Fellowship Internship Programme 2018

Prof Dr Matiur Rahman (Pakistan) was one of four ISQua Fellowship Participants who took part in the internship programme hosted by AGPAL (Australia). Here he shares his reflections and learnings from his time in Australia.

Prof Dr Matiur Rahman (Pakistan) was one of four ISQua Fellowship Participants who took part in the internship programme hosted by AGPAL (Australia). Here he shares his reflections and learnings from his time in Australia.

3rd October

I am leaving for Australia for a 2-week study visit after being selected by ISQua, in an international competition among ISQua Fellowship participants, to observe an Australian accreditation process from initial registration to certification and onsite surveys of healthcare services. I am very fortunate to be attached with Dr Stephen Clark, Group Chief Executive of Australian General Practice Accreditation and Quality Innovation Performance Consulting.

This will be a great learning and practice opportunity and will enrich my experience in quality improvement and accreditation process and will be extremely useful for improving quality improvement and accreditation efforts at Riphah International University affiliated hospitals and other hospitals in Pakistan. I hope that I will learn also how to develop and implement the quality standard and Inshallah one day I, with likeminded persons, will be able to develop Pakistan Quality Standard from the platform of Riphah International University.

8th October

My first day of the ISQua, AGPAL and QIP internship was very productive. Facilitators were very knowledgeable and friendly and took a lot of interest and encouraged our discussion and explained to the group the accreditation process very well and provided all standards of accreditation used by AGPAL and QIP.

The group of Internees are very friendly, and all have common agenda to learn from experts of AGPAL and QIP and improve Healthcare Quality and Patient safety in their respective country.

I am honoured to be in a group of such high profile experienced and real change agents of Healthcare Quality and Patient Safety.

On behalf of our group, I want to thank ISQua for selecting us as internees for this prestigious and high impact learning opportunity; and AGPAL and QIP for hosting us and providing us with knowledge and skills to be able to become change agents for Healthcare Quality and Patient Safety standard implementation and accreditation in our respective countries.

9th October

We had an excellent session today on AGPAL’s operations with Kim Angove and Chris Stark. They explained AGPAL accreditation process and the use of the computer software Accreditation Pro used by the organizations registered for accreditation by AGPAL. Morning tea with staff in recognition of mental health day was observed with the staff of AGPAL to raise awareness of mental illness by wearing the oddest pair of socks.

Later we had an introductory meeting with Dr Stephen Clark, CEO of AGPAL, and he was very positive about the usefulness of the Internship programme and was very supportive to the idea of developing collaborations with developing countries to introduce AGPAL and QIP accreditation.

Tina Morris conducted the session on Education and training while Peter Frendin appraised us about the National development team and the possibility of International collaborations.

The sessions on how to become surveyors for AGPAL, Workforce Management, Education & Training and the National Development team were conducted by experts.

The participants were very excited about this learning opportunity and were very optimistic about using the knowledge gained in their respective countries to improve Quality and Patient Safety practices.

10th October

Today I attended the IHF 42nd World Hospital Congress, which was attended by a large number of participants from all over the world. Sessions were very informative. The best session, in my opinion, was on Patient centred care which was conducted by experts from the UK, USA, Belgium, Singapore and Australia. It was followed by an expert panel discussion. The conference was, as a whole, a great learning experience.

12th October

Today we had a very important session on how to develop Quality Standards by Louise Kuiper, National Manager of Quality Assurance and Accreditation Systems. It was an excellent learning session and I loved this session a lot because with this knowledge I can start my journey of developing Pakistan Quality Standard and get it approved; which is my dream and commitment.

We then visited the University of Queensland Business school with Dr Tina Janamian, Director at AGPAL. We were given a warm welcome there and we had the opportunity of listening to Prof Janet R. McColl-Kennedy about her co-creation of the Healthy services model. She shared excellent papers published on her and Prof Andrew Burton-Jones’s work on Digital Hospitals. We also heard from one more speaker from this department and two PhD Scholars working on the Co-creation model for Cystic Fibrosis patients. All presentations were excellent. I hope to replicate this model in Pakistan in collaboration with Prof McColl-Kennedy and UQ Business school. Later we were taken on a tour around the Queensland University campus which is very impressive.

15th October

On Friday, Dr Isabela and I had the opportunity to work as observers on an AGPAL accreditation survey of a healthcare organization with the surveyors of AGPAL. It was great learning experience because the standard of work was excellent and the software they are using is very user-friendly.

The surveyors were very professional and the facility representatives who were getting the survey done were very well prepared. We will be observers in a few more surveys during our internship next week and this will certainly be a great help to improve my surveying skills.

The last activity before we wrapped it off for the weekend was a meeting of the interns with ISQua CEO, Dr Peter Lachman.

16th October

I had the opportunity to visit the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital and meet with Quality and Safety authorities. I learned quite a lot from them. Inshallah will share this learning with colleagues in Pakistan.

20th October

I am now back in Pakistan after successfully completing my Internship on Patient safety and Quality Improvement, and the Australian Healthcare Accreditation system.

I was one of only 8 fellows selected by ISQua in collaboration with AGPAL and QIP Australia. It was a great opportunity to learn about the Australian Accreditation system. The program was very well developed and conducted by experts. The learning from this program will be a great help to improve Quality and Patient Safety at Riphah International University hospitals as well as helping other hospitals in Pakistan and in the region at large.

It was a great honour to meet with the CEO of ISQua, Dr Peter Lachman and with Dr Stephen Clark, Group CEO of AGPAL and QIP, and to get to discuss with them about our journey towards developing Pakistan Quality standard. Thank you ISQua for the sponsorship and to AGPAL Australia group for hosting this International Internship.

