S Meaghan Sim
1,2* 
, Jonathan Lai
3,4* , Katie Aubrecht
5,6, Ivy Cheng
7,8, Mark Embrett
9,10, El Kebir Ghandour
11,12,13, Megan Highet
14,15, Rebecca Liu
16, Christiane PM Casteli
17, Margaret Saari
18,19, Samiratou Ouédraogo
20,21, Hazel Williams-Roberts
22,231 Healthy Populations Institute, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada.
2 Nova Scotia Health Authority, Halifax, NS, Canada.
3 McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
4 Centre for Innovation in Autism and Intellectual Disabilities, Montreal, QC, Canada.
5 Mount Saint Vincent University, Halifax, NS, Canada.
6 ContinuingCare Research, Nova Scotia Health Authority, Halifax, NS, Canada.
7 Institute of Health Policy and Management, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
8 Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada.
9 DeGroote School of Business, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
10 Nova Scotia Health Research Foundation, Halifax, NS, Canada.
11 Institut National D’excellence en Santé et en Services Sociaux (INESSS), Québec City, QC, Canada.
12 Centre Intégré en Santé et Services Sociaux de Chaudière-Appalaches, Ste-Marie, QC, Canada.
13 Département de Médecine Familiale et Médecine D’urgence, Université Laval, Quebec City, QC, Canada.
14 School of Public Health, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
15 Primary and Community Health, Health Service Delivery, Alberta Health, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
16 Department of Human Kinetics, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
17 University Health and Social Services Centre (IUHSSC) of Capitale-Nationale (CN), Faculty of Nursing Sciences, Université Laval, Québec City, QC, Canada.
18 School of Public Health and Health Systems, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada.
19 SE Health, Markham, ON, Canada.
20 Department of Epidemiology Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada.
21 Institut National de Santé Publique du Québec (INSPQ), Montréal, QC, Canada.
22 Saskatchewan Health Authority, Saskatoon, SK, Canada.
23 University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada.
Abstract
Learning health systems necessitate interdependence between health and academic sectors and are critical
to address the present and future needs of our health systems. This concept is being supported through the
new Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Health System Impact (HSI) Fellowship, through which
postdoctoral fellows are situated within a health system-related organization to help propel evidence-informed
organizational transformation and change. A voluntary working group of fellows from the inaugural cohort
representing diversity in geography, host setting and personal background, collectively organized a panel at the
2018 Canadian Association for Health Services and Policy Research Conference with the purpose of describing
this shared scholarship experience. Here, we present a summary of this panel reflecting on our experiential
learning in a practice environment and its ability for impact.