Date Published | April, 2009

You have to give credit to the Charter Class of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) M.D. program. These students are a remarkably courageous group of people who signed on for a brand new medical school, with brand new faculty members, a brand new curriculum, and buildings which, when the students started, were still construction projects. Over the last four years, these students have been trailblazers every step of the way. As we enter spring 2009, their goal is in sight as they prepare for their final set of exams and then for graduation.

The first M.D. graduations will be historic occasions for all of us in Northern Ontario. Many people across the North came together and worked hard, first to attain government support, and then to turn the dream of a Northern Ontario School of Medicine into a reality. We are all looking forward to celebrating this groundbreaking achievement - the graduation of our Charter Class members from the NOSM M.D. program.

In fact, we will have a double celebration this May/June. We will be celebrating the completion of training of the first NOSM residents from the Family Medicine Residents of the Canadian Shield (FM RoCS) program as well.

This is truly exciting. We are planning a whole series of special events and celebrations to mark these very important milestones.

The Northern Ontario School of Medicine serves as the faculty of medicine of Lakehead University in Thunder Bay and the faculty of medicine of Laurentian University in Sudbury. Each class of students in the M.D. program has a mix of students registered with Lakehead and students registered with Laurentian. NOSM medical students will graduate with a joint M.D. Degree from Lakehead and Laurentian Universities. The Lakehead registered students will graduate at a Lakehead convocation and the Laurentian registered students will graduate at a Laurentian convocation.

This year, the entire Charter Class will be present for the Lakehead convocation, which will take place on the morning of Saturday, May 30, and the whole class will be present for the Laurentian convocation on Friday, June 5. In addition, there will be public celebrations in the afternoon following each morning convocation. These public celebrations will provide an opportunity for the involvement of everyone who contributed so much to the establishment and the success of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine.

The celebrations will continue during the intervening week. Two thirds of the Charter Class members have indicated their desire to undertake the journey between Thunder Bay and Sudbury by bus. There will be two routes: “Bus A” will travel to Sudbury via Marathon, Wawa, Sault Ste. Marie, Manitoulin Island, and Parry Sound; while “Bus B” will make the journey via Geraldton, Kapuskasing, Timmins, Kirkland Lake, Timiskaming Shores and North Bay. These are communities in which the students have undertaken some of their clinical learning during the M.D. program.

Each visit will give the students an opportunity to express their appreciation, recognizing the contribution to their learning experiences of the physician clinical teachers and other health-care professionals, as well as the wider community. These visits will give each community the opportunity to be part of the Northern Ontario first graduation celebrations.

Of course, these communities are only a sample of the over 70 communities in which NOSM students and residents may undertake part of the clinical learning. Unfortunately, we have only a week, which means that opportunities are being taken at other times to recognize these other communities and to hold celebrations across the North.
The FM RoCS program has five base sites across the North; however, all family medicine residents will be together for their last academic session of the year in Marathon on May 28 and 29. We will take the opportunity to celebrate completion of training for the first group of NOSM family medicine residents in Marathon on May 28.

Another source of celebration for NOSM is the recent notification that the School has been accorded unconditional Full Accreditation. This is a crowning achievement in a multi-year process aimed at meeting all expected standards. The Committee on Accreditation of Canadian Medical Schools (CACMS) and the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) both approved NOSM’s status. From here on in, NOSM can proudly stand alongside other medical schools in North America. Congratulations and thank you to everyone who over the last six years worked so hard to achieve this milestone. The timing is perfect for the Charter Class who will graduate from a fully accredited medical school.

As we prepare to celebrate these historic milestones, I am ever mindful of the role of physician-teachers, faculty members, staff, and community contributors who have helped us achieve the fulfillment of our pan-Northern dream: the first graduation of Northern–trained M.D. graduates and family physicians who are skilled and able to pursue their medical careers anywhere, but who have a special knowledge of and desire to provide health care here in Northern Ontario.

As Founding Dean, I extend a profound thank you to all who contributed in blazing the way for the ongoing graduation of physicians who are innovative, culturally sensitive, and fully acquainted with the rigours and rewards of health care in Northern, rural and culturally diverse settings.