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.

NOSM University runs a range of educational programs spanning the undergraduate, postgraduate and continuing professional phases of physician training as well as a number of health professions such as registered dietitians and physician assistants. These programs take place in large and small communities across Northern Ontario. This reflects the profoundly distributed and community-engaged educational philosophy of the University that flows from its mandate to be responsive to the health-care needs of the people of Northern Ontario. The program areas include: MD program; postgraduate medical education; Continuing Education and Professional Development; and, Health Sciences and Interprofessional Education.