About OtoSim
OtoSim Inc. is a Toronto-based medical simulation company focused on otoscopy and ophthalmoscopy training. Our goal is to enhance patient outcomes through better training of primary healthcare providers, with effective and innovative simulation tools.
Drs. Vito Forte and Paolo Campisi recognized the deficiencies that exist in current-day otoscopic training. The OtoSim™ device was pioneered to resolve the problem and proved its value through a scientific study. A medical teaching tool that ensures verifiable learning was born with OtoSim™.
Based on customer feedback and demand, we continued to refine these initial products releasing OtoSim2™ and adding PneumatoSim™. We also developed the Educators Toolkit™ to allow teachers to create their own curriculum, using their own images and material. All were developed in conjunction with key educators and clinicians from the University of Toronto and the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids).
Recognizing the complexities and fiscal realities involved in institutional curriculum development we developed our cloud and web-based products OtoSim Mobile™ and OtoSim Educators Portal™. These innovative interactive products convert any smartphone or tablet into a portable simulator allowing the student to learn and an instructor to teach otoscopy from Anywhere; at Anytime; and at Any Pace and make the educational experience enjoyable, efficient and economical.
Our medical training technologies have been adopted in Canada, USA and globally, and benefited these healthcare disciplines:
- Medicine
- Nurse Practitioners
- Physician Assistants
- Optometry
- Osteopathic Medicine
- Naturopathic Medicine
- Audiologists
Next up was addressing the problem in ophthalmoscopy training and increasing diagnostic accuracy. Dr. Kenneth Eng, Director of Undergraduate Medical Education for the Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Sciences at the University of Toronto, provided the ophthalmology perspective to develop OphthoSim™.
A medical teaching tool that ensures verifiable learning was born with OphthoSim™.
As with otoscopy we developed our cloud and web-based products for ophthalmoscopy, the OphthoSim Mobile™ and OphthoSim Educators Portal™ allowing the student to learn and an instructor to teach opththalmoscopy similarily from Anywhere; at Anytime; and at Any Pace.
Our medical training systems have been adopted in Canada, USA, and globally by medical schools, nursing schools, physician assistant programs, allied health programs, as well as teaching hospitals and clinics.
Dr. Vito Forte is the CEO and Chairman of the Board of OtoSim Inc, and a co-inventor of OtoSim™. Dr. Forte retired from clinical practice in 2015 as a Paediatric Otolaryngologist and former Otolaryngologist-in-Chief and Associate Surgeon-in-Chief at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids). He remains a full Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto. His acquired skill set, lifelong passion for teaching, engineering and innovation are now being deployed as a Liaison Officer in the Department of Surgery to create a better translation link between clinicians and engineers. In 2013, he was one of the recipients of the 2013 Canadian Association of Medical Educators (CAME) Certificate of Merit Award. In 2015, he was the recipient of the The Ernest C. Manning Foundation Innovation Award. This is awarded annually to talented Canadian innovators who are improving the lives of Canadians and others worldwide through their commercialized innovations. This award recognizes innovators for the value they are adding to our provincial and national economies by creating jobs and wealth, and positioning our country as a global competitor.
Dr. Paolo Campisi is a co-inventor of OtoSim™. He is a paediatric otolaryngologist in the Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery at the Hospital for Sick Children. He is Professor and Vice Chair of Education, and the Director of Postgraduate Education (formerly Director of Undergraduate Education) in the Department of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery at the University of Toronto. Dr. Campisi led the validation of teaching protocols for medical students in developing OtoSim™, confirming the benefits of OtoSim™ by demonstrating significant improvement in students’ diagnostic accuracy.
Dr. Michael Hawke is a Professor Emeritus, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Toronto. He is one of the pioneers in medical photography and has a true passion for it, having amassed over 10,000 photographs of the ear in his personal library. These photographs were captured using telescopic techniques that he also helped pioneer. We were honoured and fortunate to have Dr. Hawke act as a consultant in the development of OtoSim™ and grateful to him for granting OtoSim Inc exclusivity to his collection of medical photographs.
