Resident Innovation Fund

Annual Funding Opportunities

The aim of the Resident Innovation Fund (fund) is to provide funding for a broad range of resident-led initiatives to improve and enrich the resident experience in areas of patient care, technology/innovation, resident activities, and scholarly pursuit. The goal of the RIF is to highlight and support residents working to benefit the healthcare system, the lives of patients and healthcare providers.

The fund is awarded by Resident Doctors of BC to invest in resident projects, with up to four (4) awards annually with a maximum of $2500 per award with one (1) award per category.

Receipt of a Resident Innovation Fund award does not affect the intellectual property rights with respect to Resident Doctors of BC. However, the project may be included in communications to its membership and various stakeholders.

The 2022 Resident Innovation Fund submission deadline is December 12, 2022 12 PM (noon) PST.

Resident Innovation Fund 2022

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ADVANCING PATIENT CARE/HEALTH CARE SYSTEM

To highlight and support residents working to benefit the healthcare system, the lives of patients and healthcare providers.

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INNOVATION IN TECHNOLOGY

To highlight and support residents working to benefit the healthcare system, the lives of patients and healthcare providers.

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RESIDENT PROJECTS

To highlight and support residents working to benefit the healthcare system, the lives of patients and healthcare providers.

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MEDICAL EDUCATION*

To highlight and support residents conducting scholarly research to understand issues affecting residents or patients in BC.

*previously known as Scholarly Pursuits

  • Timeline
    • Applications will be open to the membership annually for a period of not less than one month
    • The Awards Selection Committee will review awards and present their selections at the March Board Meeting for approval by the Board of Directors
    • Awards will be presented following the March Board Meeting
  • Guidelines

    Eligibility

    In order for projects to access an award, they must meet the following criteria:

    • Project leader must be a resident member in good standing of Resident Doctors of BC
    • Project must provide benefit to either residents, healthcare providers, patients, or the healthcare system
    • Be innovative and sustainable
    • Be visible to the resident community

    The Resident Innovation Fund is for new and innovative projects. In the event of a pre-existing or ongoing project, the fund may be applied to start-up costs. Applicants may apply for a maximum of 2 years of funding, and must re-apply each year of funding.

    Funding will not be provided to projects that are related to mandatory academic requirements.

    Funding will not be provided to team projects involving an elected Board member.

    The fund will not cover conference funding or honoraria and excludes international projects (including those using overseas suppliers for manufacturing)

    Current elected Board members are ineligible to apply.

    Submissions must include the following items, with no identifying information present:

    • Timeline of project and outline of deliverables
    • Budget for the overall project
    • Details of requested budget and the intended use of the award
    • Detail how the project will be sustainable beyond the Resident Innovation Fund
    • Projected impacts to residents/healthcare provider/patient/healthcare system

    Adjudication

    Project applications which meet the criteria, including no identifying information, will be provided to the Awards Selection Committee.

    Projects will be selected on the basis of:

    • Potential impact
    • Innovativeness
    • Sustainability
    • Feasibility

    Applications will be accepted until 12 PM (noon) PST December 12, 2022

Application Form

Web version also available.

  • 2021 Winners

    The 2021 Fund was awarded in partnership with the Ministry of Health. 

    Advancing Patient Care/Healthcare System

    Dr. Karina Spoyalo and Team: Dr. Rebecca Afford, Kevin Gilmore, Melissa Yu, Dr. Harvey Hawes – Intervention-based inventory management strategy for acute care departments

    Dr. Max Moor-Smith and Team: Dr. Samuel Brophy, Dr. Tristan Jones – TENS in Acute Low Back Pain

    Innovation in Technology

    Dr. Ameen Amanian and Team: Dr. Kaishan Aravinthan, Dr. Donald Anderson, Dr. Oleksandr Butskiy, Ricky Hu – A low-cost electrolarynx for voice rehabilitation following total laryngectomy in low-resource settings

    Dr. Philip Edgcumbe and Team: Dr. Philip Pratt, Dr. Robert Rohling, Dr. Kathryn Isaac, Dr. Michael Stein, Dr. David Liu – The VascuLens – A Handsfree Projector-Based Augmented Reality System for Surgical Guidance During Deep Inferior Epigastric Artery (DIEP) Flap Harvest and Autologous Breast Reconstruction Surgery

