Sunnybrook Hub for Applied Research in Education
Inventing the future of health-care education
As an academic health sciences centre, we are continually looking for innovative, practice-based solutions that address evolving challenges in health education. What are the best ways to teach our students, patients and colleagues?
The Sunnybrook Hub for Applied Research in Education (SHARE) plays a pivotal role in furthering health professions research and scholarship.
We can help you articulate the real-world problem you've spotted, and create, design, implement and evaluate solutions to that problem.
Our education researchers have presented their work at international and national conferences, designed practice-changing curriculum and provide mentorship to new researchers. Many of our researchers have affiliations with the Wilson Centre, the Centre for Interprofessional Education at University of Toronto, SIM-one and the Canadian Patient Safety Institute. Many of our researchers hold faculty positions at our partner schools, and many are front-line clinicians and teachers who — through their real-world experience — spotted a problem they’d like to solve.
How we help
Support
To allow for engagement in education research and scholarship through yearly grants and scholarships, as well as workshops on how to conduct education research.
Community
To create networks for innovation and leadership through workshops, grant-writing support and mentorship, and quarterly education research rounds.
Integration
To enable collaboration within and across institutions through external events, education research scholarships and more.
Output
To showcase education research and scholarly activities through abstract-writing support and more.
Get to know members of SHARE and their work
Dr. Giovanna Sirianni
As a family physician with a focused practice in palliative care, empathy is a core competency for Dr. Giovanna Sirianni.
Among her many education research interests, she is particularly focused on developing communication skills and the provision of compassionate care, which is in part why she co-created the About Empathy podcast, a healthCARE podcast that focuses on patient, caregiver and healthcare provider stories.
“Podcast guests discuss their personal stories, while myself and my co-hosts reflect on those stories to help enable and support empathic interactions in the healthcare community,” says Dr. Sirianni. “Our team has undertaken a qualitative exploration of the podcast’s role in education from the perspective of medical students, residents and faculty members.”
The podcast’s role in medical education is just one of many projects Dr. Sirianni is working on at any given time. “Whenever I’m developing a new curricular intervention, assessment method or project, I try to approach each initiative through a scholarly lens to help question, evaluate and eventually disseminate,'' says Dr. Sirianni, who is also an Assistant Professor and Enhanced Skills Residency Program Director in the Department of Family and Community Medicine in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto.
Her passion for education research is inspired by many of the physicians, teachers and scientists she’s had the opportunity to work with throughout her career. “They modeled the importance of asking provocative questions about our approach to medical education and not accepting the status quo,” says Dr. Sirianni. “They also helped demystify the world of academia and made it accessible for me to feel like I had a place in education research too.”
Dr. Sirianni says that spirit is supported at Sunnybrook, in particular through Sunnybrook's Education Advisory Council, via their yearly grant program that funds education research projects. “This is a tangible and practical way that we recognize and move forward the work of educators, scholars and researchers.”
Contact & more resources
- Sunnybrook staff and students: Check out Sunnynet for more resources on Education Research, upcoming grant deadlines and more.
- Learn more about the Sunnybrook Hub for Applied Research in Education (SHARE) (formerly Education Research Unit) in the 2017-2020 Education Strategic Plan »
- Contact the SHARE team directly at share@sunnybrook.ca
Our team
Lisa Di Prospero
Director
Practice-based Research & Innovation and Sunnybrook Hub for Applied Research in Education (SHARE)
Csilla Kalocsai
Associate director, Sunnybrook Hub for Applied Research in Education (SHARE)
ACMS Professor in Education Research and Scientist, Sunnybrook Research Institute
Calvin Law
Vice President, Education
If you have an educational problem you’d like to solve, get in touch: education@sunnybrook.ca
