THUNDER BAY – The Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) hopes to increase the number of Indigenous health care professionals in the region with a new Indigenous Health Practitioner Pathway program.
The school will collaborate with Science North to offer educational programming and mentorship opportunities at 10 rural and remote high schools and five urban high schools across northern Ontario.
Boosting the number of Indigenous people in the profession is key to ensuring culturally appropriate care, the school said as it announced the program Monday.
“What resonates with me is the hope of providing future generations in First Nation communities with Indigenous family physicians that they will grow up with, who will care for them for years to come,” said NOSM alumnus Dr. Rebekah Neckoway, who provides care in remote fly-in communities. “My hope is that it will remove the ‘visiting’ part from the ‘visiting health professional’ signs that I see in clinics across the North.”
“When I was growing up in Thunder Bay, it took me a long time before I ever met an Indigenous physician—it wasn’t until university. If I had had an Indigenous doctor caring for me as a kid, I wonder if it would've improved my self-esteem, or helped curb the shame I used to feel about being Indigenous as a result of the racism I experienced growing up. I am proud to be an Indigenous physician.”
NOSM will work with Science North to deliver Science Day programming at the 15 high schools, with opportunities for students there to apply to the CampMed program and be mentored by Indigenous NOSM learners and faculty.
The program will offer a starting point for Indigenous youth to see themselves in the profession, said NOSM dean Sarita Verma.
“Systemic racism in early education, at the elementary and secondary school levels, has disproportionately disadvantaged Indigenous people, making it even more difficult to get into university and medical school,” she said. “This pathway is another tool NOSM is using to address those barriers.”
The program will be supported in part by a founding donation from the Royal Bank of Canada, which is providing $195,000 over three years.
The funds will also help support professional development and networking opportunities with healthcare professionals practicing in Indigenous communities.
There will be opportunities for Indigenous youth in any northern Ontario community to participate, NOSM noted.
