Galleries

February is Black History Month

Gallery Monday February 27th, 2023 Alexandra Poling

NOSM University remembers and salutes the remarkable Dr. Saint-Firmin Monestime, Haitian-born, Francophone physician who settled in Mattawa, Ontario in 1951 and made it a better place to live.

Dr. Monestime studied medicine at the School of Medicine of the State University of Haiti, and was a specialist in rural medicine, writing three books on the subject.

Before his journey to Canada, he worked as a State doctor in Haiti, and it was during that time that he met with a terrible and bloody moment in Caribbean history. The 1937 Haitian Massacre in the Dominican Republic, also called the Parsley Massacre, left tens of thousands of Haitian people dead. Incredibly, Dr. Monestime was the only doctor on duty in the area. For his efforts to help his fellow citizens, he was awarded the Legion of Merit by Haiti’s president.

It feels somehow like fate that Dr. Monestime ended up in Mattawa, Ontario. Having left Haiti for Canada in 1945, he was required to recertify his medical competencies, which he did successfully in Montreal, Quebec. Then, in 1951, en route to another life in Timmins, he and a friend stopped at a restaurant in Mattawa. It was there that a local talked Dr. Monestime into staying put.

Dr. Monestime served not only as a physician, but as a major proponent of Mattawa’s private Algonquin Nursing Home, as leader of the Progressive Conservative Party in Mattawa and as the community’s longtime mayor. He is recognized, in fact, as Canada’s first Black mayor.

So great were the doctor’s contributions to the community that, according to this report, “All of Mattawa’s businesses and schools closed for his funeral.”

An article by Andréanne Joly describes Dr. Monestime and his legacy: “His characteristic and contagious laugh, his joie de vivre, his confidence, his storytelling talent, his great sense of justice, and his always neat appearance left an indelible mark on the town at the confluence of the Mattawa and Ottawa rivers.”

The Mattawa Museum features a permanent exhibit of his life and work.

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NOSM University receives $100,000 gift toward Nicolas Michael Farkouh Bursary

Gallery Tuesday February 21st, 2023 Alexandra Poling

Gift to be matched by FDC Foundation, creating $200,000 endowment

NOSM University students will enjoy some financial help thanks to the Nicolas Michael Farkouh Bursary, funded by the John Carl MacIsaac Foundation of Greater Sudbury.

With this family foundation’s generous gift of $100,000, and a matching gift of $100,000 from the FDC Foundation through their $10 million matching commitment, a $200,000 endowment will be established. Each year, the Nicolas Michael Farkouh Bursary will support a student in need with a gift of up to $5,000.

“We are grateful to the John Carl MacIsaac Foundation for investing in NOSM University students,” says Dr. Sarita Verma, President, Vice-Chancellor, Dean and CEO of NOSM University. “Helping to offset the cost of tuition is the best way to recruit the most diverse and motivated future physicians for Northern Ontario. The Nicolas Michael Farkouh Bursary will afford students some peace of mind to focus on their education.”

“Nick Farkouh immigrated to Canada as a Palestinian refugee in 1956,” says Andrew MacIsaac, Trustee of the John Carl MacIsaac Foundation. “It is a great honour to recognize Nick and his life-long contributions to the community of Greater Sudbury.”

Trained as an accountant, Mr. Farkouh began his career with Denison Mines in Elliot Lake. He moved to Sudbury in 1967 when he joined the MacIsaac Group of Companies. As the Chief Financial Officer of MacIsaac Industries, Mr. Farkouh became a founding Trustee of the John Carl MacIsaac Foundation. Upon his retirement, Mr. Farkouh served on the board of Laurentian University and helped to inspire and energize the early efforts to establish the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, now NOSM University.

Since 2005, NOSM University has been delivering on its mandate. It has graduated 838 MDs, 65 of whom are Indigenous, and 171 of whom are Francophone. More than half of NOSM graduates have stayed in Northern Ontario. NOSM University estimates that about 400,000 people have been helped so far by a graduate.

NOSM University has embarked upon a mission to raise the first $50 million for its Student Endowment Fund. Read more about that effort here.

