In this section:

“Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern, a set of problems, or a passion about a topic, and who deepen their knowledge and expertise in this area by interacting on an ongoing basis.”

- Wenger, McDermott and Snyder, Cultivating Communities of Practice

Community of Practice

The Executive Training for Research Application (EXTRA) program aims to lead cultural change in the Canadian healthcare system. At the Canadian Health Services Research Foundation, EXTRA takes accomplished healthcare leaders and teaches them the skills they need to find, adapt and use research in the organization, management and delivery of their services.

The learning in EXTRA doesn’t stop when participants graduate. Instead, the two-year experience lays the foundation for a community of practice, which aims to promote excellence in leadership for evidence-informed decision-making. It is believed that this community will increase the program’s impact by keeping the fellows working together to share knowledge and lead the cultural change toward evidence-informed leadership in healthcare organizations.

The greatest role of the EXTRA community — and the key to its success — will be its ability to deliver effective knowledge sharing and knowledge creation among health system leaders. Cutting across organizational, hierarchical and geographical boundaries, it is hoped fellows will be able to share their tacit knowledge about evidence-informed decision-making by sharing experiences, telling stories and coaching peers. Furthermore, it is hoped this knowledge will help improve healthcare management decision-making across the country.

Community of Practice Steering Committee

To sustain the development and dissemination of knowledge and best practices around evidence-informed leadership, a committee of regional representatives made up of graduated EXTRA fellows defines the direction and development of the community of practice.

Support for the EXTRA community of practice will be provided by the Foundation as long as the initiatives are found to be synergistic with other Foundation activities.

For more information, please contact:
Mylène Dault
Tel: 613-728-2238 ext. 342
Fax: 613-728-3527