Mary Qiu (IndE 1T3 + PEY) has placed first in the individual category of the Health Council of Canada’s nation-wide Health Innovation Challenge for her paper “Preventing Acute Care Hospital Readmissions Through the Use of a Virtual Ward.”
More than 100 students across Canada participated in the Challenge, submitting a total of 74 essays explaining which innovative practices they think could change the future of health care. Winners received a cash prize and the chance to apply for a summer internship at the Health Council of Canada office in Toronto.
Qiu said she felt honoured to win the Challenge. “While I was certainly hoping to be announced as one of the winners, I definitely was not expecting it! I have not had the chance to read any of the other shortlisted entries, but I am sure that they are all of equally high calibre.”
She said she entered the Challenge because she felt it was a good opportunity to explore and learn more about health care in Canada. Winning has made her even more determined to pursue a healthcare career, she said. In fact, she will have to decline the Health Council of Canada’s internship offer because she’s heading to Kenya with Students for International Development this summer to work on healthcare infrastructure development and health promotion.
Qiu wrote the paper which she wrote while doing her Professional Experience Year (PEY) placement at St. Michael’s Hospital. In the PEY program, second- and third-year students complete 12- to 16-month paid internships in their areas of interest. “Being in the hospital environment on a daily basis has exposed me to numerous and exciting endeavours that are currently being developed.”
“Mary Qiu’s success speaks to her ability to see beyond the obvious and to seize opportunity rather than wait to be assigned tasks,” said Jose Pereira, who as director of the Engineering Career Centre oversees the PEY program. “She is also a selfless individual who will contribute greatly to the profession and society. She is a shining example of the student potential in U of T Engineering.”
Professor Jean Zu, Chair of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering, also congratulated Qiu on her win. “Our Centre for Research in Health Care Engineering provides education and research expertise in healthcare engineering, and it’s rewarding to see one of the centre’s undergraduate students excel in this field.”
For the Challenge, students were asked to submit a written submission describing how they see an innovation shaping health care through a practice, program, service or policy. Specifically, students had to write a 2,500-word paper that answered the question “What new innovations in health care are having a positive impact in Canada? Identify and describe an innovative practice that is improving health outcomes, and tell us why it is working.”
“The winners of this year’s Challenge truly showed us the importance of sharing innovation” said John G. Abbott, CEO, Health Council of Canada. “They found some great practices that are working locally and we should pay attention to see if we can learn from them and use them in our own work.”
For the full list of winners and more information about the Health Innovation Challenge, go to the Health Council of Canada website
