Dr. Roger Strasser, A.M. Dean and Professor Northern Ontario School of Medicine

In September 2002, Dr Strasser was selected as the Founding Dean to lead creation of the first new medical school in Canada for over 30 years - the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM). The School is a joint initiative of Lakehead University in Thunder Bay and Laurentian University in Sudbury, which are over 1,000 kilometers apart.

Prior to his appointment with NOSM, Dr Strasser was Professor of Rural Health for Monash University and Head of the Monash University School of Rural Health, in Australia. Between 1992 and 2004, Dr Strasser also had an international role as Chair of the Working Party on Rural Practice of Wonca, the World Organization of Family Doctors. In November 2002, he was awarded Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of General Practitioners in recognition of his world leadership in the field of rural health and in March 2003, Dr Strasser received the Louis Ariotti Award for excellence and innovation in rural and remote health in Australia. Dr Strasser is also the recipient of the prestigious award, Fellow of Wonca, presented in October 2004, in recognition of his outstanding service to Wonca and family medicine around the world.

In April 2005, Australia's Monash University held a special ceremony to re-name its Auditorium in Dr Strasser's honour. The Roger Strasser Auditorium at the Latrobe Regional Hospital pays tribute to Professor Strasser's contribution to the development of rural medical education programs in Australia and around the world. In 2006, Dr Strasser was named the inaugural winner of the Small, Rural and Northern Award of Excellence by the Ontario Hospital Association in Canada and also received the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine Life Fellowship Award for outstanding and meritorious service to Rural and Remote Medicine in Australia.

In 2011, Dr Strasser was appointed a Member in the General Division Order of Australia (AM). The Order of Australia recognizes the achievements and service of Australian citizens, with nominations submitted directly from the community. The honour bestowed on Dr. Strasser is specifically for service to medicine, through improving the health care of people living in rural and remote communities in developed and developing nations as an educator, researcher, and practitioner.

Dr. Strasser's research activities focus primarily on:

• rural health workforce, including recruitment & retention, education & training, and sustainability
• rural health services, including health service delivery models, specific clinical services and sustainability
• family practice

Past and present specific research projects include: A Study of Doctor and Patient Perceptions of Family Practitioners as Resource Manager/Gatekeepers; Studies of the Health Service Needs and Health Service Delivery in Small Rural Communities; A Study of the Support Needs of Family Physicians in Towns without Hospitals; the Extended Latrobe Valley Injury Study (ELVIS); the Special Co-operative Audit of Rural Surgery (SCARS); the Australian National Rural Family Practice Study; A Study of Models of Sustainable Rural and Remote Family Practice Services; A Study of Undergraduate Medical Student Placements with Family Practitioners; Development of a Minimum Dataset of Family Practitioner Workforce and Skills; a collaborative research project with Monash University School of Rural Health entitled the Monash University Rural Background Students Follow-up Study; Co-investigator in CIHR funded research project on Rural Medical Education; Project leader for CFI funded research into Educational Applications of Virtual Reality and Co-investigator on "Go to the People": Research Consultation with Aboriginal Stakeholders for the Development of Collaborative Aboriginal Cancer Research.

Search for publications by R.P. Strasser on PubMed