Northern Ontario School of Medicine University (NOSM University; ) 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. 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. History Before the creation of NOSM, Northern Ontario had for several years been designated as "underserviced", meaning that the region's ratio of medical professionals to the general population was not meeting the standards set by the Ministry of Health. As a result, a multifaceted plan was adopted by the province, including the creation of NOSM and the