Northern Ontario School of Medicine

The Northern Ontario School of Medicine is a medical school created through a partnership between Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario and Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Mandated both to educate doctors and to contribute to care in Northern Ontario's urban, rural and remote communities, the Northern Ontario Medical School has campuses in both Sudbury and Thunder Bay.

Construction on both campuses began in mid-2004, and the buildings were completed in August 2005. NOSM accepted its charter class of 56 students in September, 2005 and this first class will graduate in 2009.

Before the creation of NOSM, Northern Ontario had for several years been designated as "underserviced", meaning that the region's ratio of medical professionals to the general population was not meeting the standards set by the Ministry of Health. As a result, a multifaceted plan was adopted by the province, including the creation of NOSM and the adoption of special recruitment strategies. A study of medical services in Ontario, released in August of 2005, found that for the first time in many years, the region's level of medical services had improved over the previous year.

NOSM, which was officially opened by Premier Dalton McGuinty on September 13, 2005, will also have recruitment programs for First Nations students. Minister of Health George Smitherman was unable to make it to the official opening but instead visited the school in September 2006.

Over 2000 applications were received for the charter class of 56 students. Applicants request their preferred campus at the time of their interview. Successful applicants will receive an offer of admission to a specific campus. Over 2000 applications were also received for the classes starting in 2006 and 2007.

Northern Ontario Virtual Library
The medical school also operates the Northern Ontario Virtual Library or NOVL which was created in 2002. This service is directed to meeting the traditional and expanding information needs of practicing professionals through the entire Northern Ontario region. It sponsors in-person, and technologically mediated instruction on the latest medical and health sciences databases and information technology, among other topics. The explicit aim is to further the practice of evidence-based medicine in the north, with special focus on the physicians, residents, nurses, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, and other health care professionals in northern and/or rural communities, whether or not they are officially affiliated with the NOSM.