Physicians across North contribute to NOSM success

If you ask medical students, they will tell you that what makes their medical education so great is the enthusiasm and vitality of the physician clinical teachers. In Northern Ontario, we are blessed with an outstanding group of physicians who have stepped up to help make the Northern Ontario School of Medicine such a great success.

Dr. Richard Denton is one such physician who drew on his 30 years of family practice experience in Kirkland Lake to lead the early development of the flagship theme in the NOSM MD program curriculum: Northern and Rural Health. This theme explores the social and cultural diversity of the North, as well as highlighting occupational and environmental health issues which are specific to Northern and rural settings, like mercury poisoning in water systems.

Another early contributor to NOSM is Dr. David Boyle, an anaesthetist in Sudbury who took the lead in the early days with planning and project management for the School. Dr. Boyle is still very active with NOSM, not only as a clinical teacher of residents and medical students, but also as Chair of the NOSM Academic Council.

It was Dr. Boyle who recruited Dr. Sarah Newbery, a family physician in Marathon, to coordinate curriculum development for years one and two of the MD program. Dr. Newbery and Dr. Denton proved that physicians in distributed small rural communities could have significant roles with the School without moving to Sudbury or Thunder Bay.

Of course, clinicians in the larger centres like Drs. Saleem Malik and Trevor Bon have been key contributors as well by leading the development of the internal medicine teaching service at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre.

NOSM's distributed model was embraced early on as the best way to reach out to and include all Northerners in the School's development. At the outset, physicians were enthusiastic about being involved, and their steadfast support of this unique approach is enabling the School to fulfill its goal of graduating resourceful physicians who have a particular understanding of people in Northern and remote settings. The support of physicians unites faculty, health-care centres, and communities to create a well-functioning platform for medical education that addresses the health needs of Northerners.

Designing a medical education program that was both inclusive and responsive began early, and contributors like Dr. Christine Rossi were there from the start, bringing years of resident teaching experience with her from the Northeastern Ontario Medical Education Corporation (NOMEC). Dr. Rossi has since taken on the dual role of coordinator for NOSM's Postgraduate Family Medicine Program and the Comprehensive Community Clerkship.

Unique to medical education, the Comprehensive Community Clerkship, also known by its acronym, CCC, is a curriculum requirement where third-year students learn in hospitals and health-care centres in one of 12 communities across Northern Ontario.

Under the guidance of physician teachers, learners receive practical training in the delivery of health care during this eight-month placement. The length of clinical training enables students to participate in various stages of patient care and exposes them to the integration of all allied health professions.

A full academic year, while revealing the challenges of family medicine to students , also exposes them to medical care administered by experienced physicians well seasoned by the daily challenges and diversity of medical practice in the North.

In addition to their responsibilities as instructors, many physicians also function as members of Local NOSM Groups (LNGs). These are pivotal positions that link the School, clinical teachers, students and communities into pan-Northern "classrooms" supported by broadband technology.

Dr. Jason Shack, site clinician in Fort Frances, highlights the benefits of the community engaged learning model made possible by the work of the LNGs:

"The importance of students coming to the communities and following a family medicine role model is that they don't start off learning medicine piece by piece. They begin by integrating all aspects of medicine in their daily responsibilities. And the idea of bringing the students out to the communities enables them to experience the diversity of the North."

In reflecting upon the contribution of NOSM's participating physicians, I extend my heartfelt thanks to everyone whose collective contribution to the advancement of the School is ensuring NOSM's success as a pioneering model of delivering medical education.