The Northern Ontario School of Medicine University (NOSMU) (formerly known as NOSM) is a medical school with primary campuses in Sudbury and Thunder Bay. The medical school extends to include most communities of Northern Ontario and is the first independent medical school in Canada. NOSMU currently has more than 1800 clinical faculty (1610 of whom are physicians) teaching in more than 90 communities throughout northern Ontario (30). One of the core values of NOSMU includes training rural residents who are socially accountable. As a distributed medical school, learners complete their training almost exclusively in collaboration with clinical teaching faculty, who have a significant impact on learners while immersed in NOSMU communities.

When residents train alongside practicing clinicians, they are more likely to adopt similar practices and behaviours. Choosing Wisely Canada (CWC) is a campaign that encourages patients and physicians to have conversations about unnecessary tests, treatments, and procedures. This study will investigate and identify barriers for the implementation of these recommendations and ways to improve their integration in primary care and surgical practice.