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Cast of The York School Play, Matilda
The York School 2024/25 Year in Review - IB Personal Project: Developing an app for managing personal health information
The Personal Project gives students in Grade 10, the final year of the IB Middle Years Program, an opportunity to independently explore an area of personal interest over a three-month period. The project assesses students’ self-management, research, communication, critical and creative thinking, and collaboration skills. Students are encouraged to choose multi-layered, multidisciplinary projects that have a purpose or value outside the school. They develop their own goals and criteria, must show evidence of a product or outcome, and write a report reflecting on what they’ve learned. While the students take ownership over their projects and make all the decisions, their teachers provide guidance and coaching. Their report is assessed by their supervisor and externally moderated by the IB to ensure a globally consistent standard of excellence.
When Avantika S.’ 27 wanted to ensure that her vaccinations were up-to-date, she spent two hours locating her paper immunization records and uploading them to Toronto Public Health’s website. It was a time consuming and tedious process that prompted her to envision a more efficient way of managing her health. “Globally we’ve digitized everything, so why is healthcare still on paper?”
Avantika observed that her family members were experiencing frustrations related to scheduling doctors’ appointments and renewing prescriptions. She also spoke with a family doctor and pharmacist who said they would welcome an electronic information system that connected them with patients. She decided to dedicate her personal project to working on a solution. After a great deal of research, she discovered a platform called Adalo that would enable her to develop a mobile app using drag and drop components. She used Adalo to create MediLine, an app that individuals could use to quickly and easily access their vaccination and prescription history, schedule an appointment with their family doctor, find the closest pharmacy, and receive reminders about upcoming medical appointments and when to take daily doses of medication. When she showed MediLine to the family doctor she chatted with earlier, he agreed that her app would help the health-care system run more smoothly and efficiently. He also identified the next challenge for Avantika to tackle: getting hospitals, clinics and doctor’s offices, clinics and hospitals in Ontario to modernize their systems and processes.
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Avantika observed that her family members were experiencing frustrations related to scheduling doctors’ appointments and renewing prescriptions. She also spoke with a family doctor and pharmacist who said they would welcome an electronic information system that connected them with patients. She decided to dedicate her personal project to working on a solution. After a great deal of research, she discovered a platform called Adalo that would enable her to develop a mobile app using drag and drop components. She used Adalo to create MediLine, an app that individuals could use to quickly and easily access their vaccination and prescription history, schedule an appointment with their family doctor, find the closest pharmacy, and receive reminders about upcoming medical appointments and when to take daily doses of medication. When she showed MediLine to the family doctor she chatted with earlier, he agreed that her app would help the health-care system run more smoothly and efficiently. He also identified the next challenge for Avantika to tackle: getting hospitals, clinics and doctor’s offices, clinics and hospitals in Ontario to modernize their systems and processes.