Recent Blog Articles

Quarter One: ISQua’s Global Impact

Adverse Events Outside Direct Care

Nominations for 2026 PROMS

ISQua EEA call for tenders

Celebrating ISQua’s Women Leaders on International Women’s Day

Stay in Touch

We bring you the latest research, expert opinions, and industry updates in healthcare safety and quality – so you’re always in the know.

Follow us on social media

Nourhan Kawtharani

Nourhan, a quality and safety coordinator with eight years of experience in ambulatory healthcare in Lebanon, aims to deepen her understanding of the systemic and holistic approach to healthcare through this fellowship.

She aims to identify gaps and develop tailored interventions that address specific contexts rather than applying general solutions. Engaging with diverse professionals and perspectives during this educational journey will expand the application of these concepts across different cultural settings.

Nourhan emphasizes the importance of promoting a culture of continuous learning and improvement within healthcare institutions, considering it a vital leadership responsibility to integrate quality and safety initiatives into the organizational culture.

Nourhan's commitment to patient safety and quality management includes sourcing practical resources and transforming insights into actionable knowledge to drive continued progress in healthcare practices and outcomes.

This will close in 0 seconds

Elom Otchi

Elom is passionate about improving quality of care and patient safety outcomes.

In view of this, he has had the opportunity to work in various capacities with various organisations including AfIHQSA, WHO, UNICEF and others undertaking research, supporting the development of national quality policies and strategies, facilitating the establishment of quality governance systems across all the levels of the health sector and building capacity of national and sub-national quality leads/teams to institutionalize the practice of quality and patient safety across the continent.

He has also worked extensively across all levels of care in the health sector of Ghana, including leading the Quality & Patient Safety program in its largest teaching hospital.

I would like to use this Fellowship as a learning platform and an opportunity to acquire the requisite knowledge, skills and competencies to complement ongoing efforts by like-minded individuals and organizations to continuously advance improve the quality and patient safety in Ghana and the continent.

This will close in 0 seconds

Stephen Taiye Balogun

Stephen is a Senior Programme Officer at the Institute of Human Virology in Nigeria as well as Country Representative for Health Information for All (HIFA).

Stephen plans to use this opportunity to maximise his impact by championing the cause of patient safety and quality in Nigeria and across Africa.

Stephen says "Quality and safety is a major wheel through which universal healthcare coverage can be achieved. The goal is to be a bridge in the gap between the International Quality Improvement and Patient Safety community and my country to ensure rapid spread, adoption, implementation and practice."

We are looking forward to working with both Stephen and our 2020 winner Rhoda Kalondu over the next year.

This will close in 0 seconds

Dr Rhoda Kalondu

Rhoda is the Head of the Patient Safety Unit at Kenyatta Hospital in Nairobi and wants to use this Fellowship to learn how to establish a culture of safety and develop systems for assessment and analysis at her institution, and more widely. As well as this, Rhoda intends to develop and execute an intervention to improve patient safety in Kenyatta National Hospital.

It is one thing to institute measures and processes for improvement, but quite another to change the culture of an environment. Rhoda's ambition to lead others in this change inspired the panel.

This will close in 0 seconds

Dr Subhrojyoti Bhowmick

I am an MBBS graduate from Calcutta University with a Gold Medal in Gynecology & Obstetrics.

I have completed M.D in Pharmacology from IPGME& R, Kolkata and have over 12 years of experience in the field of Clinical Research, Pharmacovigilance and Medication management in Hospitals.

I have completed certification in Clinical Research Administration & Project Management from Stanford University, USA and in Patient Safety from Johns Hopkins University, USA.

I am an Assessor for National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Health care providers (NABH), India assessing hospitals for medication safety and clinical quality standards and NABH Assessor for Ethics Committee Accreditation program in India as well.

I serve as the Chairperson, Institutional Ethics Committee of Health Point Hospital, Kolkata and am associated with 2 other Hospital ethics committees as a member.

I finished my Fellowship in Healthcare Quality from the International Society of Quality in Healthcare (ISQua) from Ireland in 2017.

I have published several research articles and have also authored a chapter on “Regulations governing Clinical Trial” in the book “Fundamentals of Clinical Trial & Research”.

I am a peer reviewer for prestigious international journals like the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, CNS Drugs and Drug Safety case reports.

I am the recipient of the UK Seth Oration Award for Best Clinical Pharmacology paper by the Indian Pharmacological Society in 2009 and the “Most promising Healthcare professional in Patient Safety in India” award by the Asian African Chamber of Commerce and Industry in October 2018.

Recently in April 2019, I received the Young Quality Achiever award by Consortium of Accredited Healthcare Organizations (CAHO), India for 2019 for my work in the field of medication safety and clinical research.

I have a keen interest in teaching and am visiting adjunct faculty of Pharmacology at KMC, Mangalore, India and for Healthcare technology at MAKAUT, Kolkata, India.

I was associated with Stanford University School of Medicine, in the USA as a Senior Clinical Research Associate from 2015 to 2017 and have certification in Biostatistics, Evidence-based Medicine and Medical Writing from Stanford University.

Currently, I am working as the Clinical Director of Academics, Medical Quality and Clinical Research at Peerless Hospital and B K Roy Research Centre, Kolkata.

I am very happy and thrilled to receive the prestigious ISQua Lucian Leape Patient safety Fellowship Award for 2019 and I look forward to honing my skills further in the field of healthcare quality and patient safety through my experiences during this fellowship.

I sincerely believe that successful completion of this fellowship will help me evolve as a more confident Patient safety leader in India who in turn can provide significant inputs on policy changes through NABH for the Indian healthcare system.

This will close in 0 seconds