The Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM), created in 2002, made history by becoming Canada’s first independent medical university—now known as NOSM University—on April 1, 2022.

NOSM University is one of the greatest medical education success stories of Canada. Born of a grassroots movement, NOSM University is a made-in-the-North solution to regional health care inequalities. Its internationally recognized distributed, community-engaged learning (DCEL) model is distinctive and has grown into something extraordinary.

This education model requires NOSM University to have strong ties and engagement with remote, rural, Indigenous and Francophone communities. It features partnerships and collaborations with more than 500 organizations, in more than 90 communities, and with more than 1,800 clinical, human, and medical sciences faculty dispersed across all of Northern Ontario.

In addition to offering a Committee on Accreditation of Canadian Medical Schools (CACMS) fully accredited MD program, NOSM University offers a Master of Medical Studies, Dietetic Practicum Program (DPP), Medical Physics Residency Education Program (MPREP), Physician Assistant (PAs), and Postgraduate Residency programs accredited by both the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC) and College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC). 

NOSM University has a mandate to be socially accountable to the cultural diversity of the region it serves including Indigenous and Francophone peoples, remote communities, small rural towns, large rural communities, and urban centres. Evidence of this mandate can be found in the University’s curriculum, administrative structure, research program, student demographics, continuing education program, and more.

NOSM University faculty, staff and students do not function in a traditional medical school building. Rather, the walls of the University are the boundaries of Northern Ontario, spanning thousands of kilometres, with two main campuses and countless communities that are linked in some way to the University.