Education Scholarship Accelerator Program (ESAP)

ESAP was described by supervisors as “innovative”, a “fantastic” opportunity, and a “very positive experience”, because it:

• Streamlines the institutional trainee onboarding process.
• Provides a formal, centrally administered program structure that supports trainees and staff
• Reduces clinician workload & isolation
• Times well with their own research (i.e., they often had a project ready for a student).
• Enables interprofessional staff to work together. “That’s where you get really transformative projects”.
• Provides a welcoming space for inexperienced supervisors.
• Supports personal growth and leadership training in education scholarship and research.
• The price was right!

• Go for it! You will learn. Don’t be afraid to join, especially if education scholarship is new to you! ESAP staff are available to support and answer questions.
• Being a supervisor is a commitment. Ensure that you have the time and flexibility to be a preceptor.
• Work together with a co-supervisor or your clinical team to distribute project workload.
• Plan ahead. Be proactive about what this opportunity presents, the kinds of students they are, and how you can maximize what you and they get out of it.
• Set clear expectations about project timelines and tasks, so students can hit the ground running.
• Be available to the student at the key times. Know the course deadlines!
• Meet weekly with your student for Q&A and to support deliverables (e.g., final presentation).

• “A harsh reality” is that supervisors with funding are “at a significant advantage for attracting students”.
• Don’t make the project too big. Divide the project into manageable chunks to ensure it is feasible for students to complete.
• Develop a project structure early: Set up recurring meetings and plan project timelines and outputs before the project starts.
• Consider carefully virtual vs in-person vs hybrid team meetings. What will work best for students and you?
• For those doing community engagement projects, ensure existing partners and relationships are already in place.
• ESAP has tight deadlines: Be flexible and accessible to students for deadlines.
• Go through the final presentation with the student before the Research Symposium.
• Build on your ESAP project during future projects. Keep your momentum going: start thinking about future projects immediately after the summer.

• Students were described by their supervisors as “excellent”, “motivated”, “ambitious” and “a huge boon” for projects.
• “This is a group that is really looking for the hands-on experience” (e.g., patient & community engagement are highly valued). Plan your projects accordingly and ask, “how can we get our next generation of frontline providers and clinicians do this in a good way that’s trauma-informed and patient partnered.”
• Ensure that the project is a good educational experience for the student, a springboard to things they might not otherwise experience.
• Give the student “a lot of self-determination” but make sure that they get everything they need.
• If you can, have students work in pairs.
• Students really like in-person meetings with supervisors. If possible, provide them with opportunities to come to WCH in-person.
• High achieving students “felt pressure sometimes to try and finish within the timeline.” Reassure them that they don’t have to finish it all. This is okay and part of the research process.
• If you continue working with students in the fall, remember that they need to focus on school. Size their tasks accordingly. Be very open that students will get credit for what they contribute, but that school comes first.

The Learning Institute at WCH hosted their first annual Education Scholarship Accelerator Program (ESAP) Student Research Symposium on July 24, 2024. ESAP is a professional development course for undergraduate health professional trainees designed to develop knowledge and skills in education scholarship. Through a series of summer workshops and mentoring initiatives, participants have been supported throughout the design and execution of a scholarly education project supervised by WCH staff.

The inaugural virtual event highlighted the groundbreaking scholarly education research and innovation projects conducted by ESAP students throughout the summer. Supervisors of ESAP students and members of the WCH community were invited to attend.

Project Presentation Awards

The top Project Presentation Award was earned by Ethan Cohen and Rachel Baran, under the supervision of Celia Laur.

• Ethan Cohen, Rachel Baran, Celia Laur. Developing Resources to Help Improve the Engagement of Individuals with Lived Experience in Implementation Science

A tie was declared for the runner up award between Ojas Bhatia, supervised by Victoria Forster and Amreen Sayani and Damilola Oja, supervised by Jennifer Wyman.

• Ojas Bhatia, Ambreen Sayani, Victoria Forster. Attendance of People with Lived Experience at Canadian Oncology Conferences
• Damilola Oja, Jennifer Wyman. Educational Opportunities in Substance Use Care: Exploring the Impact on Healthcare Professionals

Participating Student Biographies

Afreen Ahmad

Afreen Ahmad is an incoming second year student at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto. She has a masters degree from the Health Research Methodology program at McMaster University. She has experience publishing mixed methods papers and systematic reviews in the areas of refugee health, public health and psychology. Through her participation in the ESAP program, she hopes to endeavour in education scholarship research through a new program introduced to pediatric residents through a collaboration between the department of psychiatry and pediatrics.

