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NOSM Hosting Kids & Concussion What You Need to Know

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Sudbury Wolves Hockey Club team doctor to moderate, and players will share personal experiences with concussion

The Continuing Education and Professional Development Office at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) is hosting Kids and Concussion: What You Need to Know, a public education event on concussion. The event is being held in celebration of Coaches’ Week and in recognition of Rowan’s Law Day.

Date:
Wednesday, September 26, 2018

Time:
7:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

Location:
Sudbury Arena
240 Elgin Street
Media / Conference Room (Off main lobby entrance)

Rowan’s Law Day, the last Wednesday in September, honours Rowan Stringer, a 17-year-old rugby player who died as a result of multiple concussions. In 2017, Ontario passed concussion safety legislation, known as Rowan’s Law, that establishes mandatory requirements for organizations and coaches, with an aim to make the sport safer on the field, court, mats, or playground.

This educational event targets coaches, teachers, parents, and athletes in all sport that may carry a risk of head injury, and is intended to support prevention and identification on concussion in recreational sport or at play. The event will also provide guidance and resources related to return to school and sport following a head injury.

The Kids and Concussion: What You Need to Know educational material has been developed by NOSM clinical faculty from Thunder Bay and Sudbury, including Drs. Tara Baldisera, David McKee, Jairus Quesnele and Deborah Smith, and nurse practitioner Shannon Kenrick-Rochon, and will be presented by the Sudbury-based professionals with a focus on practices in concussion management.

Supported by the Sudbury Wolves Hockey Club, the event will be hosted in the Wolves Media Room, with Wolves team doctor, Dr. Chris Trebb moderating the event. Wolves players will also be on hand to share their experience with concussion.

This event is open to the public. Please note that space is limited and seating will be available on a first come, first serve basis.

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 The Northern Ontario School of Medicine is committed to the education of high-quality physicians and health professionals, and to international recognition as a leader in distributed, learning-centered, community-engaged education and research.

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

Alumni Stories, Indigenous Stories

My heritage is very important to me

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Source: Northern Ontario Medical Journal |2018/03/09 Written by: Nadine Robinson | Photo courtesy of Sarah Marie Webster

“My heritage is very important to me. I believe the fact that I am Aboriginal is where my resiliency comes from… and my determination to succeed.” – Dr. Elaine Innes.

Photo of Dr. Elaine Innes outdoors.When Moose Factory native Elaine Innes found out she was pregnant at the age of 16, she thought that her dreams of becoming a nurse were finished. Fortunately, her mother and father wouldn’t let her quit school, or give up on her dreams, telling her that education opens doors to many opportunities.

She went on attain her nursing diploma in 1990 from Northern College in Moosonee, and a BScN and a Primary Care Nurse Practitioner certificate in 1996 from Lakehead University.

“I had always wanted to be a nurse,” said Dr. Innes. “But as I took on more responsibility. I was encouraged by physicians I was working with to apply to medical school. In particular, Dr. Murray Trusler told me I would be a good doctor.”
Innes attended medical school at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, graduating in 2013, completing her family medicine residency through NOSM, based out of Timmins, in 2015.

“Medical school definitely was not easy, especially since I was 40 years old when I started,” said Innes. “I moved to Sudbury with my family, and my husband commuted to support us financially. I was thankful to have sponsorship and the bursaries I received, but we struggled financially. Adjusting to living in the city was also not easy for me and my children.”

On top of the stresses of medical school, Dr. Innes’ mother became ill and passed away in 2008. “I felt I did not have time to grieve her passing as I had to return to school. But, the fact that she was so proud of me that I got into medical school gave me the drive to continue. Because she was my mentor, encouraging me to go after what I wanted in life, I was sad that she did not see me graduate.”

Now, Dr. Innes practises family and emergency medicine and serves as a hospitalist in Timmins, Moose Factory and outlying communities such as Moosonee and Kashechewan.

A Moose Cree First Nation member, Dr. Innes’ first language was Cree.

“It’s important to be proud of who you are and where you come from. My heritage is very important to me. I believe the fact that I am Aboriginal is where my resiliency comes from… and my determination to succeed. I lived in a tent frame in my childhood years with no running water, and no electricity, but I was always told by my parents that I could do whatever I wanted to do in life as long as I worked hard. That is the message I hope youth will take away from my story.”

Dr. Innes hopes one day to return home to Moose Factory to practice medicine there full-time.

Addressing the Gaps, Gallery, In the Spotlight

Sustainable Physician Workforce Building

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In keeping with NOSM’s mission to improve the supply of physicians in Northern Ontario, the School partnered with the North West Local Health Integration Network (LHIN), the North East LHIN and HealthForceOntario (HFO) Marketing and Recruitment Agency to host Summit North: Building a Flourishing Physician Workforce. 

The Summit was held on January 24, 2018 in Thunder Bay and had over 130 people who took part including representatives from Indigenous communities, Francophone communities, hospitals/health services, family health teams, the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, the Ontario Medical Association and local government. Drawing on experience in other jurisdictions and on intensive group discussions, Summit North developed short and long-term solutions to build a sustainable physician workforce. Subsequently, the Northern Physician Resource Task Force has developed an Action Plan based on Summit North’s solutions.

Summit North’s title drew on the work of Dr. Denis Lennox who retired recently from Queensland Health in Australia. Over the past few weeks (May 21 – June 7), Dr. Lennox visited seven communities in Northern Ontario as the first stage in a projected Knowledge Transfer through which Northern Ontario will develop our own Service and Workforce Design team(s), similar to Queensland. Service and Workforce Design teams assist struggling communities in redesigning their service models to address population health needs and to recruit physicians, enhanced by active community participation. The model also includes a rural generalist pathway which, if implemented in Ontario, would feature a NOSM (PGY3) enhanced skills in rural generalism with a goal of creating a stable physician “pipeline”. NOSM is excited to be sponsoring this initiative and working with the Task Force to ensure high quality, reliable healthcare in remote rural Northern Ontario communities.