Residence in Northern Ontario

[Real Beef]

I was speaking to Byran Stamm, one of the financial aid peeps he stated that a resident of NO is considered someone that has lived in NO for 10 years or more.

 

Since Ive only been living in NO for 2 years Im not even close to this cut off, I thought it may be 4 years year round ... nope. He even stated that individuals who took school in a NO university for their whole Univ. career are not considered to have NO residence due the school time of course being under the 10 year cut off but also because their school address is not considered towards their overall permanent residence ... so you could be from Southern Ont, do a BSc for 4 years and not even be picking away at that 10 years cut off as you are considered a Southerner.

 

Wow.

[Mater]

Really? When I called them the lady told me you just have be currently living there (meaning your permanent residence) it doesn't matter how long...but then again she could just be saying that to get my to apply so they get more money or something!

[Real Beef]

Really? When I called them the lady told me you just have be currently living there (meaning your permanent residence) it doesn't matter how long...but then again she could just be saying that to get my to apply so they get more money or something!

 

Unless "the lady" is the Dean of NOSM I would say the admissions officer is correct. Well if you live in Ontario, your residence is considered Ontario, however from my hour long tour of NOSM it was made quite clear that to get the "extra" points on your application you need to have lived here for 10 years minimum.

 

Beef

[Mater]

I was looking at their website and saw this:

 

Aboriginal and Franco-Ontarian applicants, and applicants who have lived for a significant amount of time (at least five years) in the communities of Northern Ontario, will be eligible to receive extra points on the admissions questionnaire.

 

So what is the at least five years for then?

 

I'm so confused lol right now about what is considered a Northern person! I've been living in a small Northern Town for 6 years so I don't know if I'm considered Northern or a city girl because before that I was born and raised in Toronto!

 

Thanks

[Real Beef]

Hi Mater,

 

Hey I hope you were right with the first post, i.e. your current residence, as Ive been in NO for only 2 years now. Hopefully once this forum starts to fire up someone else can pipe in. Perhaps it would be worthwhile for you to give a call to the admissions officer and find out if they are still sticking to the 10 year thing or have shortened this.

 

Whether it is or isnt the case you still want to put in the best application you can .... if either one of us put in a crappy application/ interview performance regardless of whether we have lived in NO for 178 years we still wouldnt gain admittance

[Mater]

Okay I talked to the people at the admissions office. First off I didn't even know there were restrictions as to what they think is Northern and unfortunately my district does not fall into that category. The districts that do are Algoma, Cochrane, Kenora, Manitoulin, Nipissing, Parry Sound, Rainy River, Sudbury, Timiskaming or Thunder Bay. And anyone whose been living consecutively in any of these places for at least 5 years will get extra points. The extra points is not a 0.2 increase in GPA (that applies only to master students). Your score just increases on your application. Now someone who has lived in Northern for 10 years would receive more points than someone whose lived their for 5. Thats basically how they score you for the extra points. Unfortunately I don't have much of an advantage anymore except that I'm from a rural community! Hope this info helps!

[Real Beef]

Thanks for the investigative report. It explains our residence questions ... this is a good lesson to all of us ... the best source is from the admissions office rather than speculating and twisting what we hear ...

 

Thanks again.

 

Real Beef

[Angelia]

Okay I talked to the people at the admissions office. First off I didn't even know there were restrictions as to what they think is Northern and unfortunately my district does not fall into that category. The districts that do are Algoma, Cochrane, Kenora, Manitoulin, Nipissing, Parry Sound, Rainy River, Sudbury, Timiskaming or Thunder Bay. And anyone whose been living consecutively in any of these places for at least 5 years will get extra points. The extra points is not a 0.2 increase in GPA (that applies only to master students). Your score just increases on your application. Now someone who has lived in Northern for 10 years would receive more points than someone whose lived their for 5. Thats basically how they score you for the extra points. Unfortunately I don't have much of an advantage anymore except that I'm from a rural community! Hope this info helps!

 

My question is: how do they know you've been living there for 10 years or five years? Don't they just ask for your address? They don't ask you how long you've been living there for?? Do they?

[Halcyon]

My question is: how do they know you've been living there for 10 years or five years? Don't they just ask for your address? They don't ask you how long you've been living there for?? Do they?

 

If you apply to NOSM, they sure do ask for that information.

[Kathryn]

Hmm. I thought you were scored seperately on whether you're northern AND rural. Don't tell me I lived 18 years in Red Lake when I could've scored the same to live in Thunder Bay and had easy access to Walmart.

 

Of course, I jest....but seriously. Living in Thunder Bay or Sudbury doesn't exactly prepare you for living somewhere like Pickle Lake if you know what I mean, and isn't the mission of NOSM to send doctors to work in bush-country?

[Bede]

Hmm. I thought you were scored seperately on whether you're northern AND rural. Don't tell me I lived 18 years in Red Lake when I could've scored the same to live in Thunder Bay and had easy access to Walmart.

 

Of course, I jest....but seriously. Living in Thunder Bay or Sudbury doesn't exactly prepare you for living somewhere like Pickle Lake if you know what I mean, and isn't the mission of NOSM to send doctors to work in bush-country?

 

 

Exactly. I used to live in Inuvik NT, and TBay is the furthest south I've lived since I moved out. TBay is a lot closer to a major center than Pickle Lake is. I got a kick out of the application question, "How has your life experince prepared you for working in the North."

[NorthernDude]

Hey all. It's true that Sudbury and Thunder Bay are far removed from the realities of living in the "Real North" like Moose Factory or Attawapiskat or what not. However, the mission of Northern isn't just to train doctors who will practice in "bush country". The mandate is for students/doctors with a particular affinity for practice in rural, remote and/or northern areas. Sudbury, Thunder Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Kenora and all of the other cities considered to be part of northern Ontario also have a significant doctor shortage and thus count as the north for recruitment efforts. Also, Sudbury and Thunder Bay serve as the tertiary care centres for all of northern Ontario, and thus are the main hubs for specialized care. A shortage of general doctors and specialists in the two largest cities effects all of northern Ontario.

Good luck with your applications

[terryann]

any idea of when they will be letting us know via email re interviews, and any idea of what the cut off was...

[Halcyon]

Hey all. It's true that Sudbury and Thunder Bay are far removed from the realities of living in the "Real North" like Moose Factory or Attawapiskat or what not. However, the mission of Northern isn't just to train doctors who will practice in "bush country". The mandate is for students/doctors with a particular affinity for practice in rural, remote and/or northern areas. Sudbury, Thunder Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Kenora and all of the other cities considered to be part of northern Ontario also have a significant doctor shortage and thus count as the north for recruitment efforts. Also, Sudbury and Thunder Bay serve as the tertiary care centres for all of northern Ontario, and thus are the main hubs for specialized care. A shortage of general doctors and specialists in the two largest cities effects all of northern Ontario.

Good luck with your applications

 

Thanks, NorthernDude!

[MilSarah]

Good luck everyone! Only about a week to go!

[Halcyon]

Good luck everyone! Only about a week to go!

 

Thanks! Good luck to you too!