Northern Routes

A Memorable Year—and Much to Celebrate

This spring, we are emerging from a year like no other. It has been one full year since NOSM University was proclaimed Canada's first independent medical university, and here we are on the cusp of granting our first degrees as a university to MD graduates—a historic moment. In the last year, we also have established a new Board of Governors and a new Senate; we have made leadership changes to reflect our new status, hired our first Provost and in Sudbury, we will be installing our first Chancellor at convocation on Friday, May 26. The shift to one convocation is a necessary one as, no matter where we all are in Northern Ontario, we ...

Planetary health is human health. NOSM University is taking action on climate change.

Earth Day is April 22, 2023—and yes, there is a climate crisis. Hello, Bonjour, Aanin, Boozhoo, Tanshi, Kwe Kwe, Ahead of Earth Day, I am thinking about the planet and all of the life it supports. About nine years ago I was influenced by the following words: “Planetary health is an attitude towards life and a philosophy for living. It emphasizes people, not diseases, and equity, not the creation of unjust societies. We seek to minimize differences in health according to wealth, education, gender, and place. We support knowledge as one source of social transformation, and the right to realize, progressively, the highest attaina...

What’s the best-kept secret in health care today? That there’s some good news, too

Every day, I hear stories from people about ineffective or distressing experiences with the health-care system; every week, someone asks me to help them find a family doctor. Beyond the anecdotal, we all know that the federal, provincial and territorial governments are struggling with the ongoing crises in our health-care system. You need only look at a few recent headlines to see that the whole country is trying to grapple with the issue. It’s easy to be depressed by all of the bad news. But, I believe there are actually good reasons to feel optimistic. Foremost, the federal government agreed in December to a record $94...