My Fellowship, My Mentor: The story of Ghanaian Fellow

In 2011 when I was approached by my current boss and head of the Public Health Unit (PHU)

of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital-Ghana’s premiere epicenter of healthcare delivery and training to consider an appointment as a Quality Improvement (QI) manager, little did I know my destination and what the rudiments of the job even entailed.

As a young Public Health field resident at the time, my major interest and preoccupation was just to get my residency program complete and take on an appointment as an Organization Development Consultant and a Facilitator of Organization Development programs by the Organization Capacity Improvement Consultant (OCIC) International, whose CEO, Noble Kumawu, who happened to be a mentor and coach.

The choice of a career in Quality Improvement (QI) other than an Organization Development and a Facilitator was a very challenging one. It was even scarier especially when the position of the Quality improvement (QI) manager was not on the pay roll of the health sector in Ghana. Career paths and progression was also virtually non-existent. The discussion about salaries and remuneration was even more discouraging and disheartening!

Surprising enough, I opted for the unknown! I chose Quality Improvement (QI) over being an Organizational Development Consultant & a Facilitator of an international organization with offices in the United Kingdom, Ethiopia and Ghana.

The journey to this career path over the last 3 years has been very mixed. Incidentally, I have had only one semester course in “Healthcare Quality Assurance” during my MPH program. There is no institution in Ghana that offers any program in Healthcare Quality Improvement & Patient Safety. Nonetheless, I was expected to deliver in my new role and never wanted to disappoint myself nor my boss, Dr. Philip K. Amoo, who introduced and recommended me for the position.

I embarked on a very aggressive search for knowledge in the area of healthcare quality and patient safety especially when there was no formal institution to run to in Ghana. My search took me to a number of institutions globally where I connected via the power of technology. I had the opportunity to do a number of certificate courses online to help me understand and appreciate what the issues in Quality Improvement and Patient Safety was concerned.

I was not satisfied. I needed something bigger because I work in a teaching hospital where evidence is very key for any improvement journey. I however discovered how I could apply my knowledge in Organizational Development (OD) to Quality Improvement and Patient Safety.  

My further search one nice afternoon took me straight to the ISQua website where I discovered I could have a Fellowship in Healthcare Quality and Patient Safety. Wow! My joy was inexplicable and this commenced a whole journey of another discovery process for me. The program was very life changing. I found a program that answered my knowledge deficits in terms of healthcare quality and patient safety. It gave me the capacity to lead the various improvement projects in my facility including surveys in adverse events, time & motion, patient safety culture assessment etc. I had opportunities to lead and organize programs for healthcare workers both within and outside my facility in healthcare quality and patient safety in Ghana.

My competition with Emmanuel, from Nigeria, somebody I discovered in Rio to be a friend and brother with respect to the ISQua Emerging Leadership Program is equally worth mentioning. Congratulations once again bro, and looking forward to working with you to transform and improve healthcare quality and patient safety in our part of the world through the opportunities and platform that ISQua offers.

The icing on the cake for me as far as the Fellowship Program was concerned was the mentorship. This bit was an entirely new experience. Till date, I believe I got the best mentor in the person of Peter Carter, the CEO of ISQua. Mentorship for me, is not something that is deliberately done in my part of the world especially as part of academic programs. The meetings with Peter, were the game changer for me. Peter presented very challenging tasks and reading assignments, provided a number of opportunities to expand my networks especially with respect to quality improvement and patient safety experts in other parts of the world, challenged me to host a webinar (on quality improvement initiatives & strategies in a lower middle income country) which is available on the ISQua website, blogged and above all worked tirelessly to make my 3rd ISQua Conference a reality. My mentor encouraged me to submit articles to journals and to publish! What else can a mentee ask for from a mentor!

One interesting awareness my mentor provided was the dynamics in healthcare leadership and organizational politics. Two important books my mentor made me read which I will further recommend to you all fellows: “Microsmographia Academia” by FM Cornford and the “Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun” by Wes Roberts. For me, I have no reservation at all in making a boastful and proud declaration that, my mentor is the best of them of all! One request I make from the educational team of ISQua is that, I want my mentorship relationship with Peter to be forever! I remember one statement my mentor (Peter) made during our initial meetings was, “Elom, ISQua will provide you the opportunities and I hope you take advantage of it.”

I say to you Peter that, I have enjoyed every bit of my Fellowship journey and especially my mentorship relationship with you. You have given me a global stage and I hope that, I don’t disappoint you. I see my Fellowship journey as a huge responsibility to continue to lit the candle of Ghana and together with Emmanuel and all other Fellowship participants on the program from Africa to ensure an improvement in healthcare quality and patient safety in our part of the world.

I salute you Peter! You are indeed the best mentor of the Fellowship program! I also salute all those who have made my journey this far possible especially to my boss and head, Dr. Philip K. Amoo for introducing me to Healthcare Quality Improvement (QI). I hope I have not let you down!

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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