The Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) hosted Muster 2014, a conference on socially accountable, community-engaged medical education. Co-hosted with Flinders University School of Medicine, Muster 2014 brought delegates together in Uluru, Northern Territory, Australia (known commonly as Ayers Rock) to share, learn, develop, and explore best practices in medical education and research.

Muster 2014 was the fourth medical education conference hosted by the two schools of medicine, who share a commitment to educating health professionals to address underserved areas. Muster 2014 was preceded by two conferences in Northern Ontario, Canada (ICEMEN 2008 and Rendez-Vous 2012), and The Muster 2010 in South Australia.

With participation of delegates from every continent of the world (with the exception of the Antarctic), delegates came together to explore issues related to rural, remote, and underserviced health care; social accountability as it relates to health professional education; Longitudinal Learning; Aboriginal health and research; and the engagement of communities in the processes of educating future physicians and health professionals.

Conference highlights:

• The scientific conference opened with a plenary presentation from the Ngangkaris, Aboriginal healers and traditional owners of the land on which the conference was held. From the Ngangkaris, participants learned about Aboriginal perspectives on health, the extent of the Ngangkaris’ healing powers, how the Ngangkaris heal their people, and the valued professional partnerships that they have with modern health professionals.
• Dr. Rachel Ellaway, NOSM Assistant Dean, Curriculum and Planning gave an engaging plenary session about the intersection between medical schools and communities, and the importance of qualitative and theory-based research in medical education.
• Dr. Fortunato Cristobal, founding Dean of the Ateneo de Zamboanga University School of Medicine (ADZU-SOM) gave an inspirational keynote address about the formation of the ADZU-SOM. When it was founded in 1993, ADZU-SOM had a budget of $500 with no governmental support. Cristobal shared the exciting progress that the School has made in training high-quality health professionals for the Zamboanga region in the Philippines, which is now a national and international leader in medical education.
• Delegates had the opportunity to meet with students, faculty, and administration at the National Indigenous Training Academy (NITA), a training academy established by the Indigenous Land Corporation to provide training programs for Indigenous Australians within the country’s tourism and hospitality industry. Through direct engagement with Indigenous Trainees, participants learned how NITA is developing sustainable Indigenous employment in remote regions.
• More than 20 health professional students from around the world attended the conference to learn about the theory behind their education. To close the conference, the students provided guidance and feedback to all delegates about future directions for medical education and research from their perspective.
• Dr. Erica Wheeler of the World Health Organization (WHO) introduced the WHO’s new toolkit: Transforming the Health Workforce in Support of Universal Health Coverage: Global Toolkit for Evaluating Health Workforce Education. The toolkit was offered to the delegates to seek input into the toolkit before it was globally launched.

“Many communities around the world are underserved and experience poorer health outcomes due to lack of health professionals in their regions,” says Dr. Paul Worley, Dean of the School of Medicine at Flinders University. These are exactly the reasons why we meet at Muster 2014-to ensure that people around the world have the health care they need, no matter where they live.”

“We have made a distinctive mark on medical education over the last eight years, with opportunities to collaborate in previous NOSM/Flinders conferences,” says Dr. Roger Strasser, NOSM Dean. “But global, community-engaged medical education is still emerging, and there is still much we can learn from each other. Muster 2014 provided yet another important opportunity to learn from each other and continue to mold global, community-engaged medical education for the better.”

About Flinders University
Geographically dispersed across the north-south corridor of Australia, the Flinders University School of Medicine’s students, staff, health professionals and community leaders work together to improve the health of society through health professional education, research and clinical practice.

The Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) held its Annual Members and Board of Directors meetings on Wednesday, September 24, 2014.  These meetings were video-conferenced between  Lakehead University in Thunder Bay and Laurentian University in Sudbury, with other members participating via tele- and web-conference.

Board members Kevin Cleghorn and Dr. Kathryn Gibson were thanked for their significant contribution to the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, as their terms completed September 24, 2014.

At the recommendation of the Board’s Governance Committee and Nominations and Community Relations Subcommittee, the Board appointed four new members to NOSM’s Board of Directors:

• Ken Boschoff
• Pierre Dumas
• Krista Marcotte
• Gary Boissoneau

In accordance with Board policy regarding Officers of the Corporation, Dr. Brian J.R. Stevenson, President of Lakehead University, was confirmed as Chair of the Board and Dr. Robert Kerr, Vice President, Academic and Provost of Laurentian University, was confirmed as Vice-Chair.

