Published
2024-12-19
Issue
Section
Original Reports
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Copyright (c) 2024 Amanda Mac, Hayley McKee, Michael Balas, Aazad Abbas, Aida Ahrari, Pawandeep Sandhu, Dante Morra, Sarah McClennan, Alison Freeland
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
All work in JRMC is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
Entrepreneurship in Medical Education: Evaluation of the Entrepreneurship in Healthcare Seminar Series
Amanda Mac
University of Toronto, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, Toronto, ON, Canada
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8469-0616
Hayley McKee
University of Toronto, Temerty Faculty of Medicine
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7141-1331
Michael Balas
University of Toronto, Department of Opthalmology, Toronto, ON, Canada
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5948-0331
Aazad Abbas
University of Toronto, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Toronto, ON, Canada
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7414-1701
Aida Ahrari
University of Toronto, Department of Medical Imaging, Toronto, ON, Canada
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5671-3606
Pawandeep Sandhu
University of Toronto, Department of Family Medicine, Toronto, ON, Canada
Dante Morra
Trillium Health Partners, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Sarah McClennan
Trillium Health Partners, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Alison Freeland
Trillium Health Partners, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
DOI: https://doi.org/10.24926/jrmc.v7i4.6254
Keywords: entrepreneurship, medical education, experiential learning, healthcare innovation
Abstract
Background: Innovation and entrepreneurship are central to healthcare. Physicians are ideally positioned to create sustainable healthcare innovations. However, few medical programs in Canada provide training for students to pursue innovation and entrepreneurship. We created the Entrepreneurship in Healthcare Seminar Series (EHSS), a novel initiative designed to teach medical students about developing innovations and launching entrepreneurial ventures. We evaluated the EHSS based on medical student feedback and suggest future directions.
Methods: EHSS consisted of seven sessions per academic year, each led by a physician-entrepreneur. The session topics outlined a methodological approach to developing a medical start-up, from ideation to implementation, including a formal talk and question/answer period. Quantitative and qualitative evaluations of the program were acquired from anonymized feedback forms with quantitative questions rated on a 5-point Likert scale.
Results: From October 2020 to May 2022, there were a total of 258 unique attendees, of which 199 completed feedback forms (77.1%). 88% of attendees agreed or strongly agreed that the sessions were engaging and well-organized, learning objectives were met, and skills gained will be useful in practical settings. Three key themes arose from attendee open-text responses: importance of aligning personal and professional values with entrepreneurial pursuits, significance of mentorship, and that innovation requires proactive identification of healthcare gaps and creative solutions.
Discussion: Through EHSS, medical students gained a comprehensive overview of medical entrepreneurship and networking opportunities with physician-entrepreneurs. Future work involves expanding the seminar series to include an experiential learning component to apply foundations learnt from the lectures while receiving mentorship.
