New Member Appointed to NOSM Board of Directors

Seven Departing Members Thanked for Contribution 

The Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) held its Annual Members and Board of Directors meetings on Wednesday, September 19, 2012. These meetings were video-linked between the School’s West Campus at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay and its East Campus at Laurentian University in Sudbury, with other Directors participating via teleconference.

NOSM medical student Ms. Katie Gibson was appointed to the Board of Directors. Mr. Derek Debassige was appointed to the Board for a second term.

The following members were thanked for their significant contribution to the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, as their terms completed September 19, 2012:

Dr. Adam Exley
Mr. Hoogenboom
Mr. Austin Hunt
Mr. Neil MacOdrum
Dr. Todd Spencer
Mr. Lou Turco
Dr. Jesse Zroback

Ms. Jackie Dojack, the Chair of the Board’s Advancement Committee, spoke to the Board about the launch of NOSM’s Seats for Success campaign. With this campaign, NOSM wants communities to imagine a future where Northern-trained medical doctors are waiting to see patients from across the region. The goal of the Seats for Success campaign is to generate money for bursaries and other NOSM initiatives, helping to eliminate financial barriers and encourage doctors trained in the North to stay and practice in the North.

NOSM is asking the people of Northern Ontario to buy a virtual waiting room seat for $60.00. Each seat represents one patient that one day will be on NOSM graduates’ patient lists. (More information about NOSM’s Seats for Success campaign can be found online at: www.nosm.ca/seats.)

Dr. Roger Strasser, NOSM’s Dean, provided an update regarding Rendez-Vous 2012, a major world conference being hosted by the School from October 9 – 14, 2012 in Thunder Bay, with conference components also occurring in Hearst, Manitoulin Island, Marathon, Sioux Lookout, Sudbury, and Wawa.

Rendez-Vous 2012 will welcome almost 850 people from 47 different countries and over 150 medical and health professional schools to Northern Ontario to consider the theme of Community participation in education, research, and service.

This conference will bring together the Wonca World Rural Health Conference and The Network: Towards Unity for Health annual conference, as well as the next NOSM/Flinders Conference on Community Engaged Medical Education, the Consortium for Longitudinal Integrated Curricula, and the Training for Health Equity Network. More information about Rendez-Vous 2012 can be found at www.rendez-vous2012.ca.

The audited financial statements for the year ending April 30, 2012 were approved, and the Directors received reports from Board committees, including the Finance and Audit, Board Executive, Quality Monitoring, Governance, and Nominating committees. The Board also received reports from the Schools’ Francophone and Aboriginal Reference Groups.

The next Board of Directors meeting will be held in Sudbury on November 29 and 30, 2012.

For a complete list of Board members, please visit our website at www.nosm.ca.

Contact:

news@nosm.ca