Canada's first new medical school in 30 years, the Northern Ontario School of Medicine opens its doors Sept. 6 with an entry class of 56 students and an innovative model of medical training.
Four years and $95.3 million in the making, the school (www.normed.ca/) was created to alleviate the chronic shortage of physicians in Northern Ontario.
In keeping with that mission, the admissions process gives preference to applicants who have lived in Northern Ontario, said Dr. Jill Konkin, associate dean of admissions and student affairs. “The evidence shows that people who come from rural and remote communities are more likely to go back to similar-sized communities.”
About 70% of those accepted have lived 10 years or more in Northern Ontario, said Konkin. About 18% are Francophone, 17% are bilingual and 12.5% are Aboriginal.
The curriculum emphasizes Northern rural and remote clinical practice. Third-year students will work for 8 months with family physicians in these communities, rather than completing clinical rotations at teaching hospitals.
“The students cover the major disciplines just like in other schools but from the family practice view of the world, living in the community and becoming part of a health team,” said Dean Roger Strasser. Many of the school's 350 faculty members are doctors working in rural Northern communities.
This community-based medical-education model was pioneered by Flinders University in Australia. Several US medical schools and BC's Northern Medical Program use similar models.
The new school will rely heavily on electronic communications methods to connect students who are divided between 2 campuses: 32 are enrolled at Sudbury's Laurentian University and 24 at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay. Video-conferencing facilities will be used to deliver lectures simultaneously to students at both campuses, and Web-based technologies will deliver case-based exercises to students and keep them connected to one another even when they are working in remote communities.
“The school is still a work in progress,” Strasser said.