Program Contacts

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Important Information

Please visit our website for more information on the program.

NOSM-Family Medicine (http://www.nosm.ca/familymedicine)

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Additional Requirement: Situational Judgement Test (CASPer) is a required test for all applicants to NOSM Family Medicine Programs.

(Please refer to the Supporting Documentation Section)

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You will find:

• Interactive and multimedia information on our Program
• Curated information to help you in your program selection, given the virtual nature of the CaRMS selection process and lack of in-person visit to our program
• Schedule of our promotion and information sessions
• Information on how to get your questions answered

 

Given the COVID-19 Pandemic, all Promotion, Recruitment and Selection activities will be conducted virtually, using a variety of web-based tools to help you get to know us, and us you!

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General Instructions

Program application language: English

NOSM offers Family Medicine training in seven Northern Ontario Family Medicine streams: 

• Larger urban sites (pop. greater than 100,000)
• Sudbury
• Thunder Bay
• Smaller urban sites (pop. 50,000-80,000)
• North Bay
• Sault Ste. Marie
• Timmins
• Rural/Remote/Distributed (pop. <20,000, often much smaller)
• Remote First Nation
• Rural - distributed across several smaller communities in northern Ontario.

Please note: If applying to more than one NOSM Family Medicine stream, the same supporting documents may be used for each application, with the exception of the Rural Stream and the Remote First Nation Stream, which require additional documentation.

Rural Stream: an additional document (the NOSM FM Rural Addendum/Questionnaire) with specific questions pertaining to suitability for rural training.

Remote First Nation Stream: a customized personal letter and additional reference requirements.

Applications to additional streams must be completed by 11:59 p.m. E.T. on Thursday, March 25, 2021. Applications to the Remote First Nations Northern Ontario will not be considered once file review has opened as of 12:05 p.m. E.T. February 8, 2021.

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Supporting Documentation / Information

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Review Process

Applications submitted after file review has opened on February 8, 2021

Supporting documents (excluding letters of reference) that arrive after file review has opened  on  February 8, 2021

Letters of reference that arrive after the unmasking date on February 8, 2021

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Interviews

Selection Criteria

In keeping with the CanMEDs roles, please note that throughout the entire application and selection process, your interactions with NOSM personnel may be taken into consideration by the program in their selection process and ranking decisions.

The NOSM Family Medicine Residency Program will review candidate’s applications based on:

• demonstrated interest in Family Medicine
• ability to fulfill all CanMEDS-FM roles
• demonstrated interest in clinical practice in northern Ontario and/or rural medicine
• strong academic record
• strength of references
• excellent interpersonal and collaboration skills
• evidence of self-directed learning and reflective practice
• desire to train in variety of clinical practices and community settings
• connection to northern Ontario educationally, professionally, or personally

Program goals

The Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) is committed to the education of high quality physicians and health professionals, and to international recognition as a leader in distributed, learning-centred, community-engaged education and research.

The NOSM Family Medicine Program's vision is to educate doctors based on the CanMEDS-FM roles to develop the skills and attitudes necessary to deliver excellent, culturally respectful health care to the communities of northern Ontario, including rural and remote areas.

Selection process goals

Through our selection process, our program aims to identify candidates who have a strong academic history with demonstrated competence and interest in family medicine (e.g. FM rotations, electives, scholarly activities, conference involvement and/or other related work or life experiences). We are seeking candidates who possess superior clinical and communication skills, and have the ability to relate to patients, their families, and caregivers with compassion, empathy, sensitivity and humility.

We are looking for candidates who possess the ability and willingness to work collaboratively (within and across professional domains) in a team dynamic to secure optimal patient outcomes, while exemplifying the highest standards of professional behavior -- inclusive of responsibility, respect, and self-awareness.

We are also looking to identify candidates who would be a good fit for our program. As a socially accountable medical school, accountable to the needs and the diversity of the populations of Northern Ontario, candidates best suited to the NOSM Family Medicine Program are those with a vested interest in rural medicine, who can adapt and thrive in a hands-on, distributed rural residency program that requires flexibility and some travel away from their primary location of residence. At times, you will train in environments with very few learners, which affords excellent first-in-line, hands-on experience.