(Photo: Jennifer McGillivray, Dr. Rayuda Koka, Nicolas Michael Farkouh, Andrew MacIsaac, and Joanne Musico.)

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

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Métis Nation of Ontario supports NOSM University students with $515k bursary

Gallery Tuesday October 25th, 2022 Alexandra Poling

Donation will be matched by the FDC Foundation totalling $1,030,000 for Métis medical students

The Métis Nation of Ontario (MNO) is providing an endowment of $515,000 to NOSM University, Canada’s first independent medical university.The endowment will fund a bursary program for Métis students pursuing their MD at NOSM University and is being matched by the FDC Foundation.

“As the government representing Métis in Ontario, we are proud to do what we can to encourage academic and skills development, helping citizens of the Métis Nation of Ontario achieve their goals,” said MNO President Margaret Froh. “This bursary will enable Métis citizens to play a role in the future of medicine in Ontario—a profession Métis people have been under-represented in for far too long.”

This MNO funding will support up to six Métis students annually beginning this year at a minimum of $5,000 per year.

“NOSM University aims to represent the diversity of students in Northern Ontario by recruiting applicants directly from our local communities,” says Dr. Sarita Verma, President, Vice Chancellor, Dean and CEO of NOSM University. “We are grateful to the Métis Nation of Ontario for its support and encouragement of Indigenous students and the confidence they have shown in NOSM University as we continue our work to improve health outcomes for Northern Ontarians.”

“As Métis students, we bring cultural understandings of health from our own lived experiences,” said Provisional Council of the Métis Nation of Ontario (PCMNO) Post-Secondary Representative Hannah Bazinet. “Encouraging students to share that insight will make way for a more equitable future.”

NOSM University was established to address critical physician shortages in Northern Ontario. In 2011, the MNO and NOSM University signed an agreement to collaborate closely on several initiatives including improving the provision of medical programming that is culturally and linguistically appropriate to Métis people.

Applications to NOSM University’s MD program are completed through Ontario Medical School Application Service, which will open mid-July annually. The deadline for application is the first week of October, for admission in September of the following year. MNO citizens who are enrolled at NOSM University are eligible to apply for this bursary.

Pictured (left to right): Jennifer McGillivray, Advancement Officer, NOSM University; Hank Rowlinson, Chair, Métis Nation of Ontario; and, Simon Sutherland, Manager, Post-Secondary Education, Métis Nation of Ontario

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About the MNO

In 1993, the Métis Nation of Ontario (MNO) was established through the will of Métis people and their communities coming together throughout Ontario to create a Métis-specific, democratic, province-wide governance structure. The MNO represents and advocates on behalf of its citizens who are rights-bearing members of Métis communities that collectively hold rights, interests, and outstanding claims protected by sections 25 and 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, including, but not limited to, the right of self-government. Ontario is home to the 2003 Powley decision, in which the Supreme Court of Canada recognized the existence of the Métis right to harvest for food that is protected by Section 35 of the Canadian Constitution. Powley was—and remains—the only Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) decision affirming Métis rights protected by section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982.

Victoria Belton
Senior Consultant, Media Profile
Victoria.Belton@mediaprofile.com
416-997-5179

About NOSM University

NOSM University is Canada’s first independent medical university and one of the greatest education and physician workforce strategy success stories of Northern Ontario. More than just a medical university, it was purpose built to address the health needs of the region. While advocating for equitable access to care, the university contributes to the economic development of Northern Ontario. NOSM University relies on the commitment and expertise of the peoples of Northern Ontario to educate health-care professionals to practise in Indigenous, Francophone, rural, remote and underserved communities. With a focus on diversity, inclusion and advocacy, NOSM University is an award-winning, socially accountable organization renowned for its innovative model of distributed, community-engaged education and research. NOSM University connects researchers, learners, teams and their findings to research entities, provincial health teams, research institutes, academic health sciences centres and health-care organizations. The university strengthens research capacity in Northern Ontario, improving performance and measurable outcomes in health services, quality health care, health and biomedical research and knowledge translation.

communications@nosm.ca