Supervisors: Tatiana Valverde da Conceicao, MD, PhD and Karen Wang, MD
WCH Department: Psychiatry and Psychiatry, Sunnybrook
Project: Curriculum Development for Pediatric Residents During Child Psychiatry Rotations

Bijal Desai

Bijal Desai, BHSc, MBE is a medical student at the University of Toronto. She received a Bachelor of Health Sciences from McMaster University and a Master of Bioethics from Harvard University. Bijal’s research interests primarily include medical education and exploring social determinants of health and their intersection with healthcare outcomes. This summer, Bijal had the incredible opportunity to work alongside Dr. Nyhof-Young to help develop and evaluate the ESAP program. In her free time, Bijal enjoys long-distance running and spending time with her dog Pebbles!

Supervisor: Joyce Nyhof-Young, PhD
WCH Department: Academics Program
Project: Building Education Scholarship Capacity: Developmental Evaluation of the Education Scholarship Accelerator Program at Women’s College Hospital

Damilola Ojo Shittu

Damilola Ojo is entering her second year of medical school at the University of Toronto. She has a strong passion for community outreach, particularly among vulnerable populations. She chose to work with ESAP to gain insights into research and innovation in health professions education, with the goal of becoming a more effective physician for my future patients. Damilola is eager to work on her project focused on educational resources for healthcare professionals in substance use care, aiming to enhance substance use education and improve patient outcomes.

Supervisor: Jennifer Wyman, MD
WCH Department: Family Medicine
Project: Educational Opportunities in Substance Use Care: Exploring the Impact on Healthcare Professionals

Elham Almoli

Elham Almoli is a second year medical student at the University of Toronto’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine and is committed to patient advocacy, quality improvement and education in healthcare. Her current research at Trillium Health Partners and Mount Sinai Hospital focuses on patient-centred care and QI measures. At Women’s College Hospital’s Crossroads Clinic, Elham’s work advocates for refugee and immigrant patient populations through education science initiatives. Previously, she contributed to research at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute and McMaster Children’s Hospital. Additionally, she was awarded the Canadian Standards Association Group Undergraduate Research Scholarship at the Ottawa Research Institute, where she worked to enhance patient scientific literacy through Open Science initiatives.

Supervisors: Meb Rashid, MD and Joyce Nyhof-Young, PhD
WCH Department: Family Medicine & Academics Program
Project: Evaluating the Clinical Placement Program for Health Professions Learners at Women’s College Hospital Crossroads Refugee Clinic: A Survey-Based Study

Ethan Cohen

Ethan Cohen is an incoming medical student at Queens University. With degrees in Biotechnology and Biomedical Engineering, Ethan has a deep passion for all aspects of healthcare. Beyond academics, he enjoys traveling, exercising and playing sports, particularly squash and basketball. He is dedicated to advancing his skills, not only as a healthcare provider, but also as a researcher and advocate. This allows him to focus both on individual patients and wider system-level issues in Canadian healthcare. The ESAP program will offer the mentorship and resources he needs to excel in these efforts in research and in building a professional network that may support him throughout his career. Overall, Ethan is excited to embark on this journey in medicine with ESAP which will help him grow into a well-rounded physician.

Supervisor: Celia Laur, PhD
WCH Department: Women’s College Research Institute (WCRI)
Project: Developing Resources to Help Improve the Engagement of Individuals with Lived Experience in Implementation Science

Nura Mesoud

Nura Mesoud is a third year medical student at Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto. She is passionate about primary care, IDD and women’s health. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, baking and reading. She hopes to use her interests and education to advocate for inclusive healthcare and provide comprehensive care to all.

Supervisors: Lauren Scott, Primary Care Nurse Practitioner (NP Medical)
WCH Department: Family Medicine
Project: Exploring Nurse Practitioners’ Contribution to Medical Education: A Scoping Review

Ojas Bhatia

Ojas Bhatia is an incoming 3rd-year medical student at the University of Toronto. With a passion for clinical research and advocacy, Ojas has volunteered in advocacy initiatives and has taken on various research projects, including quality improvement in nephrology with a patient empowerment lens. As part of ESAP, he is spearheading a project on engagement of patients with lived experience at Canadian oncology conferences, supervised by Dr. Sayani and Dr. Forster. Outside of school, he is a reading, cooking and sports enthusiast. Ojas is excited to gain invaluable perspectives on patient engagement in research.

