Dr. Sarita Verma named new dean of Northern Ontario School of Medicine

The Northern Ontario School of Medicine says a new dean will take charge later this year.

As of July 1, Dr. Sarita Verma will be the dean and CEO of the school. The school's board of directors unanimously approved the appointment last month.

"We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Verma to NOSM and to the wider campus of northern Ontario," Dr. Pierre Zundel, chair of the NOSM board of directors and interim president and vice chancellor of Laurentian University said.

"Dr. Verma's passion, vision and experience will continue to propel NOSM toward leadership in distributed, community-engaged and socially accountable medical education.

Verma will take over for Dr. Roger Strasser, who has been at the helm for 17 years. He helped establish the school.

She says one of her key visions is to work closely with Francophone and Indigenous communities to attract learners to NOSM.

"We need to create pathways for individuals from those communities, both Francophone and Indigenous, to have access to training to become a health professional, in particular a physician," she said.

Verma says she likes how NOSM follows its mandate to be socially accountable in providing medical professionals to remote and rural northern Ontario.

"There is no other medical school, in my knowledge that aspires and actually achieves to provide health care professionals to meet the needs of Canadians, as much as NOSM has," she said.

Verma says the job appeals to her because she will get a chance to explore northern Ontario.