Today officially marks the first day of classes for 64 new medical students at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM), following a week of exposure to the geographic, social, cultural, and linguistic diversity of Northern Ontario.

During their unique Orientation Week, the students traveled to several Northern Ontario communities, participated in working sessions, and became acquainted with their new lives as medical students. On Monday, August 23, the students gathered in Thunder Bay and enjoyed a dinner hosted by the Thunder Bay Métis Council and the School’s Aboriginal Reference Group, before they embarked on a week-long bus excursion to Sudbury.

Stops along the way included Geraldton, Constance Lake, Hearst, Kapuskasing, and Timmins, where students participated in meals and activities, and experienced a warm welcome from physicians, community leaders, and dignitaries. In Hearst, students were treated to a dinner hosted by NOSM’s Francophone Affairs Unit.

NOSM continues to follow its mandate of social accountability in an endeavour to deliver innovative education and research for a healthier North. Demographic profiles of the Entry Class of 2010 show that:

– 91% are from Northern Ontario
– Remaining 9% are from rural and remote parts of the rest of Canada (39% of the whole class is from rural and remote areas)
– 8% are self-identified Aboriginal
– 20% are self-identified Francophone

Like students in all medical schools, these students have been selected from a very competitive field, and are extremely academically able as reflected by a mean grade point average (GPA) of 3.66 on a four point scale.

Students will now get down to work and immerse themselves in all things NOSM–state-of-the-art smart classrooms and learning technologies, an integrated, collaborative approach to education, and distributed, community-based placements across Northern Ontario. Each of these elements helps to ensure that NOSM graduates high-quality physicians with an appreciation for the unique health-care needs of Northern Ontario.

The Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) and the OPSEU Staff Unit are heading back to the bargaining table next week. The parties have agreed to meet September 1 and 2, 2010, with the assistance of a Ministry of Labour mediator.

NOSM remains committed to reaching a first collective agreement with the OPSEU Staff Unit which fairly reflects the unique nature of NOSM and its workforce.

Like the rest of the broader public sector, the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) is impacted by recent Ontario government legislation and policy statements regarding compensation restraints for employees.

With regard to bargaining unit employees, the government’s policy statement lays out a clear expectation that “new collective agreements will be of at least two years duration and provide no net increase in compensation for at least two years.” The fiscal plan provides no funding to NOSM for incremental compensation increases for new collective agreements. This is particularly challenging for NOSM as it manages a structural deficit.

Statements made publicly by the President of OPSEU Local 677, the President of the OPSEU Staff Unit Bargaining Team, and a OPSEU staff representative have indicated the OPSEU Staff Unit is prepared to accept status quo benefits and wages; however, these statements are inconsistent with what the Staff Unit has proposed at the bargaining table.

NOSM is committed to maintaining a competitive compensation program to retain and attract staff and faculty employees that is fair and equitable. Information about employee wages, entitlements, and the working environment at NOSM is posted on the School’s website at www.nosm.ca.

Since August 9, 2010, the Ontario government has been consulting with the leaders of several unions, including OPSEU’s President Warren (Smokey) Thomas, to address how the government’s policy statement of “no net increase in compensation for at least two years” impacts the achievement of collective bargaining outcomes. OPSEU has declined NOSM’s requests to pause collective bargaining while these consultations take place.

NOSM remains committed to reaching a first collective agreement with the OPSEU Staff Unit which fairly reflects the unique nature of NOSM and its workforce.