Supervisors: Vicky Forster, PhD and Ambreen Sayani, MD, PhD
WCH Department: Academics Program & Women’s College Research Institute (WCRI)
Project: Attendance of People with Lived Experience at Canadian Oncology Conferences

Rachel Baran

Rachel is an incoming M1 medical student at Queen’s University School of Medicine. She completed her Bachelor of Medical Science in Pathology and Interdisciplinary Sciences and Masters of Management of Applied Science in Global Health Systems at Western University. Her research interests include implementation science, knowledge translation, global health, and health equity research. She is currently working with the Office of Spread and Scale at Women’s College Hospital to develop an informative online resource that will help educate patient partners and promote their engagement in implementation science research.

Supervisor: Celia Laur, PhD
WCH Department: Women’s College Research Institute (WCRI)
Project: Developing Resources to Help Improve the Engagement of Individuals with Lived Experience in Implementation Science

Ryan Cortez

Ryan Cortez is an incoming third year student at the University of Toronto. He previously completed his BSc and MSc in Kinesiology & Health Science at York University. He is tentatively interested in pursuing specialties including emergency medicine, family medicine and physiatry. Outside of medicine, Ryan competes in international-level dragon boat racing, including as a member of the Canadian U24 National Team.

Supervisor: Viola Antao, MD
WCH Department: Family Medicine
Project: Teaching Prevention and Screening: Applying Evidence-Informed Educational Strategies

Sabrina Schaefer

Sabrina Schaefer is entering her second year of medical school at the University of Toronto. She is from Windsor, Ontario where she completed her Bachelor of Science in Health & Biomedical Science. Sabrina is passionate about celebrating diversity and equity and aspires to promote inclusivity and accessibility in the Canadian healthcare system. Currently, Sabrina is working on an ESAP project creating clinical case scenarios for the HELP – a program developed to assist immigrant physicians gain fluency in English medical terminology.

Supervisor: Eva Grunfeld, MD, DPhil
WCH Department: Family Medicine
Project: HELP (Health English Language Pro): Assisting Newcomer Physicians Gain Fluency in Medical English

Seungmin Lee

Seungmin completed his undergraduate degree in pharmacology and biomedical toxicology and is now a medical student at the University of Toronto (Class of 2027). During his undergraduate studies, he led several research projects focusing on bacteriophages and bacterial toxins. He also completed a 1-year internship managing international multi-centre clinical trials. Currently, he is working on a scoping review to assess the state of the field of endometriosis screening measures. In his spare time, he likes to watch cooking videos (but not actually cook), play basketball, lift weights, and stay up to date on the sports world.

Supervisors: Brittany Rosenbloom, PhD and Rachael Bosma, PhD
WCH Department: Toronto Academic Pain Medicine Institute (TAPMI)
Project: Assessment of Screening Measures for Endometriosis: A Scoping Review

Shalomi Premkumar

Originally from Mississauga, Shalomi Premkumar is a driven third-year medical student at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. Throughout her training, Shalomi has cultivated a keen interest in research, collaborating with physicians to publish in esteemed journals. This summer, she engaged in Education Scholarship with Dr. Viola Antao and explored the challenges faced by new family medicine graduates and creating sustainability in comprehensive care through mentorship. Committed to improving primary care, she endeavors to develop innovative strategies to address the family physician shortage crisis. Shalomi aspires to integrate clinical practice and research by continuing her journey in academic medicine.

Supervisor: Viola Antao, MD
WCH Department: Family Medicine
Project: Guiding the Future: Identifying Early-Career Family Physicians’ Mentorship Needs

Thineesha Gnaneswaran

Thineesha Gnaneswaran is a second year medical student at the University of Toronto. After completing her Bachelor of Medical Science with an Honours Specialization in Physiology at Western University, Thineesha began working as a Medical Assistant at a family healthcare team. Witnessing the disparities in the healthcare system which were especially prominent during COVID-19 encouraged her to pursue a Master of Science in Global Health at McMaster University to learn more about the inequities present in healthcare and to learn strategies to address these barriers. After completing her master’s degree, she knew she wanted to make a direct impact on healthcare in Canada and thus began working as an Analyst at the Public Health Agency of Canada. It was during this experience that she was accepted into medical school and was ready to begin her career in medicine.

Supervisor: Jennifer Shuldiner, PhD
WCH Department: Women’s College Research Institute (WCRI)
Project: Prioritizing Wellness: Evaluating the Role of Peer Support in Mitigating Burnout and Building Joy in Primary Care