prtotype

About

A year-long build towards a meaningful project.

What is Prototype

Prototype is a longitudinal program that engages medical students in learning human-centred design principles and applying them to real healthcare problems. Teams form in September and stay together through April - no solo projects, no drop-in commitment. Every team is paired with a practising physician or clinician-innovator who has lived the problem they're working on. You learn human-centred design by using it on your own project, not by watching someone describe it.

pro·to·type (noun)

a preliminary model of an idea - a sketch, a design, or a first iteration of a physical product, app, or piece of software.

Year-long

Teams form in September and stay together to April.

Mentored

Every team is guided by a physician or clinician-innovator.

Hands-on

Design thinking learned by doing, on your own project.

Your role as a member

  1. 1

    Collaborate

    Work in a group of 5–6 peers; set your own meeting rhythm (bi-weekly recommended).

  2. 2

    Solve a real problem

    Pick a healthcare problem that actually bothers someone, and find out why it exists.

  3. 3

    Build a prototype

    Work with your mentor to turn the idea into something that exists outside your heads.

Who can join

Open to MD students at both St. George and Mississauga (MAM) campuses. Every event is hybrid or repeated at the other campus. No prior experience in design, engineering, or entrepreneurship required.

The Year

One problem. One team. One year.

  1. SEP

    Kickoff & HCD Launch

    Teams form, mentors are matched, and a guided design-thinking session locks in each team's problem statement.

  2. JAN

    Venture Pitch & Go-to-Market

    How health ventures actually get funded: an hour of case work, then present a venture pitch based on your idea.

  3. FEB

    Mid-Year Build Clinic

    A working session to make progress on your prototype together - bring what your team is stuck on.

  4. FEB

    Medical Innovation Day

    A field trip into Toronto's health-tech ecosystem - startups, incubators, and commercialization pathways.

  5. APR

    Showcase & Demo Day

    10-minute pitches to an expert panel, a full prototype showcase, and development funding for top teams.

Our innovation framework

Every team works through the same five questions. Rule of thumb (borrowed from the Stanford d.school): spend 95% of your energy on the problem, 5% on the solution.

  1. 01 →

    What is the problem?

    Not the solution you already have in mind. Watch the workflow. Count the steps. Find where it breaks.

  2. 02 →

    Who are you serving?

    Name the person. A patient, a nurse, a resident, a caregiver - they are not interchangeable.

  3. 03 →

    How will you solve it?

    Diverge before you converge. Ten mediocre ideas beat the one obvious idea you started with.

  4. 04 →

    First iteration

    Paper, cardboard, Figma, a rough 3D print. Make it cheap enough to throw away.

  5. 05

    Trial and error

    Show it. Watch it fail. Change it. Repeat until it stops failing in the same place.

Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford (d.school). (2010). An Introduction to Design Thinking PROCESS GUIDE. Stanford University.

Mentorship expectations

  • One primary mentor per team.
  • At least one mentor meeting before the end of December.
  • 1–2 meetings per month recommended.

What can a prototype be?

  • an infographic
  • a medical education module or workshop
  • a digital health solution
  • a wearable technology
  • a website or mobile app
  • a 3D-printed object addressing a clinical need

Exec team

Exec applications open in September 2026 - see Connect.