We also believe that candidates who are resilient, can prioritize their personal well-being and work-life balance, and are also committed to self-reflective learning, continuing professional development, and quality improvement, are well-suited to our program. Through our selection process we aim to identify and successfully match candidates who possess these attributes as well.

File review process

Evaluation criteria :

Elective criteria

Interview process

Interview evaluation criteria :

Information gathered outside of CaRMS application

Specifically, we may consider:
Social interaction during program related events
Communication with program administration
Social media
Unsolicited reference letters
Unsolicited email references
Unsolicited verbal information on a candidate's prior performance
Unsolicited feedback from colleagues and co-workers
Other : In keeping with the CanMEDs roles, please note that throughout the entire application and interview process, your interactions with NOSM personnel may be taken into consideration by the program in their selection process and ranking decisions.

Ranking process

The behavior(s) exhibited below during the interview process may prevent an applicant from being ranked by our program :
Unprofessional or inappropriate behavior   
Did not attend interview   
Interview performance was not competitive   

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Program Highlights

• Practice opportunities are extensive, and diverse allowing residents to immerse themselves in the unique lifestyle of northern Ontario
  
  
• Residents have flexibility and are encouraged to undertake clinical experiences in a wide variety of communities across the entire NOSM geographic area
  
  
• Opportunities exist to undertake either Family medicine or other learning experiences in the French language and experience the Francophone culture of northern Ontario
  
  
• Community rotations are available which will allow residents to immerse and familiarize themselves in the rural culture, and experience the challenges and rewards of delivery of care in rural and remote communities
  
  
• Many diverse opportunities exist to encounter, immerse and deliver care to Indigenous Peoples including travel to northern First Nations.
  
  
• Rotations in over 40 Northern urban, rural and remote clinical settings
  
  
• Opportunity for a wide variety of PGY3 enhanced skills options in northern Ontario
  
  
• A unique opportunity for blended hospital­-based and community-based training with first call coverage in most disciplines
  
  
• Early integration as a key member of an interdisciplinary health care team dedicated to professionalism, high quality patient care and excellent medical education
  
  
• A diverse variety of in-patient and outpatient experiences emphasized from the beginning of residency
  
  
• Unparalleled preceptor support from physician faculty and preceptors whose primary focus is patient care and teaching
  
  
• Commitment to resident learning
  
  
• Financial support for resident travel to and from core clinical placements away from the home base and all mandatory educational activities at non home base locations
  
  
• Housing support for core rotations away from home base and primary residence for up to 6 months per academic year
  
  
• Opportunities to participate in a scholarly activity, including research and quality imporvement, under expert guidance
  
  
• Funding available for research, professional development and conference participation
  
  
• Access to advanced technology and informatics that allows 24/7 access to electronic search engines, and electronic indexes, as well as an extensive collection of electronic medical/health journals and textbooks
  
  
• Exceptional lifestyle balance with a wide variety of outstanding northern Ontario recreational opportunities

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Program Curriculum

This residency program is for 2 years.

Program length of training does not exceed the Royal College or College of Family Physicians of Canada standard.

Program Overview 

The NOSM Family Medicine program is an accredited program of the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC). We follow the Triple C competency-based curriculum in all of our training streams. Utilizing the CanMEDS-FM competencies, along with the CFPC's Priority Topics and Skills Dimensions, our curriculum is build with community Family Medicine in mind. All of our rotations are largely community based, with several opportunities within our hospitals. The vast majority of teaching is provided by Family Physicians. Comprehensiveness of practice, along with continuity of care and education are central to our work. Depending on the stream, the approach to the scheduling of clinical experiences will vary.  All Family Medicine residents will receive ongoing coaching and feedback, both informally and formally through our workplace-based assessment methods. Regularly scheduled periodic reviews provide an opportunity for self-reflection and coaching from a Competency Coach.  Candidates who are self-directed and engage in reflective practice are particularly suited to our residency program.

