From Northern Ontario School of Medicine
The Northern Ontario School of Medicine is set to become the first stand-alone medical university in Canada.
The provincial government has passed legislation confirming the change.
School Dean, President and CEO Dr. Sarita Verma calls it a historic occasion for the medical school and all of Northern Ontario, stating it represents an incredible transformation.
Dr. Verma says, “We will build upon the strength of our flagship campuses in Sudbury and Thunder Bay, with an expanded medical school, new residency programs, innovated health professions education, and population-based research within a pan-northern regional model. NOSM University will have an immense impact on the health and wealth of Northern Ontarians.”
She says the focus will remain on moving forward with addressing the urgent physician workforce crisis in northern Ontario as well as health education and research reform.
Dr. Verma says they will begin broad consultations about the next steps over the summer months.
Minister of Colleges and Universities Ross Romano says, “The Government is proud to support this legislation to grow world-class postsecondary education in Northern Ontario. Thanks to this legislation, Hearst will become Ontario’s second independent Francophone university, governed by and for Francophones. NOSM will become Canada’s first standalone independent medical school and be empowered to expand its current services and programs and address the health needs of the region. The legislation represents a major opportunity for Northern Ontario to build and expand two new independent universities. In the coming months, the Ministry will be working with the two institutions and with northern communities and with stakeholders about the details of how NOSM and Hearst will operate in the future.”
Once legislation is proclaimed in force, NOSM University will form a new Board of Governors and new Senate.
The school will continue to receive 90% of its operating funds directly from the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Colleges and Universities and will still handle the administration of its own staff and faculty, curriculum, labs, and equipment, and provide support and graduate its own learners.
It will continue to provide its own finance, IT, research, and libraries.
Since opening its doors in 2005, the medical school has produced 714 MDs, 48 self-identify as Indigenous, 151 self-identify as Francophone with an additional 66 MDs set to graduate this spring.
In addition, 579 residents have completed NOSM programs.
More than half of these health practitioners have stayed in Northern Ontario.