The audited financial statements for the year ending April 30, 2014, and the Board approved that BDO Canada LLP be appointed as auditors for the fiscal year ending April 30, 2015.

In an overview of recent NOSM activities, Dr. Roger Strasser, Dean, spoke about the extensive community engagement that took place over the last four months. From May to September 2014, Dr. Roger Strasser, Associate Dean of Community Engagement and Senior Associate Dean at Laurentian University, Dr. David Marsh, senior leaders, and staff travelled to more than 50 Northern, rural, remote, Francophone, and Aboriginal communities across the North to meet with individuals, organizations, health-care professionals, and faculty to discuss Northern Ontarians’ ongoing health-related needs. The input received is providing important guidance to setting the priorities of NOSM’s 2015-2020 Strategic Plan.

The next Board of Directors meeting will be held in Sudbury on November 27 and 28, 2014.

For a complete list of Board members, please visit our website at nosm.ca.

Contact:

news@nosm.ca

On Wednesday, September 10, 2014, the Honourable Rona Ambrose, Federal Minister of Health, announced the launch of the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging (CCNA), a national initiative aimed at tackling the growing onset of dementia and related illnesses and improving the lives of Canadians with these illnesses and their families and caregivers.

Led by Dr. Howard Chertkow, a cognitive neurologist and co-founder and director of the Jewish General Hospital / McGill Memory Clinic, the CCNA brings together 20 research teams and experts from across Canada to focus research on three themes: delaying the onset of dementia and related illnesses; preventing these illnesses from occurring; and, improving the quality of life of Canadians living with these illnesses and their caregivers.

The CCNA is supported with funding of $31.5 million over five years from the Government of Canada through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and a group of 13 partners from the public and private sectors, including the Alzheimer Society of Canada and Fonds de recherche du Québec – Santé. The CCNA researchers will also benefit from an additional $24 million investment by a subset of the partners in Ontario and Quebec.

Dementia Care Research in Northern Ontario

Dr. Kristen Jacklin, NOSM Associate Professor, Medical Anthropology, is one of 47 principal investigators on the CCNA and the only principal investigator in Northern Ontario. Jacklin is co-leading a research team called: “Team 20: Issues in dementia care for rural and Indigenous populations.” Dr. Debra Morgan (University of Saskatchewan) is leading the rural research projects while Jacklin and Dr. Carrie Bourassa (First Nations University) are leading the Indigenous research stream.

Jacklin’s team will be receiving $1 million in funding over five years to carry out this research. The research will be carried out at NOSM, Laurentian University, and in Northern Ontario, and will focus on four areas:

1. Examining pathways to dementia care for Indigenous people and identifying effective cultural approaches to care.
2. The development of culturally appropriate cognitive assessment protocols for use in Aboriginal communities.
3. Capacity building for age-related Indigenous dementia research.
4. Regional epidemiological studies concerning dementia in rural and Indigenous populations (incidence and prevalence, patterns of care, and multi-morbidities).

“Our team is truly excited about the launch of the CCNA,” says Dr. Kristen Jacklin, NOSM Associate Professor, Medical Anthropology. “I think it is highly significant that Indigenous issues will be a part of the Consortium’s work and that there is a team headquartered here at NOSM and the Centre for Rural and Northern Health Research at Laurentian University leading this work.”

Over the past four years Jacklin’s team has worked in partnership with rural First Nations communities and urban Aboriginal organizations in Northern Ontario to begin exploring experiences with dementia. The CCNA will enable Jacklin and her team to foster cross-fertilization of ideas between research disciplines to support their research program and to develop innovative projects with other CCNA investigators.

“Initially, we will be working closely with the First Nations health centres on Manitoulin Island who were the first to bring the issue of dementia in their communities to our attention back in 2007,” explained Jacklin. “Our funding is structured in such a way that there will be opportunities to involve other communities and organizations as we move forward. Addressing dementia in Indigenous populations is crucial. Ten years ago, dementia was not a significant illness in most Aboriginal communities. Through our research, we now know that rates of dementia in Aboriginal populations are higher than those in the non-Indigenous population and communities are struggling to deal with this emerging health issue.”