Overview
Medventions Atlantic is a transformative health care innovation fellowship born out of a partnership between the Nova Scotia Health Innovation Hub and Sunnybrook Research Institute with the goal to nurture Canadian talent in the health care technology sector.
Launched at the Health Innovation Hub in 2023, with the support of INOVAIT, the four-month physician-led, hospital-based fellowship is a pioneering initiative in health care technology innovation that equips fellows from multidisciplinary backgrounds with the skills and knowledge necessary to advance patient care. The fellowship connects students and new graduates from all walks of life with innovators, clinicians, researchers, and experienced mentors and gives fellows the opportunity to observe clinical procedures and interact with clinicians.
Sunnybrook established the Medventions Program in 2016 and Halifax, Nova Scotia, was selected as the second Canadian site to offer this hospital-based training program. The program's expansion to Atlantic Canada was made possible by a partnership between INOVAIT, Canada's image-guided therapy network, and the Health Innovation Hub.
These partnerships allow us to continually push the limits, test and try new and improved ways to deliver care, and evolve the system to provide better care for our patients.
The first cohort began their fellowship with Medventions Atlantic in the fall of 2023 and the second cohort is set to begin their fellowship in winter 2024. Applications for the next fall 2024 fellowship are now open and close on June 12, 2024.
How it works
Guided by a passionate leadership team, Medventions Atlantic immerses fellows in clinical settings, where they observe procedures, processes, and workflows. Clinical leads and mentors help participants identify opportunities for innovation and efficiency improvement in health care and fellows get hands on experience to test their concepts while they inject new thinking into our system.
Beyond clinical experience, this program also offers a diverse curriculum that covers medical research, entrepreneurship, technology development, startup operation, and legal and regulatory requirements.
The four-month fellowship is divided into three main phases with the following structure:
- Phase 1: Clinical needs identification, verification, and assessment.
- Phase 2: Ideation and brainstorming.
- Phase 3: Concept development, product design and prototyping.
Generally, fellows are expected to:
- Observe clinical practices by shadowing physicians in various settings such as operating rooms, intensive care units, catheterization laboratories, patients' floors, and outpatient clinics.
- Identify and document significant clinical challenges.
- Conduct a comprehensive analysis of the identified problems, including stakeholder and market assessments, and an exploration of disease state fundamentals and treatment options. Interns will also engage in research, consult with faculty, and perform literature and patent searches.
- Formulate a medical solution concept that addresses the identified clinical need and problem.
- Transform the final concept into a prototype, with the aim of using prototyping to establish design requirements and generate high-level specifications related to the technical feasibility of the innovation in question.
Medventions Atlantic fosters a culture of innovation and creates opportunities for local entrepreneurs to contribute to system transformation as they develop skills and education to impact the rapidly evolving sector. Hear testimonies from health leaders and alumni about the impact of Medventions here.
