Medventions Toronto

About Medventions Toronto

The Medventions program is an immersive physician-led, hospital-based four-month fellowship program where multidisciplinary teams of clinicians, engineers, and life sciences graduates identify and validate hundreds of needs in a selected clinical area. Teams then select the most promising needs; prototype and test solutions; explore initial tech-transfer, regulatory and reimbursement issues and develop a plan for further research and development.

The Medventions Toronto program, hosted at Sunnybrook Research Institute, has several openings for a temporary full-time Medventions fellow. The Medventions Toronto Fall 2024 program will run from September 2024 and end in December 2024.

Selected candidates for the Fall 2024 program will work together as a group, under the supervision of clinical and research mentors in the Schulich Heart Program at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. The team will get the opportunity to uncover innovation and translational research opportunities in the fields of big data and image-guided therapy and their application in the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disease. 

Compensation commensurate with experience.

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Medventions Toronto

About Medventions Toronto

Medventions Toronto
Image of Sunnybrook Campus in Toronto, ON
Dr. Strauss points to a screen to teach Medventions fellows.

Fellowship Responsibilities & Essential Functions

The configuration of the Medventions Toronto fellowship program allows fellows to get involved in clinical immersion, identification and verification of clinical problems, ideation, and the making of an early proof of concept or a prototype for a new medical device.

The four-month fellowship is divided into three main phases with the following structure:

  1. Phase 1: Clinical needs identification, verification, and assessment
  2. Phase 2: Ideation and brainstorming
  3. Phase 3: Concept development, product design and prototyping

Generally, fellows are required to:

 – Perform clinical observations through shadowing physicians in operating rooms, outpatient clinics, and inpatient exams (on medicine floors, neonatal intensive care unites, etc.)

– Identify and document clinical challenges that impose a significant clinical burden

– Complete thorough analysis for the identified problems; this includes a stakeholder and market analysis, and a study for the disease state fundamentals and treatment options. Interns will also research and consult with faculty & perform literature and patent searches.

– Develop a medical solution concept that addresses the clinical need and problem identified

– Translate the final concept into a prototype – the goal is to use prototyping to create design requirements and generate high-level specifications related to technical feasibility for the innovation under consideration

Skills & Qualifications

The ideal candidate is an individual with a strong entrepreneurial drive, passion for health care innovation and a desire to build something with a strong positive impact, and demonstrated potential for creativity, invention, leadership and business development.

We believe the following qualifications will help fellows become successful:

– Entrepreneurial mindset; action and detail oriented, analytical, sees problems as opportunities, comfortable with ambiguity, self-learner with strong business acumen

– Proven ability to work effectively as part of a multidisciplinary team

– Demonstrated excellence in problem-solving, decision making, and critical thinking

– Highly motivated individual with the ability to work under pressure

– Strong interest in innovation and change across health care, design thinking, entrepreneurship and creativity

– Proven excellent interpersonal skills and effective oral/written communication skills

– Background/experience in medicine, engineering and/or business is an asset

Eligibility Criteria

The program is open to undergraduate and graduate students, recent graduates, and candidates with industry experience in the health care innovation sector. We encourage aspiring entrepreneurs and individuals who have demonstrated exceptional creativity and innovation in the medtech sector  to apply.

Application Criteria

When preparing your application, please prepare a single PDF with the following: 

– your resume, 

– a cover letter, 

– a copy of your undergraduate transcript (and graduate transcript if applicable), and

– the names and contact information for two referees who have agreed to be contacted. 

Cover Letter Criteria

Please address your one-page cover letter to Dr. Brian Courtney. In your cover letter, please respond to the following question: 

Why is medical technology innovation an important part of your career pathway? 

Application Deadline

The deadline for the Fall 2024 Medventions Toronto Fellowship program is June 21, 2024

APPLICATIONS are open for the fall 2024 program

Please submit your application package to Ahmed Nasef at Ahmed.nasef [at] sunnybrook.ca
John Doe

Commercialization Professional Research Mentor

Ahmed managers the Sunnybrook Medventions training program. He also manages the networking, outreach, and training programs at INOVAIT, a Sunnybrook-led pan-Canadian network in image-guided therapy and artificial intelligence. Ahmed is an enthusiastic clinical entrepreneur who brings more than 11 years of lived experience in healthcare innovation, health science research, and technology commercialization. Ahmed holds an Adjunct Lecturer appointment at the Department of Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto. Ahmed earned his MD degree from Cairo, Egypt and holds an MBA in healthcare management and technology innovation from Schulich School of Business, York University.

Jane Smith

Technology Innovation Industry Leader

Ahmed managers the Sunnybrook Medventions training program. He also manages the networking, outreach, and training programs at INOVAIT, a Sunnybrook-led pan-Canadian network in image-guided therapy and artificial intelligence. Ahmed is an enthusiastic clinical entrepreneur who brings more than 11 years of lived experience in healthcare innovation, health science research, and technology commercialization. Ahmed holds an Adjunct Lecturer appointment at the Department of Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto. Ahmed earned his MD degree from Cairo, Egypt and holds an MBA in healthcare management and technology innovation from Schulich School of Business, York University.

Dr. Ahmed Nasef

Program Lead, Sunnybrook Medventions

Ahmed managers the Sunnybrook Medventions training program. He also manages the networking, outreach, and training programs at INOVAIT, a Sunnybrook-led pan-Canadian network in image-guided therapy and artificial intelligence. Ahmed is an enthusiastic clinical entrepreneur who brings more than 11 years of lived experience in healthcare innovation, health science research, and technology commercialization. Ahmed holds an Adjunct Lecturer appointment at the Department of Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto. Ahmed earned his MD degree from Cairo, Egypt and holds an MBA in healthcare management and technology innovation from Schulich School of Business, York University.