collageGet more information regarding Northern Ontario School of Medicine Requirements, northern ontario school of medicine mcat requirements, is northern Ontario school of medicine good, medical school Ontario admission requirements, where is northern ontario school of medicine & medical schools in Ontario requirements.
where is northern ontario school of medicine?
Northern Ontario School of Medicine University (NOSM University; French: Université de l’École de médecine du Nord de l’Ontario) is a public medical university in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is mandated both to educate doctors and to contribute to care in Northern Ontario‘s urban, rural and remote communities, and has campuses in both Sudbury and Thunder Bay.
The Northern Ontario School of Medicine was originally created as a partnership between Laurentian University in Sudbury and Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, before being made a standalone university in April 2022.
Emblem of NOSM prior to university status.
The school is known for its small class size, its distributed model of education, heavy emphasis on enabling technologies, problem-based and self-directed learning, and early exposure to clinical skills. The school describes its campus as “Northern Ontario”. This is evidenced by the close relationship between the school and various communities and First Nations throughout the region. All students complete a month-long placement in an Aboriginal or Métis community in May of their first year. In second year, they travel to smaller communities for two, month-long placements (one in the fall and the other in the winter). The third year is clerkship and is spent living in one of the medium-sized communities for the entire year. The fourth year of studies is completed in Sudbury or Thunder Bay.
In 2021, following the 2021 Laurentian University financial crisis, the provincial government announced NOSM would become an independent institution which would retain collaborative relationships with both Laurentian and Lakehead but will be funded directly by the provincial government as a standalone university.
The school also accepts donations from the public, health care agencies, local governments, foundations and corporations. Donors can choose to support a particular area of the school’s development, including social accountability, research capacity, human resource planning and innovation in education. Some of NOSM’s largest donors include AstraZeneca, Barrick Gold, BMO Bank of Montreal, Bristol Myers Squibb, CTV, Eli Lilly, Fidelity Investments, HSBC Bank Canada, Hydro One Inc., Royal Bank of Canada, Scotiabank, City of Greater Sudbury, Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada, TD Bank Financial Group, City of Thunder Bay, and Wyeth Canada.
Northern Ontario School of Medicine University[1] (NOSM University; French: Université de l’École de médecine du Nord de l’Ontario) is a public medical university in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is mandated both to educate doctors and to contribute to care in Northern Ontario‘s urban, rural and remote communities, and has campuses in both Sudbury and Thunder Bay.[2]
The Northern Ontario School of Medicine was originally created as a partnership between Laurentian University in Sudbury and Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, before being made a standalone university in April 2022.[3]
Emblem of NOSM prior to university status.
The school is known for its small class size, its distributed model of education, heavy emphasis on enabling technologies, problem-based and self-directed learning, and early exposure to clinical skills. The school describes its campus as “Northern Ontario”. This is evidenced by the close relationship between the school and various communities and First Nations throughout the region. All students complete a month-long placement in an Aboriginal or Métis community in May of their first year. In second year, they travel to smaller communities for two, month-long placements (one in the fall and the other in the winter). The third year is clerkship and is spent living in one of the medium-sized communities for the entire year. The fourth year of studies is completed in Sudbury or Thunder Bay.
In 2021, following the 2021 Laurentian University financial crisis, the provincial government announced NOSM would become an independent institution which would retain collaborative relationships with both Laurentian and Lakehead but will be funded directly by the provincial government as a standalone university.
The school also accepts donations from the public, health care agencies, local governments, foundations and corporations. Donors can choose to support a particular area of the school’s development, including social accountability, research capacity, human resource planning and innovation in education.[5] Some of NOSM’s largest donors include AstraZeneca, Barrick Gold, BMO Bank of Montreal, Bristol Myers Squibb, CTV, Eli Lilly, Fidelity Investments, HSBC Bank Canada, Hydro One Inc., Royal Bank of Canada, Scotiabank, City of Greater Sudbury, Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada, TD Bank Financial Group, City of Thunder Bay, and Wyeth Canada.
Academic Eligibility
The minimum admission requirement is a 4-year undergraduate university degree, or equivalent, from a recognized institution in any discipline. We do not give preference to any one (1) particular discipline over another.
You may apply in the final year of your 4-year degree program; however, you are required to complete the program and provide proof of receiving your degree by June 30 of the potential enrolment year.
If your 4-year degree is completed through a transfer of credits from a college, you must have completed a minimum of 10 full course credits, 20 half course credits, or a combination of at the university degree level at the time you apply.
Mature Applicants
If you are 25 years or older by the application deadline, you are eligible for admission consideration based on completing a 3-year undergraduate university degree in any discipline.
If you are a mature applicant and have completed your 3- or 4-year degree is completed through a transfer of credits from a college, you must have completed a minimum of 10 full-course credits, 20 half-course credits, or a combination of at the university degree level at the time you apply.
