Janet Kennedy:  A Student-Athlete’s Medventure

By Bart Sears

Scientists have acknowledged that we know approximately five per cent about the universe. When we watch StFX student-athletes perform on game day, we witness about five per cent of their contribution to student-life and their impact on the larger community upon completion of their studies. Janet Kennedy, a fourth-year rugby player from Ottawa, Ontario, personifies what it is to be a Xaverian. 

Janet chose StFX because of its strong sense of community, the innovative Health program, as well for the opportunity to play for the storied X-Women rugby team. She has embraced with enthusiasm the challenges that come with being a student-athlete. 

In Janet's time at X she has earned two AUS women's rugby championships, is a part of the team's leadership group, as well as a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). She is a U SPORTS Academic All-Canadian and serves as co-Editor-In-Chief of the Xaverian Weekly in addition to being the Mentorship Program co-lead for the Health Society. 

Of all Janet's impressive accomplishments, her most notable achievement is perhaps to have been chosen as one of four fellows for the second-ever cohort of the prestigious Medventions Atlantic fellowship. Medventions Atlantic is a hospital-based training program with the goal to "nurture Canadian talent in the health care technology sector." The fellowship "equips fellows from multidisciplinary backgrounds with the skills and knowledge necessary to advance patient care." The program is a partnership between the Nova Scotia Health Innovation Hub and Sunnybrook Research Institute, which is supported by INOVAIT, a Canadian network that "invests strategically in digital innovation and medical science research."

After submitting her application for the 2024 Medventions fellowship, Janet advanced through two rounds of interviews. The second interview was a panel format, in which professionals from a variety of fields related to medical technology innovation posed questions which she was uniquely prepared to answer as a StFX Health student. The X Health program "covers all of the traditional medical science topics, while placing emphasis on critical thinking, collaborative problem-solving, and culturally-sensitive healthcare innovation."

The internship ran from January to April of 2024. The goal of the fellowship was to identify a significant clinical need and develop a technological solution to address the issue. The focus of Janet's cohort was orthopedic surgery. Throughout the fellowship, she and her colleagues followed a curriculum provided by Medventions. The internship was broken down into three main phases. The first was to shadow physicians and to identify clinical needs that could be resolved through technology.  he second phase involved developing a medical solution concept that addresses the need. The final phase was the product design and translation of the concept into a prototype. 

The first six weeks of the program involved Janet shadowing a spine surgeon at the Halifax Infirmary. This entailed observing clinic appointments, surgeries, post-operative check-ins and noting every detail to identify clinical challenges, gaps, and opportunities for innovation.  It would have been easy for someone in Janet's situation, as an undergraduate student under the pressure to achieve an innovative technological solution, to see the patients as a means to an end. However, this would not be the case for Janet, or for other students in the StFX Health program who, in Janet's words, learn to explore "human health from different angles, considering how factors like race, class, gender, ability, and sexuality affect individual and community health." She also notes, "It's a very interesting addition to the typical science-based education, as we study how social, economic, political, and environmental factors come into play and how everything interconnects."

Along with her three other fellows, Janet conducted extensive research, including studying disease state fundamentals, patent searches, stakeholder analysis as well as market research. This was done in consultation with their program mentors – a mix of physicians, researchers, engineers, and business professionals. It is a credit to Janet's ability and maturity to be able to do the research, synthesize the information, and discuss it intelligently with professionals. Janet's time as a member of the X-Women rugby team was ideal preparation for the rigours of the fellowship. She explained that, "Rugby has helped with my academics through the strengthening of my time management skills, discipline, and resilience. Any student-athlete knows that balancing an intense training and game schedule with academic responsibilities is not easy, but it has forced me to learn how to prioritize tasks and efficiently allocate my time to ensure I can perform well in both areas."

After periods of observation, research, and discussion, the fellowship group identified gaps in how patients, and their incisions, are monitored after spine surgery. Remote post-operative monitoring technology is acutely important to people living in rural areas or with limited access to doctors. The next phase was to develop a practical medical technology solution concept in the form of a mobile app. This involved working with the Nova Scotia Health Innovation Hub and the Emera ideaHUB at Dalhousie, where there were numerous meetings with experts from the fields of medical imaging, infection control, machine learning, and computer science to refine the solution concept.   

The culmination of the group's four-month project was the pitch of an AI-powered mobile app called 'SightInsight' at the Nova Scotia Health Innovation Hub. The group demonstrated how the mobile app allows care teams to monitor post-operative spine patients remotely, through the use of multiple data inputs, such as C-Reactive Protein measures and patient provided images.   

Since back at StFX, Janet has picked up right where she left off, studying hard, diligently editing at the Xaverian Weekly, and making rampaging runs on the rugby field. "Upon reflection, I really enjoyed my time as a Medventions fellow, gaining professional experience, collaborating with colleagues from diverse backgrounds, and seeing firsthand how innovative medical technology can improve healthcare for patients."  

When asked if there was a 'eureka' moment during her fellowship, Janet stated, "The moment that stands out is witnessing my first surgery up-close. During the initial phase of the fellowship, while shadowing an orthopedic surgeon, I had the opportunity to observe various procedures in the operating room, from routine spine surgeries to emergency orthopedic procedures and even robot-assisted surgeries! I have always wanted to pursue a career in medicine, and this hands-on exposure definitely strengthened that interest."   

Janet Kennedy will undoubtedly soon be joining doctors David Cudmore, Jane Anne Howard, Allison McGlashan, and the many other StFX student-athletes who have become medical doctors and who are making outstanding contributions to the profession and the communities in which they serve.

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