title: Transforming health professional education through social accountability: Canada's Northern Ontario School of Medicine.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) has a social accountability mandate to contribute to improving the health of the people and communities of Northern Ontario. NOSM recruits students from Northern Ontario or similar backgrounds and provides Distributed Community Engaged Learning in over 70 clinical and community settings located in the region, a vast underserved rural part of Canada.
  
  
  METHODS
  NOSM and the Centre for Rural and Northern Health Research (CRaNHR) used mixed methods studies to track NOSM medical learners and dietetic interns, and to assess the socioeconomic impact of NOSM.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Ninety-one percent of all MD students come from Northern Ontario with substantial inclusion of Aboriginal (7%) and Francophone (22%) students. Sixty-one percent of MD graduates have chosen family practice (predominantly rural) training. The socioeconomic impact of NOSM included new economic activity, more than double the School's budget; enhanced retention and recruitment for the universities and hospital/health services; and a sense of empowerment among community participants attributable in large part to NOSM.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There are signs that NOSM is successful in graduating health professionals who have the skills and desire to practice in rural/remote communities and that NOSM is having a largely positive socioeconomic impact on Northern Ontario.
authors.affiliation: Northern Ontario School of Medicine, 935 Ramsey Lake Road, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. roger.strasser@nosm.ca
authors.forename: Roger
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Strasser
authors.forename: John C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Hogenbirk
authors.forename: Bruce
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Minore
authors.forename: David C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Marsh
authors.forename: Sue
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Berry
authors.forename: William G
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: McCready
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Graves
mesh_terms: D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate; D006801:Humans; D037141:Mandatory Programs; D008507:Medically Underserved Area; D064686:Nutritionists / Q000193:education; D009864:Ontario; D010823:Physician Assistants / Q000193:education; D011361:Professional Competence; D012577:Schools, Medical; D012941:Social Responsibility; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors