Health Sciences Lifetime Achievement Award

Winner – Brock Chisholm – NOSM University/Lake of The Woods District Hospital

This award was created to recognize a member of the clinical community in Northern Ontario who has a longstanding contribution to the success of clinical education and recruitment and retention efforts. Someone who throughout their career has been a leading example of the values of NOSM University that are part of each of our other awards this evening. Someone who is unquestionably a Northern Ambassador, someone who has been innovative with clinical education, active with academics and scholarly work, someone who promotes the importance of interprofessional collaboration all in a deep commitment to clinical education.

His passion for clinical education and Northern Ontario, like the Olympic flame, has been shared with so many others throughout his career – and it still burns bright today – both in him and the students and clinicians he has worked with throughout his career. He was part of the team that helped to organize rehab placements in Northern Ontario well before NOSM existed, having seen title changes, program name changes, countless acronyms, and colleagues come and go. With all of these changes, he has been the consistent element in our rehab program – regardless of how busy his clinical or managerial role got, especially over the last few years.

Before there was the Preceptor Development Series that we offer today, he had co-created the first Preceptor 101 workshops in 2001 – again, before NOSM was even established.

He co-authored important papers in Rural Remote Health and Physiotherapy Canada discussing recruitment and retention of rehabilitation professionals in Northern Ontario and the impact of the NSS.

He was the recipient of the first Canadian Physiotherapy National Clinical Education Award.

One of his colleagues remarked on his always welcoming demeanour and love of the North that he shares with others. She recalls: “Whenever he picked up a presenter from the airport, a new clinician or colleague, or filled a vehicle of staff to bring to a conference, he always provided a historic tour of whatever community you were in! He knew them all! You would be taken to see the Wawa Goose, the best Kayak launch spot in Red Rock, Hillcrest park in Thunder Bay, the Art Gallery, International Friendship Garden, pointing out Loch Lomond and all the various points of interest in between, never missing a trip to Fireweed and the Finnish bookstore. Once you finished a car ride with him, you felt like a local!”

Congratulations to our inaugural recipient of the Health Sciences Lifetime Achievement Award – Mr. Brock Chisholm.