Senior Leadership Searches and Reappointments

Dr. Owen Prowse has accepted the position of inaugural Vice-President, Clinical Partnerships and Hospital Relations, effective March 1, 2024.

See VP Clinical Partnerships and Hospital Relations

Pediatrician Dr. Tara Baron to Lead NOSM University’s Continuing Education and Professional Development

From among its ranks, NOSM University has found its new Associate Dean of Continuing Education and Professional Development. Dr. Tara Baron is a general consulting pediatrician in Sudbury. She has been involved with NOSM University since its inception and is currently Pediatric Program Director and the Sudbury campus lead for the pediatric clerkship. An award-winning physician, Dr. Baron has been recognized for her innovation and her excellence in supporting medical learners. She has won both faculty- and student-nominated awards for teaching excellence and was the recipient of a 2022 Competence by Design Innovator Award from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Dr. Baron will lead NOSM University’s efforts to support, develop, and deliver clinical medical education and scholarly activities to assist faculty in becoming more effective clinicians, teachers, preceptors, scholars, and educational leaders. Her five-year, renewable term will begin on July 1, 2023. Read More – Media Release (May 30, 2023)

NOSM University’s new Assistant Dean, Admissions and Enrolment is one of the University’s earliest MD graduates. Dr. Paul Miron is a Francophone family physician, born and raised in Northern Ontario. He graduated from the University of Ottawa with an Honours Bachelor of Biochemistry. After embarking on his medical studies at NOSM University, Dr. Miron completed a Family Medicine residency at McMaster University and subsequently obtained a Master of Health Sciences Education. For the last 10 years, Dr. Miron has worked in NOSM University’s Postgraduate Medical Education program. Most recently, he spent five years as the Program Director, Family Medicine, during which time he participated in provincial and national committees and initiatives, specifically in the areas of continuous quality improvement, accreditation, resident selection and admission.

A family physician in Timmins, Dr. Miron provides broad-scope primary care, hospital medicine, and primary care addictions, stroke and oncology. Dr. Miron has acted as a consultant in medical education for The College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC) and family medicine programs in Canada, particularly in continuous quality improvement of educational programs. He has been actively involved in the modernization of selection and recruitment of family medicine residents and contributed to the development of new tools utilized in the national approach to resident selection. Media Release (June 19, 2023)

NOSM University announces Dr. Linda Bakovic as the incoming Interim Program Director of the Pediatric residency program, effective July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024.

Dr. Bakovic is Chief of the Department of Pediatrics and a Regional Consulting Pediatrician at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre. She also maintains a practice at Thunder Bay Pediatrics and practices as a Visiting Consulting Pediatrician at the Meno-Ya-Win Health Center in Sioux Lookout.
Dr. Bakovic completed her undergraduate medical education at NOSM University and her Pediatric residency training in Alberta Children’s Hospital through the University of Calgary in Alberta. Currently, Dr. Bakovic is an Associate Professor at NOSM University and has worked as the Thunder Bay Site Director for the NOSM U Pediatric residency program since 2015.

On behalf of the NOSM University community, we also extend great admiration and an immense thank you to Dr. Tara Baron, outgoing Program Director, who will continue to support the broader work of the university in her new role as the new Associate Dean of Continuing Education and Professional Development. Dr. Baron’s tireless commitment to residents and this program are sincerely appreciated.

NOSM University announces Dr. Jason Sutherland as the incoming Program Director of the Family Medicine residency program, effective September 1, 2023.

Dr. Sutherland is a graduate of NOSM U’s undergraduate and Family Medicine residency programs and holds a Ph.D. in Medical Sciences from McMaster University. Since 2013, Dr. Sutherland has provided primary care to his community-based practice, ultimately joining the City of Lakes Family Health Team in 2016 and has worked as a medical staff physician with Health Sciences North’s Department of Family Medicine. He is also the Regional Primary Care Lead at the Jim and Shirley Fielding Northeast Cancer Centre.
Dr. Sutherland is an Associate Professor at NOSM University, acting as a preceptor to many residents and undergraduate medical students. Since 2015, he has been the Coordinator of UME Theme 5 content for module 108 and since June 2022, has been the Chair of the PGME FM Residency program’s Program Evaluation and Quality Improvement Committee.

On behalf of the NOSM University community, we also extend an immense thank you to Dr. Paul Miron, outgoing Program Director, for all the incredible work he has done over the past five years. We wish him ongoing success as he continues to support our NOSM University learners in his new role as the Assistant Dean, Admissions and Enrolment. Dr. Miron’s dedication to the Family Medicine team, and tireless commitment to our residents are sincerely appreciated.

NOSM University is pleased to announce that Dr. Frédéric Sarrazin has returned to the role of Program Director of the Family Medicine Enhanced Skills residency program, effective July 1, 2023, a position he previously held from 2016-2019. Dr. Sarrazin is an Emergency Physician at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre and holds the rank of Associate Professor at the NOSM University. During his time away from this leadership position, Dr. Sarrazin continued his involvement with our PGME programs, as the PGME Francophone Coordinator and most recently, as the Chair of the PGY3 Family Medicine – Emergency Medicine Competency Committee.

Dr. Sarrazin is the recipient of the 2019 PARO Clinical Teaching Award – Excellence in Postgraduate Medical Education and of the NOSM U FM/EM 2023 Clinical Teaching Excellence Award.

On behalf of the NOSM University community, we also extend an enormous thank you to Dr. Paul Miron, outgoing Acting Enhanced Skills Program Director for his hard work and dedication to all the residents within our PGY3 Enhanced Skills programs. We wish him ongoing success in his new role as the new Associate Dean of Continuing Education and Professional Development at NOSM University.

Dr. Andrew Smith named NOSM University’s new Program Director of General Surgery

NOSM University is pleased to announce Dr. Andrew Smith as the incoming Program Director of the General Surgery Residency Program effective July 1, 2023.

Andrew Smith, Hons BSc, MD, FRCSC, is a General Surgeon with special interest in bariatric surgery practicing at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre since 2014.

He is an Associate Professor in the Division of General Surgery at NOSM University and has taken an active role in NOSM U’s General Surgery Program as a previous Site Director in Thunder Bay, as well as serving initially as the Chair for the Surgical Foundations Competency Committee and now as the Chair for the General Surgery Competency Committee.  He looks forward to working with other engaged Faculty and Program Directors to strengthen surgical education in the North.

Dr. Smith sits on the board for the Ontario Association of General Surgeons and is a member-at-large with the Ontario Medial Association Section in General Surgery.  He is a member of the Canadian Association of General Surgeons, the Canadian Association of Bariatric Physicians and Surgeons, the American College of Surgeons, the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons, and a Fellow of the Royal College of Physician and Surgeons of Canada

On behalf of the NOSM U community, we extend thanks to Dr. Eric Davenport, outgoing Program Director, who will remain in a supportive role during this transition. Dr. Davenport’s commitment to the residents, dedication to the program, and contributions to the profession are sincerely appreciated.