Clinical Curriculum

The NOSM Family Medicine Clinical Curriculum incorporates a diversity of experience and proficiency in areas integral to community-based Family Practice.  Each resident will spend significant time in the community practice of Family Medicine preceptors. Residents participate in all aspects of the practice, including provision of continuous care to their own patients within the practice and participation in the care of all in-­hospital patients within the practice whenever possible.  Participation in the care of the practice’s patients in multiple environments including the hospital, patient’s home and other scenarios is encouraged.

Domains of Care	Curriculum Objectives
Across the Life Cycle	Care of Children and Adolescents Care of Adults Care of Elderly Maternal and Newborn Care Men’s Health Palliative Care Women’s Health
Care of Underserved Patients	Behavioural Medicine & Mental Health Global Health & Care of Vulnerable and Underserviced
Procedural Skills	Procedural and Surgical Skills

Throughout the program, elective rotations provide additional flexibility and enable residents to tailor their training to achieve competence in the domains of care and their individual learning objectives not met by immersions in the regular core rotations. Diversity of experience during elective rotations is encouraged and recognized as being extremely valuable.

Sample Clinical Rotation Schedule

Below is the typical NOSM Family Medicine Program Clinical Curriculum, represented in weeks. Due to the needs of the communities, some of the program streams will demonstrate slight differences in curriculum.

Note:  Family physicians (preceptors) who do not do hospital rounds – residents are required to do three (3) additional weeks of Internal Medicine.

• North Bay = NBAY
• Rural Northern Ontario = RURAL
• Sault Ste. Marie = SSM
• Sudbury = SUD
• Thunder Bay = TBAY
• Timmins = TIMM
• Remote First Nations = RFN
  
  

PGY1	NBAY Stream	RURAL Stream	SSM Stream	SUD Stream	TBAY Stream	TIMM Stream	RFN Stream
Family Medicine	16	-	16	16	16	14	-
Family Medicine Rural	8	24	8	8	8	8	16
Internal Medicine	4	4	4	4	4	6	8
Emergency Medicine	4	4	4	4	4	4	4
Obstetrics/Women’s Health	4	4	4	4	4	4	4
Mental Health	4	4	4	4	4	2	8
Pediatrics	4	4	4	4	4	4	4
Anesthesia	-	-	-	-	-	1	-
Geriatrics	-	-	-	-	-	1	-
Electives	8	8	8	8	8	8	8

 

PGY2	NBAY Stream	RURAL Stream	SSM Stream	SUD Stream	TBAY Stream	TIMM Stream	RFN Stream
Family Medicine	16	-	16	16	16	12	24
Family Medicine Rural	8	24	8	8	8	8	-
Internal Medicine	4	4	4	4	4	6	-
Emergency Medicine	4	4	4	4	4	4	4
Addictions/Pain Management	-	-	-	-	-	-	4
Psychiatry	-	-	-	-	-	-	8
Obstetrics/Women’s Health	4	4	4	4	4	4	4
Surgical Selective	4	4	4	4	4	-	-
General Surgery	-	-	-	-	-	2	-
Orthopedics	-	-	-	-	-	1	-
Otorhinolaryngology	-	-	-	-	-	1	-
Pediatrics	4	-	-	-	-	-	-
Geriatrics	-	-	-	-	-	1	-
Dermatology	-	-	-	-	-	1	-
Electives	8	12	12	12	12	12	8

 

Academic Program

The Family Medicine academic program consists of academic sessions, courses, and retreats. At this time, protected time every week affords a half day of teaching, separate from clinical duties. These sessions will cover the vast majority of CFPC's Priority Topics, along with some hands-on skills including simulations, procedural skills and other small group learning. Due to the pandemic, we have moved to a virtual method of delivery, with an eye to come together occasionally for mini-retreats at the end of blocks. In the first year of residency, all residents will participate in the Core Curriculum offered to all NOSM residents, across all specialties, which will cover key topics such as the Resident as Teacher, Indigenous health, medical errors and patient safety, etc. In addition, specific sessions in second year will be tailored to preparation for CFPC examination.

