Residency programs in Canada are generally recognized for the excellent training they provide physicians to deliver the most excellent clinical care and to use the most cutting-edge technology to help patients. However, there is a gap in that medical curriculum, and this gap is essentially health care management. I applied to McGill Graduate Certificate in Healthcare Management to help me better manage my department as well as the hospital in which I work.
I felt that I lacked the tools necessary to manage a department properly and to improve the quality of care that is delivered in our hospital. So GCHM has given me a new perspective and has taught me how to think and approach my department and my hospital like a CEO would approach his company. The one difference is that the overarching goal is not generating profit, but rather benefiting patients and society as a whole.
It also taught me the difference between management and leadership and how both interact and both are essential for organizational success. This course gives clinicians the tools necessary to start small and bigger-scale quality-improvement projects in the hospitals where they work. It's a strategy that allows people to bring solutions from the ground up, and it's been shown to be extremely effective in all hospitals where it was applied.
The mentorship that this program offers is truly a priceless experience. It goes beyond the academic teachings in the program because it provides you with direct feedback with regard to the changes you want to implement in the hospital. And it also gives you a privileged relationship with this seasoned administrator that goes beyond the curriculum itself.
"What we try to emphasize is that this is just the first step in the journey of a healthcare leader, and what we want them to take away from this is a network of like-minded professionals that work in the healthcare field with which they will be able to connect and reflect on their challenges as they move on to their career."
states Dr. , Program Director of the GCHM.
What I've learned in GCHM allows me to approach problems in the hospital in a more systematic fashion. It also allowed me to articulate the vision that I have for my hospital and other centers as well of what healthcare should truly be. And now I'm hosting our very first workshop at the Montreal Neurological Hospital. It allows me to present those ideas in a more structured manner to the executive committee in the hospital, as well as key stakeholders to be able to recruit them to the idea of the change I'm trying to implement and to get them to become active participants in those projects that I'm trying to implement in the hospital.
About the GCHM
Theis a joint initiative, unique in its genre, between the McGill Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences and the McGill Desautels Faculty of Management. The certificate takes place fully online and was developed in order to address important gaps in the formal managerial training of healthcare professionals.
