Exploring the Socioeconomic Impact of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine
R.W. Pong, B. Minore, J.C. Hogenbirk, M.E. Hill, D. Robinson, M.G. Delmege, and P.E. Timony

The establishment of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) was a major event in northern Ontario. It is the first medicine school built in Canada in over 30 years. While the primary objective of NOSM is to train physicians who are willing and able to work in rural, northern, and remote areas, it also has an impact on northern Ontario in other ways.

This study examined the social and economic impact of NOSM on selected communities in Northern Ontario. The proposed assessment used administrative data and narratives obtained from key informant interviews and focus groups to ascertain the short-term and longer-term impact of NOSM, particularly with respect to the local economy, the physician workforce in northern Ontario, Lakehead and Laurentian Universities, selected health care institutions (such as hospitals and public health units), and on selected northern Ontario communities.

(commissioned by the Northern Ontario School of Medicine)

[To read the Final Report of "Exploring the Socio-Economic Impact of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine", please visit our Online Reports page.]



(Names in bold denote CRaNHR investigators and research staff.)