Northern Routes

Simply the Best

I hope you have been enjoying the lovely month of June! May was a remarkably busy month for NOSM University. We had many firsts, from the NOSM University Achievement Celebration at Northern Constellations, to a graduation celebration in Thunder Bay, to our inaugural convocation in Sudbury, at which we installed our inaugural Chancellor, Dr. Cindy Blackstock. What a whirlwind of celebrations! Again: my heartfelt congratulations to all our new doctors! As many of you know, NOSM University had a cyber-security incident a few weeks ago. Rest assured that our IT team—the best in my books—is still working around the clock. Th...

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...