Health system transformation is more than a change—it’s a revolution in how healthcare is delivered. It requires a bold shift in culture, strategy, policy, and business models, paving the way for groundbreaking advancements that aren’t just sustainable, but transformative. Digital leaders, especially those steering the course at senior levels within the Canadian healthcare system, have a unique opportunity to drive this change. By harnessing the power of integrated and accessible data, information, and knowledge, you can redefine the future of healthcare. The only missing ingredient? Knowing how to turn potential into action.
This course will prepare you to assume senior digital health leadership roles in today’s health system. Collaborating with students from other faculties from across the University of Toronto, you will work under the supervision of senior leaders on real-world transformation projects. Through this experience, you will:
- Become a nimble system-oriented digital health change leader
- Have the growth mindset and approaches to lead change in complex, interconnected systems, like healthcare
- Be knowledgeable, as a leader, in how to unleash the levers of change within the digital health landscape in Canada
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Get in contact
For more information, please contact the course Instructor Wendy Nelson at wendy.nelson@utoronto.ca or the MHI Program Assistant at ihpme.mhi.program@utoronto.ca.
Course Instructors
MHI 2025 is a 1.0 credit elective, offered on a credit/no credit basis. Students and senior digital health mentors (well-placed senior leaders who are currently leading large-scale system change initiatives) will collaboratively explore the challenges and opportunities for digital health leaders to transform Canada’s health system.
The course will be offered in three, 3-day IN PERSON modules delivered 9 am to 5 pm during the 2026 academic year. These modules will be spaced approximately three months apart. Project time and networking activities will be scheduled in the evenings.
This course is assigned one full credit as a graduate program elective within the University of Toronto and will be offered on a credit/no credit basis. Faculty and mentors will assess student performance during the course based on the completion of a health system transformation project enabled by digital health tools.
This course is grounded in complexity leadership – drawing on the theories, models, evidence and methods of leading transformation in complex systems. To gain hands-on leadership experience, students will be assigned to lead actual health system transformation projects supervised by senior digital health mentors. In addition, to build leadership competencies, the curriculum will be designed around six leadership learning themes:
- Working with interest holders and building a culture of transformation
- Transformation Governance
- Change Strategy Development and Alignment
- Leading Transformation in Complex Systems
- Measurement: Driving Value and Outcomes from Transformation
- Sustainability: Creating Adaptability in and Scalability of Change
The course will be an interactive and collaborative learning experience consisting of graduate students who work in the healthcare sector and come from across the University of Toronto, including the Rotman Full-Time MBA program, the Health Administration program, the Health Systems Leadership and Innovation (HSLI) program, the MD program, the Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) program and the Executive Master of Health Informatics (EMHI) program.
Students should possess a passion for digital health leadership and leading change.
The course is designed for mid to late-career students who are currently in a digital health leadership role, have immediate aspirations for senior digital health leadership or are engaged in health transformation initiatives enabled by digital tools during or after their graduate studies.
To ensure this course will meet the needs of students, we encourage interested students to complete an “expression of interest form.” Once we receive your expression of interest, you will be invited to participate in a student information session about the course to learn more.