Documentary highlights success of northern Ontario medical school

A documentary film, premiering tonight, checks the pulse of healthcare in northern Ontario and it's crediting the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) for making a difference in at least one community.

"The Doctor Will See You Now," directed by Thunder Bay filmmaker Michelle Derosier, tells the story of one NOSM graduate who sets up practice in her home community, which has been without a family doctor for seven years.

Derosier said the film shows the school is succeeding in its mandate to keep doctors in the north.

"I think it's already actually happening, that we're going to start to see some of the healthcare challenges that we've been facing, starting to turn around," she said.

"I think thatNOSMneeds to be recognized... it took a lot of years to get the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, and I've seen the success."

The documentary follows doctor Doris Mitchell, a former nurse who trained to become a family doctor at NOSM. She then returned to serve her home communities of Brunswick House First Nation and Chapleau, Ont.

She, along with two other doctors who are graduates of NOSM, are now serving those communities, which had been relying on locums for years.

"It's making an amazing difference," for patients, said Derosier.

Derosier says the film is also a reminder of the serious healthcare challenges facing many northern towns and First Nations.

The documentary premiers on TVO at 9 p.m.