Leadership Café in Cairo Focuses on Training Physicians to be Leaders
May 20 2009
As part of an effort to upgrade the leadership and management skills in the Egyptian public health care sector, Health Systems 20/20, in collaboration with the Egyptian Ministry of Health (MOH), hosted the first Leadership Café meeting April 25, 2009, with guest speaker Dr. Nancy Kane, Professor of Management and Associate Dean for Educational Programs, Harvard School of Public Health.
The Leadership Café is an informal group of hospital managers, doctors, professors, and public health professionals who have a mission to improve health care management in Egypt. These professionals hail from organizations including USAID, WHO, UNFPA, MOH, the Health Insurance Organization, the Department of Planning, Alexandria University, American University in Cairo, Suez Canal University, Cairo University, Ain Shams University, the Teaching Hospitals Organization, the Egyptian Hospital Development Association, Om El Masryeen Hospital, Sheikh Zayed Hospital, Red Crescent Hospital, the Egyptian Medical Syndicate, and 57357 Cancer Hospital.
Dr. Essam El Toukhy, MOH supervisor of the implementation of the Leadership Academy, opened the session, explaining the collaborative efforts of the MOH, USAID, and Health Systems 20/20 to improve health care management in Egypt. Dr. El Toukhy explained that through the Harvard Executive Program and the Leadership Academy, the MOH aims to build the management capacities of its staff to support the implementation of health sector reforms in Egypt. Ms. Holly Dempsey, USAID/Cairo Director of the Population and Health Office, also speaking at the opening, announced that USAID will be launching a health diplomacy lecture series, where guest speakers will come to Egypt and talk about health sector reform efforts underway in the US.
Dr. Kane has worked for many years in management and education at the Harvard School of Public Health. As the first guest speaker at the Leadership Café, Dr. Kane presented on educating physicians to become managers. Her presentation, "Training Physician to Be Leaders," highlighted a common mistake that boards often make – appointing a popular, high-powered doctor as CEO, even if he/she doesn’t understand organizational systems or finances. Dr. Kane explained that providing management skills training for clinicians, particularly physicians, results in a powerful skill set for leading a health care organization into the 21st century. She pointed out that before 1995, many hospitals in the US were run by non-physicians, creating a backlash in the health care sector. However, in the last 10 years, the US has seen a huge increase in the number of physicians involved in the management of hospitals and large health care systems. It is Dr. Kane’s opinion that physicians make terrific leaders once they acquire the skills necessary to lead an organization.
Dr. Kane outlined several myths about leadership. The first is that it is "a rare skill." Dr. Kane explained at all four hospitals she had visited in Egypt she observed doctors capable of leadership; the key is to make sure they have the formal skill set to develop the leadership skills needed to become problem solvers. Another myth is that leadership is "born, not made," noting that this is obviously a myth or else MBA programs in the US would be out of business. A third myth is that "leadership is [found] only at the top." Dr. Kane explained that leadership occurs at all levels of an organization and that the primary task of a leader is to motivate people at different levels to succeed. It is important to be sure that these myths are dispelled not just by talk, but by action.
The Leadership Café concluded with a discussion between Dr. Kane and the audience on management needs in Egypt and about how management education of hospital managers in Egypt can be improved.
