the Committee on Accreditation of Canadian Medical Schools (CACMS) provides assurance to medical students, graduates, the medical profession, health-care institutions, health authorities, regulatory authorities and the public, that educational programs culminating in the award of the MD degree meet reasonable, generally-accepted, and appropriate national standards for educational quality.

“I congratulate NOSM faculty, staff and students who worked hard to maintain full accreditation of the MD program,” says Dr. Lee Toner, NOSM Interim Associate Dean, Undergraduate Medical Education. “Events from this past year have really been challenging for our medical school. I’m proud of our commitment to continuous quality improvement and the dedication to finding solutions, particularly when obstacles are outside of our control.”

In addition to the challenges of operating a medical school during a pandemic, Laurentian University, affiliated with NOSM for degree granting purposes, became insolvent and commenced protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) on February 1, 2021. The CCAA proceeding has implications on some standards of accreditation that will require monitoring.

Dr. Sarita Verma, NOSM Dean, President and CEO says, “With legislation passed on June 3, 2021 to make NOSM a stand-alone university, we continue our commitment to the strategic priority of maintaining the highest standards of accreditation across all our programs.”

“The School will continue its mission to improve the health of Northern Ontarians by being socially accountable in its education and research programs and advocating for health equity,” says Dr. Verma. “NOSM will lead in health and wellness for our employees and learners and become a global example of social accountability in action.”

More information about the MD accreditation can be found on NOSM’s website.

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The Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) is an award-winning socially accountable medical school renowned for its innovative model of distributed, community-engaged education and research. With a focus on diversity, inclusion, and advocacy for health equity, NOSM relies on the commitment and expertise of the peoples and communities of Northern Ontario to educate health-care professionals to practise in Indigenous, Francophone, rural, remote and underserved communities.

About CACMS
The accrediting bodies for medical educational programs in the United States and Canada and their sponsors recently decided that the joint Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) / Committee on Accreditation of Canadian Medical Schools (CACMS) accreditation process for Canadian medical schools put into place eight years ago will conclude in September 2021. This will make way for the CACMS to assume sole responsibility and authority for the accreditation of Canadian medical education programs. Canadian medical schools will, however, remain accredited by the LCME until further notice.

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

In the Spotlight, Uncategorized

Taking pride in pronouns

Gallery

Understanding and recognizing gender identities is important to delivering inclusive, patient-centered health care. Often, pronouns have a gender implied which are not always accurate or needed. Understanding how to correctly use and share one’s pronouns is a sign of safety and respect.

Unfortunately, often people aren’t aware of how to do this. That’s why Lucie Ménard and Ashley Perreault decided to take action.

Lucie, a second-year NOSM medical student in Sudbury, and Ashley, a first-year NOSM medical student in Thunder Bay, are both the Local Officers of Reproductive and Sexual Health (LORSH) for NOSM, and sit on a national committee with LORSH representatives from 13 medical schools across Canada. During a meeting, the group identified the misuse of pronouns as an important issue nationwide.

“After our meeting, we consulted with fellow medical students, colleagues, and friends from the Queer community about their experiences with pronoun misuse. What we learned is that individuals feel a sense of security when asked or addressed by their preferred pronouns. Hearing this, we wanted to normalize pronoun use and create an environment that is welcoming and inclusive for all gender identities,” says Ashley.

An eye-catching solution was proposed—a wearable pronoun pin. The students collaborated with community members and the NOSM Library and Communications teams to create the pins and develop a complete initiative for distribution. The pins can be attached to a lanyard, lab coat or clothing to highlight an individual’s preferred pronoun. The pins also spark conversation about the importance of pronouns.

“Proper pronoun use was something we as medical students were all aware of, but we didn’t receive formal education on this topic. As LORSHs we decided to take this initiative as an opportunity to educate ourselves and our NOSM community on pronoun use through an infographic and a subject guide” says Lucie.

Recognizing that an infographic wouldn’t be sufficient to close the knowledge gap, they built a subject guide available through the NOSM Library. The subject guide was developed by Jennifer Dumond, Danica Desjardins, Aidan Goertzen and LORSH. It highlights evidence-based research and resources regarding Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer and other gender-fluid communities (​2SLGBTQ+).

The uptake was high. “The response has been very positive. The library subject guide has had over 470 views so far and individuals have been thanking us for this one-stop-shop for educational resources and for starting the conversation. Over 240 people from NOSM signed up to receive a pronoun pin, including learners, staff, faculty and residents,” says Lucie.

NOSM partners, health-care centres, hospitals and medical schools across the country have also taken notice. Health Sciences North (HSN) in Sudbury reached out and are working with Ashley and Lucie to launch a pronoun pin initiative at the hospital during Pride week. Two other medical schools have asked for guidance to create something similar at their school.

“Allyship means taking action and we hope to inspire other students to work on the projects they’re passionate about,” says Ashley. “I hope we inspire students to collaborate with other departments and staff at NOSM who have allowed us to make this initiative a reality. We couldn’t have done this alone.”

Lucie also encourages everyone at NOSM to reflect on their surroundings and what health inequities are occurring in their community. “As medical students, we don’t have a lot of free time, but we chose to advocate for something that we’re passionate about.”

NOSM is making pronoun pins part of the orientation package for new medical students. “We’re hoping this will become part of the standard,” says Ashley. “It is important for the incoming students to recognize that NOSM is an inclusive community. As future health-care professionals, we hope the pins will also spark the conversation regarding inclusivity early on in their career.”

Want to learn more?

Respect the Difference logoThe Respect the Difference movement was developed by NOSM to bring awareness to a culture of kindness and respect in the learning and work environment. We hope that together, we can ignite a positive cultural change that is grounded in respect and reaches beyond the NOSM community. We encourage all Canadian medical schools and the medical sector to join our movement.

We all have the potential to be changemakers, and we have the mutual responsibility to take action toward a culture of kindness, respect and compassion. It starts here at NOSM. It starts with you.

Become a Changemaker.

NOSM University