    Resident Projects

    Dr. Helena Bentley and Team: Dr. Kathryn Darras, Dr. Cameron Hague – Application of Innovative Teaching Methodologies in the Era of Competence by Design: Evaluation of the Impact of Team-Based Learning in Diagnostic Radiology Post-Graduate Medical Education

    Dr. Lolade Shipeolu – Illuminating the Experiences of Muslim Women in Surgery

    Scholarly Pursuits

    Dr. Brandon Evtushevski and Team: Dr. Sean Patrick, Dr. Max Moor-Smith, Darin Abbey, Dr. Savannah Forrester, Dr. Matt Carere – PNB for Hip Fracture Acute Pain Control

    Dr. Louise Cassidy and Team: Emma Croft, Dr. Jeff Brubacher – Long Term Analysis of Medical Resident Commuter Safety in British Columbia

    Any Category

    Dr. Hiten Naik and Team: Dr. Michael Johnson – An Online Tool to Predict Bed Demand During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond

    Dr. Chloe Haldane and Team: Dr. Geoffrey Frost – Physical Examination Manual for Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Residents

  • 2020 Winners

    The 2020 Fund was awarded in partnership with the Ministry of Health. 

    Advancing Patient Care/Healthcare System

    Dr. Chase Crisfield and Dr. Philip Edgcumbe — Development of Affordable and Efficient Medical Oxygen Concentrator for COVID-19 Patients

    Dr. Barbara Lelj Garolla Di Bard — Can incorporating Real-Time Virtual Support (RTVS) Pathways and the Patient Transport Network (PTN) in simulations in rural BC improve competencies of rural physicians, RTVS virtual providers and PTN logistical experts, to ultimately improve patient outcomes, uncover system-based barriers to care and identify latent safety threats?

    Innovation in Technology

    Dr. Drew Phillips — Gross Hematuria Monitor

    Dr. Shamisa Masoumi Hesari — Clinical Trial for COSMIC Bubble Helmet

    Resident Projects

    Dr. Meiying Zhuang and Dr. Brandon Tang – Vancouver Notes

    Dr. Mikaela Peters – Perceptions of the impact of pregnancy during training on the career of Canadian orthopaedic surgeons

    Scholarly Pursuits

    Dr. Holly Sherman and Dr. Hélène Morakis – Emergency Medicine Simulation Curriculum for Medical Students

    Dr. Nassr Nama – Diagnosis and Management of Urinary Tract Infections in Newborns and Young Infants: Crowdsourcing a Living Systematic Review

  • 2019 Winners

    Advancing Patient Care/Healthcare System

    Dr. Gabrielle Quinlan (team: Dr. Gabrielle Rabu) — Health Resource Map: Mental Health and Addictions in the Downtown Eastside Project

    Innovation in Technology

    Dr. Connor Forbes — Smartphone App to Measure Tremor in Patients Taking Tacrolimus

    Resident Projects

    Dr. Mei Wen – Resident Narrative Medicine Workshop

    Scholarly Pursuits

    Dr. Ji-Hyun Jang – Sentinel Lymph Node Procedures in Endometrial Cancer: A Multisite Experience

  • 2018 Winners

    Advancing Patient Care/Healthcare System

    Dr. Annie Wang — Safe Opioid Prescribing in Surgery Project

    Innovation in Technology

    Dr. Diana Forbes (team: Dr. Alexander Seal) — Virtual Reality Surgical Simulation Project

    Resident Projects

    Dr. Diana Forbes (team: Dr. Tomas Saun) – Project Flow: Virtual Reality for Physician Burnout

    Scholarly Pursuits

    Dr. Louise Cassidy – Motor Vehicle Accidents and Call Survey

  • 2017 Winners

    Advancing Patient Care/Healthcare System

    Dr. Jesse Thompson — Canadian Resident Simulation Tournament

    Innovation in Technology

    Dr. Greg Costello — Chilliwack General Hospital Point of Care Ultrasound (PoCUS) Rounds

    Resident Projects

    Dr. Megan Kilvert – Gratitude Rounds