On June 4 – 5, 2010, the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) held its fifth annual Northern Health Research Conference (NHRC) at Laurentian University in Sudbury to coincide with the University’s 50th anniversary. Delegates from across Northern Ontario and around the world attended the conference – the largest NHRC to date.

As in previous years, the research presented ranged from the molecular to the whole society with a record 92 papers, involving almost 300 authors, presented as either oral or poster presentations. “Over 160 participants from different research backgrounds and institutions in Northern Ontario, across Canada, and beyond came together to share their study findings, advance knowledge, and network amongst themselves towards developing new integrated, interdisciplinary, pan-northern research teams. It was particularly exciting that so many of the presenters were NOSM learners,” said NOSM Dean, Dr. Roger Strasser.

Dr. Greg Ross, NOSM Associate Dean of Research added, “This conference demonstrates NOSM’s commitment to health care and education to the people of Northern Ontario and beyond. Tackling the questions that will help improve the health of people in Northern Ontario is a key mandate for the research program at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine.”

Conference highlights included the keynote address by Mr. François Boileau, French Language Services Commissioner of Ontario entitled “Legislation and Francophone’s Health in Ontario: A Challenging Duo” and special guest presentation by Dr. Richard Hays, former Founding Dean of James Cook University School of Medicine in Australia, who emphasized the history of innovation and challenged participants to capitalize on the opportunities for research in rural health.

The next Northern Health Research Conference will be June 10 – 11, 2011 in Huntsville, Ontario.

Members Pay Tribute to Departing Chair, Dr. Frederick Gilbert

The Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) held its annual Board of Directors retreat in Elk Lake, Ontario from May 6 to May 8, 2010.

At this retreat, Board Directors participated in a special ceremony to recognize Dr. Frederick Gilbert, Chair of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine’s Board of Directors and President of Lakehead University, for his exceptional leadership and commitment to the Northern Ontario School of Medicine. While serving two terms as NOSM’s Chair of the Board of Directors and one term as Vice Chair, Dr. Gilbert presided over landmark developments at NOSM, and was acknowledged by the Board for his significant part in the creation of the School and his role in the School’s mandate to contribute to improving the health of the people and communities of Northern Ontario.

This retreat also provided NOSM Board Directors with the opportunity to bid farewell to three departing executive members of the School: Dr. Marc Blayney, Associate Dean of Community Engagement and Senior Associate Dean of NOSM’s East Campus, Dr. Joel Lanphear, Associate Dean of Undergraduate Medical Education and Senior Associate Dean of NOSM’s West Campus, and Dr. Wayne Bruce, Associate Dean of Continuing Health Professional Education. Drs. Blayney, Lanphear and Bruce were thanked for their significant contributions to building Canada’s first medical school for the 21st century.

Mayor of Temiskaming Shores, Judy Pace, addressed the Board Directors prior to dinner on the first evening of the retreat. In her remarks, she expressed her support of the School, noting the important impact NOSM is having on communities across Northern Ontario.

Reeve of Elk Lake, Terry Fiset, attended the Friday evening portion of the Board retreat, where he presented the key to Elk Lake to the Board.

This year’s retreat included several presentations and interactive sessions on the topics of NOSM’s strategic plan, regional hospitals becoming academic centres, and the role of Board Directors.

NOSM Directors also enjoyed visits to the Temiskaming Hospital and the Centre de santé communautaire du Témiskaming.

At the formal Board meeting on the final day of the retreat, the Directors received reports from Board Committees, including the Finance and Audit, Board Executive, Quality Monitoring, Governance, Nominating, and Advancement Committees. The Directors also received reports from the School’s Academic Council, Archives Reference Group, Aboriginal Reference Group, and Francophone Reference Group.

A 2010-2015 Strategic Plan for NOSM was approved by the Board. The next evolutionary phase of NOSM, guided by the Plan, will build on the School’s achievements to position NOSM to be a leader both nationally and internationally as an innovator in distributed, learner-centred, community-engaged education and research. The Board expressed appreciation for the extensive work that was completed by the Strategic Planning Steering Committee and the many contributors to the Plan.

The Directors received a Financial Report for the 11-month period ending March 31, 2010 from the Finance and Audit Committee. The Board approved a recommendation from the Finance and Audit Committee that tuition fees for the 2010-2011 academic year be increased by 4%.

In addition, the Board approved the proposed balanced budget of $39.2 million for the fiscal year May 1, 2010 to April 30, 2011, as presented.

The next meeting of the Board of Directors is scheduled for September 22, 2010.

The Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) is pleased to announce the appointments of Dr. David Marsh, Dr. Lisa Graves, and Sue Berry to senior positions.

Dr. David Marsh has been appointed to serve as the new Associate Dean of NOSM’s Community Engagement portfolio. Dr. Marsh brings a longstanding interest in community-based initiatives to NOSM.

His most recent posting involved the provision of clinical leadership and strategic planning at Vancouver Coast Health and Providence Health Care where he served as Medical Director for Addiction, HIV/AIDS, and Aboriginal Health Services for the Vancouver Community. Dr. Marsh has also held leadership roles at the Addiction Research Foundation and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto.

Community Engagement at NOSM seeks the participation of community partners which provide hands-on clinical learning experiences for medical students and help to ensure that the School’s social accountability mandate addresses community needs. Dr. Marsh’s Aboriginal ancestry, coupled with a firsthand engagement with distinct populations, ideally position him to respond to the needs of Northern Ontario’s diverse cultural groups.

NOSM is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Lisa Graves as Associate Dean of the School’s Undergraduate Medical Education (UME) portfolio. The Undergraduate Medical Education portfolio is responsible for the planning, development, and implementation of the School’s four year M.D. program. Dr. Graves’ firsthand understanding of medical education programming strongly supports the appointed tasks of this position, particularly the planning, development, and assessment of all components of the UME program.

Dr. Graves comes to NOSM from McGill University with demonstrated strengths in all aspects of medical education. While associate professor in McGill’s Department of Family Medicine, she held the position of Clerkship Chair for the Faculty of Medicine and Director of the family medicine undergraduate program. Dr. Graves has directed course components in all four years of the medical school curriculum, including the Community Health and Alliance Program (CHAP). Her broad range of interests in vulnerable populations, medical education, research, and teacher development, as well as her fluency in the French language, will support the many components of NOSM’s distributed community-engaged learning model of instruction among the region’s distinct cultural and linguistic groups.

NOSM also welcomes Sue Berry to the position of Interim Associate Dean of the Continuing Health Professional Education (CHPE) portfolio. Ms. Berry will be responsible for all aspects of planning, implementation and evaluation of CHPE, as well as continuing medical education (CME) and continuing professional development (CPD) for health-care professionals.

A physiotherapist who grew up in Kenora, Ontario, Ms. Berry’s previous position was Director of Health Sciences and Interprofessional Education at NOSM. Ms. Berry provided strategic direction for the administration of all learning opportunities designed to enhance skills and develop competencies of health-care professionals. Her achievements are well matched for the tasks she will assume as Interim Associate Dean in the CHPE portfolio, the portfolio responsible for delivering integrated and comprehensive continuing education and professional development for health professionals.

NOSM Dean, Dr. Roger Strasser, recognized the variety of advanced skills these candidates bring to their new roles.

“It is a real pleasure to welcome Dr. David Marsh, Dr. Lisa Graves, and Sue Berry to their new positions at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine. The range of skills, breadth of experience, and level of commitment to distributed community-engaged learning and health research demonstrated by each of these individuals will undoubtedly contribute to the high calibre of learning experiences at the School.”