Applicants from Quebec
You are eligible to apply if you have completed the DEC (diplome d’etudes collegiales) from Quebec (CEGEP) and a bachelor’s degree from a recognized university in Quebec (3 years of university after the DEC). Completion of the DEC and the three years leading to a bachelor’s degree from a Quebec university are considered the equivalent of a four year degree for the purposes of applying to NOSM.
Applying During Final Year of Studies
You may apply in the final year of your 4-year degree program (3-year degree for mature applicants); however, you are required to complete the program and provide proof of receiving your degree by June 30 of the potential enrolment year.
Full-Time/Part-Time Studies
NOSM accepts applications from students who have pursued their undergraduate studies on a full-time basis, part-time basis, or with a combination of full-time and part-time studies.
Hospitals
Fully affiliated teaching hospitals:
- Health Sciences North – Sudbury
- Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre – Thunder Bay
Larger community teaching hospitals:
- South Muskoka Memorial Hospital – Bracebridge
- LaVerendrye Hospital – Fort Frances
- Huntsville District Memorial Hospital – Huntsville
- Sensenbrenner Hospital – Kapuskasing
- Lake of the Woods District Hospital – Kenora
- Temiskaming Hospital – New Liskeard
- North Bay General Hospital – North Bay
- West Parry Sound Health Centre – Parry Sound
- Sault Area Hospital – Sault Ste. Marie
- Sioux Lookout Meno Ya Win Health Centre – Sioux Lookout
- Timmins and District Hospital – Timmins
The students also go to communities in the north such as Hearst, Smooth Rock Falls, Cochrane.
Health Sciences Library
The Northern Ontario School of Medicine also operates the Health Sciences Library (HSL), formerly known as the Northern Ontario Virtual Library (NOVL) to northern health-care professionals, and the Health Information Resource Centre (HIRC) to faculty, students and residents. The HSL aims to meet the traditional and expanding information needs of NOSM’s learners and faculty, as well as registered health professionals throughout the region of Northern Ontario. It sponsors in-person and technologically mediated instruction on the latest health sciences resources 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.
Admissions Statistics and Eligibility
Acceptance rate (overall): 4.03%
91% of matriculants are from Northern Ontario,
9% from the rest of Canada (majority from rural & remote areas)
GPA Average: 3.82
MCAT and CASPer are not required
Location: Thunder Bay and Sudbury, ON
Northern Ontario School of Medicine overall acceptance rate:
4.3%
Bonus tip
Want to know what your chances are of getting into NOSM? Check out our Ontario Medical School Chance Predictor.
Eligibility
To apply to NOSM, you must be a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident of Canada. Although in-province applicants are not given a preference in the admissions process, your geographical and cultural background is taken into consideration. NOSM does not have any residency requirements for applicants, but there is an algorithm that they employ to calculate context scores. This algorithm is not made public. NOSM aims to admit students whose profile reflects the demographics of the population of Northern Ontario, which includes Indigenous/Francophone and Franco-Ontarian students. One of the ways NOSM achieves this is by assigning a context score to each applicant. Context is a score based on each of the following geographic or cultural criteria:
- Rural background based on years lived in a rural community anywhere in Canada that is defined using the Statistics Canada classification of communities.
- Northern background based on years lived in Northern Ontario or another Canadian northern region
- Self-identified Francophone applicants
- Indigenous applicants who apply through the NOSM Indigenous Application Stream.
Check Out Our Podcast for More Free & Useful Content
Tuition Costs and Funding Opportunities
The Northern Ontario School of Medicine estimates that the total cost for the first year of schooling at the NOSM for a single student with no dependents is approximately $65,000. This total includes tuition, ancillary fees, books, equipment, etc. plus living expenses. Students can expect to pay CAD$23, 247.00 in medical school tuition during their first year, and CAD$761.22 in Ancillary fees for a total of $24 008.22.
Funding Opportunities
NOSM has developed a series of mechanisms that will help you decrease costs associated with medical school attendance.
1. In first and second year, accommodations and travel reimbursements are provided for modules that are completed outside of your home campus.
2. The third year at NOSM consists of comprehensive community clerkships (CCC) in a community outside Sudbury and Thunder Bay. You can claim reimbursements of up to $9,000 (subject to change) through NOSM.
3. Fourth year at NOSM consists of clerkships, which include rotations at hospitals in Sudbury or Thunder Bay and electives. You may be eligible to participate in the Clerkship Stipend Program through NOSM on behalf of the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care which provides $9,000 stipend for their final year of medical school.
Make sure to check out NOSM Financial Aid website to get more information about provincial, territorial, and external funding opportunities.
Academic Curriculum
The Northern Ontario School of Medicine MD curriculum consists of three phases.
