Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM University)

Background of organization

Born of a grassroots movement by Northern Ontarians in need of health professionals, the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) is a medical school like no other. No other Canadian medical school started off a joint initiative between two universities—Lakehead University (Thunder Bay) & Laurentian University (Sudbury). No other Canadian medical school provides training in more than 90 communities across an expanse of 800,000 square km. No other Canadian medical school was established with an explicit social accountability mandate— to improve the health of the people of the region. NOSM has developed novel education strategies to meet the needs of Northern Ontarians.

On June 3, 2021, the Government of Ontario passed legislation to make NOSM the first stand-alone medical university in Canada. 

Project description

This project will create a first of its kind “Centre for Social Accountability” that:

• Creates dramatic changes in how schools admit, train and send students into the community. 
• Builds capacity to conduct research on the community impact of the NOSM and the health-care system NOSM graduates are entering. 
• Support schools across the country to learn from this new practice.