NOSM Celebrates First Graduates of the Northern Ontario Dietetic Internship Program

On Friday, August 22, 2008, the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) celebrated the graduation of the first class of the Northern Ontario Dietetic Internship Program (NODIP). A videoconferenced graduation celebration linked the four principal community sites – Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie, Timmins, and Thunder Bay – that began training the School’s dietetic interns in October 2007.

Dr. Roger Strasser, NOSM Founding Dean, congratulated the interns at the graduation last Friday. “The Northern Ontario Dietetic Internship Program’s first graduation marks the beginning of an exciting year of milestones and graduations at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine. The success of the program is spectacular. I would like to congratulate the interns on their outstanding achievements, and wish them success as they begin their careers as dietitians,” said Dr. Strasser. “I would also like to thank the preceptors, partners and communities that have supported the Northern Ontario Dietetic Internship Program for their generosity and dedication.”

The achievement of a sustainable Dietetic Internship in Northern Ontario represents over six years of committed effort by a number of key stakeholders, including Dietitians Canada. Marlene Wyatt, Regional Executive Director of Dietitians Canada, was on hand in Sault Ste. Marie to congratulate the graduates. “Securing an internship program in Northern Ontario has been a long process, dating back to the first proposal in 2000. It is wonderful to see the culmination of years of dedication in such a successful program. Congratulations and best wishes to the first graduating class of dietetic interns,” she said.

With placements across Northern Ontario in rural, Aboriginal and Francophone communities, and the four principal sites, ten dietetic interns worked with, and learned from, preceptors in hospitals, public health units, long-term care facilities, and clinics. Graduates now have an appreciation for the unique health-care needs of Northern Ontario, as well as the cultural diversity of the people who call it home.