Overview
The Digital Health Capstone Project (DHCP) aims to provide students with an opportunity to apply their knowledge and skills in the field of digital health. Through their Capstone Project, students should work on real-world healthcare challenges, support the development of innovative digital health solutions, and gain practical experience in designing, implementing, and/or evaluating digital health interventions. Students are connected with mentors for guidance and support throughout the project, and to foster critical thinking, problem-solving, and collaboration.
Students are either healthcare clinicians (e.g., nurses, pharmacists, respiratory therapists, physical therapists, sonographers etc.) with an interest in health informatics and the impact of technology on healthcare, or learners with healthcare employment experience combined with technical and/or informatics skills.
Student skills
Throughout the Digital Health Advanced Certificate program students have learned how to:
- Assess organizational requirements for digital health systems and formulate strategies for selecting, implementing, and sustaining technologies that align with clinical, operational, and strategic priorities.
- Facilitate the integration of technologies into clinical practice to enhance efficiency, safety, and quality of care by analyzing, designing, and implementing digital health systems grounded in knowledge of clinical-care processes, technologies, and workflows.
- Anticipate and evaluate the impact of digital health systems on clinical processes, service delivery, and care quality across the continuum of care, and advocate for systems that reflect client needs, values, and preferences to support person-centred care.
- Recognize the impact of ethical, legal, financial, and regulatory components of the Canadian healthcare system on digital health decision-making and ensure compliance with relevant standards and policies.
- Liaise between clinical-care, information management, information technology, analytics, and executive communities to articulate and address clinical and operational requirements and ensure digital health initiatives are safe, effective, and aligned with organizational goals.
- Support the better use of health data to improve outcomes by advocating for data quality, data standards compliance, and informed use of analytics across healthcare communities.
- Demonstrate strong communication, leadership, facilitation, and negotiation skills to collaborate with diverse interest holders, resolve conflict, build consensus, and achieve desired outcomes in complex digital health environments.
Please see the course descriptions for the digital health program: Digital Health, Advanced Certificate, Part-time (5165ADCERT) – BCIT
Project timeline
Students have 12 weeks (45hrs) to complete the following phases to meet the course requirements and attain their Advanced Certificate in Digital Health.
- Phase 1 (Weeks 1-3): Complete Project Proposal including literature review.
Assignments: Submit Capstone Project Proposal (5%), and complete Literature Review (15%) - Phase 2 (Weeks 4-10): Complete the pre-determined deliverable for the Capstone Project.
For example, students may plan, design, prototype, develop, test, implement or evaluate a digital health project at a healthcare site. Assignments: Submit Mid-Project Progress Report Week (10%) - Phase 3 (Weeks 11-12): Complete Capstone Project.
Assignments: Submit Final Report (30%), Presentation (20%) and Reflective Essay (20%)
Students will work with their industry mentors and their faculty supervisor to determine the specific deliverable/s that can be successfully accomplished within the timeframe allotted for the Capstone Project closer to the start of the Capstone Project.
Project outcomes and limitations
- Students are expected to complete only one component of a full digital health project. Most healthcare projects extend beyond the 12-week timeframe allocated for the capstone.
- Project’s outcomes may not meet the sponsor’s expectations. Although students try hard to succeed, DHCP are part of the learning process and not all projects are completed successfully. If a sponsor is not satisfied with the deliverables, the project can be re-submitted for the next term where subsequent students can build upon previous results.
- Project selection is not guaranteed. Faculty will encourage students to select those projects that appear to provide the best opportunities for learning. In addition, students select projects according to their interests. Projects that are not selected will be kept in the pool for future terms.
Participation fee
Free for the students or mentors participating in this program
Project requirements
Expectations for mentors
- Commit time and resources to the project as necessary to ensure that students have a reasonable opportunity to succeed.
- Guide and support in project planning, design, and development.
- Meet with the students at the start of the project and then as required in person or online.
- Help students facilitate team meetings and ensure effective communication.
- Review and provide feedback on the project proposal, progress report and the final report.
- Encourage critical thinking and problem solving, as well as offer technical assistance and resources when needed.
- Help students identify and address ethical considerations in digital health.
Suitable projects
- Should be in the area of Digital Health and Health Informatics. Projects from any healthcare industry context are welcome for consideration but should be considered part of a digital health initiative.
- Can involve research or product development.
- May be at any stage but typically result in a proof-of-concept or prototype.
It may help to look at examples of past capstone projects.
Proposal submission deadline
Project proposals may be submitted throughout the year; however, please note that students enroll in the Capstone Project course three times annually, in January, April, and September. Each term spans 12 weeks in duration.
Confidentiality and IP ownership
- Sponsors should indicate in the project submission form if they require students to enter into a confidentiality agreement (NDA) or assign ownership of Intellectual Property (IP) resulting from their work on the project. BCIT cannot require that students enter into these agreements. Students may choose not to participate in projects with these requirements.
- Any such agreement(s) must allow students to present and publish a final report containing enough detail for the students’ work to be evaluated, and a grade to be assigned. According to BCIT Policy 6601 [PDF] (“Intellectual Property”), students own IP produced by them in the course of their studies.
- In cases where students retain ownership of their IP, the project’s documentation (schematics, source code, drawings, etc.) will be published in the BCIT Institutional Repository under a Creative Commons license. In the large majority of cases, no patent protection is sought.
- Confidentiality agreements and IP assignments should balance the interests of the sponsor and students. In most cases, they will be mutual non-disclosure and limited IP licensing agreements rather than those typically used for employees. Such agreements should be executed before the start of the project.
- No-compete or similar clauses that would restrict students’ future employment options strongly discouraged.
Have a suitable project? Submit a capstone project proposal