Phase 1 (Years 1 and 2)
Phase 2 (Year 3)
Phase 3 (Year 4)
Phase 1 takes place over the first two years of the MD program and is organized around 11 case-based modules, each covering a major body system. The program aims to prepare the students for life and practice in any Northern location, so the written cases in each module are situated in remote, rural, urban, or Indigenous settings. During Phase 1, you will be mostly located in your assigned host university, Lakehead or Laurentian, with a four-week Indigenous community placement in the first year and two four-week rural and remote community placements in the second year. Year 2 includes a six-week elective block.
Do You Want Us To Help You Get Into Medical School?
Limited Spots Available
Application Process and Timeline
You will use the Ontario Medical School Application Service (OMSAS) to apply to NOSM. I am providing you with a general timeline, but please make sure you check OMSAS official website for most up-to-date information.
- SEPTEMBER 15Deadline to create an OMSAS account. Your requests for references should be made by this date.
- OCTOBER 3RDDeadline to submit online application via OMSAS is October 1st by 4:30pm ET. This is also the deadline for OMSAS to have received initial transcripts and academic documents, the deadline for OMSAS to have received 3 Confidential Assessment Forms (CAFs) from each of the 3 referees, and the deadline for OMSAS to have received payment (credit only). Once your application is submitted, access Secure Applicant Messaging (SAM) to uploaded supplementary documentation (forwarded by OMSAS upon submission of application).
- NOVEMBERStudents should verify their application information by accessing the online verification report generated by OMSAS after they have compiled various data. Missing information will be highlighted here.
- LATE DECEMBER/EARLY JANUARYInterview invitations are sent to selected candidates.
- FEBRUARY TO APRILInterviews are held.
- MAYFirst round of admissions offers are sent out. Applicants accept/reject offers via SAM.
- MAY THROUGH AUGUSTWaitlisted candidates are contacted on a rolling basis based on the number of spots NOSM needs to fill after initial offers are accepted/rejected.
- JUNE 30THDeadline for OMSAS to have received final transcripts.
Learn how to make your OMSAS application stand out:
Selection Factors
Let’s go over some important admissions requirements that you need to fulfill to become a competitive candidate for the Norther Ontario School of Medicine.
FREE WEBCLASS
How To Make Your Med School Application Stand Out!
Limited Spots Available
Recommended Coursework
Like many medical schools in Canada, NOSM does not identify any specific medical school prerequisites that students must complete to be eligible candidates for the MD program. If you’re a science major, you are strongly encouraged to take at least two full-course equivalents in art, social sciences, and humanities, while students pursuing majors in art, social sciences, and humanities should complete at least two full-course equivalents in science. The minimum medical school requirement is a 4-year undergraduate university degree, or equivalent, from a recognized institution in any discipline.
NOSM does not give preference to any particular discipline over another. You may apply in the final year of your 4-year degree program; however, you are required to complete the program and provide proof of receiving your degree by June 30 of the year for which you seek admission. If you are 25 years or older by the application deadline, you are eligible for admission consideration based on completing a 3-year undergraduate university degree in any discipline. If your 3- or 4-year degree is completed through a transfer of credits from a college, you must have completed a minimum of 10 full course credits, 20 half course credits, or a combination of, at the university degree level at the time you apply. Your degree can be completed by pursuing studies on a full-time basis, part-time basis, or with a combination of full-time and part-time studies.
GPA
NOSM has a minimum medical school GPA requirement; you must achieve a minimum of 3.0 on the 4.0 scale. Your letter or numerical grades will be converted to a 4.0 scale according to the OMSAS Undergraduate Grading System Conversion Table. The GPA is calculated on all converted undergraduate course grades completed at a recognized institution by the application deadline. Grades for supplementary, spring, summer, and part-time study and distance education courses will be included in the GPA calculation. Courses reflected on the transcript as “Pass” with no grade indicated will not be considered in the GPA calculation. If you repeat a course, and both course grades appear on your transcript, both the past grade and the repeated grade will be included in the GPA calculation. For applicants attending a program where “Pass” or “Credit” is given in some courses instead of a letter or numerical grade, independent grades from a minimum of ten (10) full-course, twenty (20) half-course credits, or a combination of course credits are required.
Applicants are required to verify their average in the “Document Tracking” section of the OMSAS application. NOSM may also review this average. While 3.0 is the threshold for admission consideration, you should be aware that due to the fierce competition for admission, a higher GPA would provide you with a higher chance of admission; as I mentioned above, last year’s matriculants had a 3.86 GPA. If you’re worried about your GPA, check out our blog to get some tips on how to get into medical school with a low GPA.
International (non-Canadian and non-US) transcripts, including graduate work, must be assessed for Canadian equivalency by World Education Services (WES). If you have completed foreign coursework of two semesters or less, a WES evaluation is not required. NOSM will not include grades that you obtained during the two semesters or less in the GPA calculation. In this case, however, the international university must send the transcript directly to OMSAS by the deadline.
MCAT and CASPer
The MCAT and CASPer tests are not required for admission.
collage