The NOSM program also provides financial support for residents to obtain certification in Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) and Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP).  Residents are also provided with some financial support to attend other courses or conferences such as Family Medicine Forum and Society of Rural Physicians Rural and Remote Medicine Conference.

Other learning sessions, virtual or in-person, are scattered throughout the year to address learning needs.

We value the importance of Wellness and encourage protected time for residents to gather and dialogue with each other on a regular basis.

Scholarly Activity

While the role of Scholar will evolve throughout the two-year program, a number of activities are planned in the program:

• Scholarly activity, including research and quality improvement (QI), supported by a Tutor
• Ongoing didactic and small group sessions focused on Evidence-Based Medicine, Research and Quality Improvement
• The opportunity to participate in Resident Research Day, where everyone will share their Scholarly Activity with peers.

These activities contribute to the development of effective teaching practices, formulating and investigating scholarly questions, and disseminating and communicating knowledge to professional audiences.  Residents also contribute to the quality improvement of the Family medicine program by providing feedback on the clinical experiences and academic curriculum; this data is collected and utilized by the program to augment the overall program curriculum.  

 

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Training Sites

North Bay

Considered the “Gateway to the North,” North Bay is only a 3.5 hour drive north of Toronto and a short 1.5 hours to Laurentian University in Sudbury, one of two NOSM host university sites.  North Bay is “just north enough to be perfect”.

Residents training in North Bay can expect a high quality education experience that typically provides one-on-one teaching in an exciting practice environment. Our teaching physicians are enthusiastic and knowledgeable clinical role models, and are familiar with teaching sessions and working with residents and medical students.

North Bay has a stable population of 52,000.  Fortunate to be situated between both Lake Nipissing and Trout Lake, there are excellent opportunities for all types of water sports.  In addition to offering a wide variety of organized sports, our city is well suited to those that love the outdoors.  Duchesnay Falls is less than 1 km from the hospital, and connects to trails with Nipissing University.  Along Lake Nipissing, the Kate Pace Way is a fully paved, 12 km multi-use trail.  There are numerous walking, hiking, and mountain biking trails up and along the Laurentian Escarpment, through Laurier Woods and around Trout Lake.  The Escarpment is home to Laurentian Ski Hill for downhill skiers, and our Nordic Ski Club has numerous groomed classic and skate style trails, with the longest being over 18 km.  

To satisfy the city population and surrounding area, North Bay offers comprehensive medical services.  Our amalgamated, modern hospital provides upgraded facilities, services and teaching opportunities to all learners. A fully accredited medical hospital, the North Bay Regional Health Centre is a 401-bed facility that offers acute care services and numerous outpatient services for North Bay and the northeast region. It is also the district referral centre, providing specialist services for smaller communities in the area and is the specialized mental health service provider for all of Northeast Ontario.

The medical community of North Bay is comprised of specialists and general practitioners that provide patients with the highest quality of care.  North Bay has a lot of opportunity for working alongside physicians: in the operating room as surgical assist; with obstetricians during deliveries; alongside pediatricians in their clinic, pediatric ward or our NICU; with psychiatrists in either the acute inpatient mental health, or children’s acute mental health unit; with internal medicine specialists in our critical care unit; or in one of our three trauma rooms, the acute care ward, clinical decision unit or non-acute exam rooms of our emergency department!

A large advantage of being a learner in North Bay is that family medicine physicians are the hospitalists.  There is no separate hospitalist system.  Learners on family medicine rotation are expected to be in the hospital daily.  Learners in family medicine blocks can have continuity of patient care by treating them in hospital and in the office, potentially before and after discharge.

As a NOSM family medicine resident training in North Bay, many layered learning experiences also exist.  North Bay is a Comprehensive Community Clerkship Site, where NOSM third-year medical students undertake an 8-month clinical placement.

North Bay offers a great experience, both within our medical community and throughout our vibrant city.

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Additional Information

To learn more about northern Ontario, please visit the "Wider Campus of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine" webpage. 

To learn more about our Program - visit us at http://www.nosm.ca/familymedicine