NOSM Announces First Vice Dean, Academic

The Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Catherine (Cathy) Cervin as the School’s First Vice Dean, Academic, effective January 1, 2018. The Vice Dean, Academic position will enhance NOSM’s focus on fulfilling the School’s social accountability mandate, while continuing to achieve the academic mission.

“It is with great excitement that I congratulate Dr. Cervin on her new role as Vice Dean, Academic,” says Dr. Roger Strasser, NOSM Dean. “In this new role, Dr. Cervin will assume many of my direct responsibilities in overseeing day-to-day academic functions, while I dedicate time to external relationships and cultivating new opportunities for the School. As Vice Dean Academic, Dr. Cervin will also help prepare the organization for the transition to the new Dean-CEO in 2019.”

Cervin joined the School in 2011 as Associate Dean, Postgraduate Education and has served as the Senior Associate Dean at NOSM at Laurentian University for the past three years. In these roles, Cervin has worked hard to support residency program directors in the development of excellence in education that meets the needs of the people of Northern Ontario, particularly rural, Indigenous, and Francophone communities. In collaboration with the leaders of the Academic Health Sciences Centres (Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre and Health Sciences North in Sudbury), Cervin is leading a project to support and improve integration of teaching and research throughout clinical settings in Northern Ontario.

Cervin grew up in southern Ontario, attended medical school at the University of Toronto, finished her family medicine residency at Dalhousie University, and then practised full-scope family medicine in Timmins and Sault Ste. Marie for seven years before embarking on an academic career in the Department of Family Medicine at Dalhousie University. As befits a generalist, her professional interests are wide ranging and include social accountability, educating for comprehensive primary care, curriculum development, learning portfolios, communication skills, and cultural competency.

Recognized by her peers and colleagues, Cervin received a Certificate of Merit from the Canadian Association of Medical Education in 2009 and also received an Award of Excellence from The College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC) in 2010. That same year, she completed her Masters of Medical Education. Cervin is a Director on the Board of the Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMS) and Health Sciences North in Sudbury, the Treasurer of the Canadian Association of Medical Education, and the Chair of the Foundation for Advancing Family Medicine Foundation of the College of Family Physicians of Canada. She is also the past Chair of the Board of Examiners of the CFPC.

Within the next several weeks, Cervin hopes to announce the appointment of an interim Associate Dean, Postgraduate Education.