INTRODUCTION
The healthcare sector is a unique and essential contributor to the overall wellbeing of a country, given its focus on human lives. For individuals and families, their quality of life, productivity, and societal relevance rest significantly on the extent to which they have access to and can utilize holistic care.
To achieve holistic care, which is care for the body, soul and spirit, care providers must be knowledgeable, excellent, proficient, compassionate and productive.
Those who shape or lead the sector at any level must be skilled enough to efficiently and effectively manage human, financial and material resources, to make meaningful contributions to individual and population health improvement.
They must also have passion and commitment to ensure fairness and accountability.
THE PROBLEM
Unfortunately, several prevailing challenges impact negatively on the health sector in Nigeria and other sub-Saharan African countries, and lead to delivery of substandard healthcare and poor health indices. These include shortage of financial and human resources, poor infrastructure, as well as poorly articulated policies and governance frameworks.
Quite importantly, recognized capacity gaps among leaders, managers and care givers in the health sector have enormous negative implications for health outcomes. Among health workers, poor attitude to work, poor adherence to ethics, and sub-optimal commitment to integrity and excellence, contribute significantly to observed inefficiencies and poor performance at all levels of the health care system.
While being a Christian in the health sector demands a deeper responsibility for knowledge,
leadership, excellence, integrity, performance and accountability, it is true that the gap in actual exhibition of such qualities amongst many Christian Doctors.
The call to be light and salt, requires a translation of the virtues of the Christian faith in practical terms to work on a daily basis.
However, many have divided their lives into spiritual and secular, reserving the “spiritual”
for religious gatherings, while the everyday living is seen as “secular”. The failure to live as an
“integrated Christian” creates opportunities for compromises.
A consequence of poor preparation of Christian Doctors for leadership and service is that some that have been given leadership responsibilities have gone into it as emergency, unprepared, and unable to meet minimum performance standards, leading their subordinates and other Christians to question their Christian testimony.
The gap actually begins during early years following graduation, when people are still impressionable, but have limited exposure to persons with the right values.
IfEHL VISION
With its mandate to establish a Christian Witness in every community through Christian Medics who are in the ministry of medicine, the CMDA Nigeria implements strategies to mobilize, train and deploy Christian medics who have the capacity for effectiveness and productivity in the health sector.
The course, which targets young and older professionals provides a meeting and melting point for practical engagement, peer learning, experience sharing and establishment of accountability networks.
It aims to unpack philosophical paradigms, and to refocus the mind of participants on the path to developing true and impactful Christian leadership, management and practice qualities for excellent performance.
Through a set of IfEHL courses, CMDA Nigeria seeks to address the dearth of purposeful leadership and excellence in the health sector, knowing that the future of the medical practice is bleak if nothing is done.
It is hoped that the course and the networks that will develop from it will produce a new generation of Christian professionals that will be deployed in our communities to compositely transform the health sector.
THE IFEHL COURSES
The IfEHL will roll out two flagship courses in its first two years. These are
1. IfEHL Basic Course(IBC)
2. IfEHL Advanced Course (IAC)
Description of the IfEHL Basic Course
The IfEHL Basic Course is an 8-day long training featuring a series of modules, case studies, practical sessions, reflection and mentoring sessions channeled toward the realization of the vision of IfEHL. Some of the carefully selected modules include The Big Picture, Paradigms of Life and The Necessity of Christ; The Christian and His work; Leadership, Followership and Team work; the Nigerian Health System; Efficiency, Excellence and Integrity; Ethics; Basics of Research in Healthcare and the Christian doctor and marriage, home and finances. Interspersed within the modules through the course are carefully selected case studies with Biblical foundations that are designed to help participants engage practically with the teachings of each day.
Similarly, the Group Practical Work sessions are intended to get the participants to apply lessons from the modules. The time of reflection creates an avenue for the participants to individualize and internalize the teachings from the modules and Bible Studies, while the mentorship sessions provide opportunities for sharing experiences that promote the imbibition of positive values and sound character.
Participation
The foundation course targets young medical professionals in the early phases of engagement in the practice of Medicine. These include fresh graduates (pre-internship), interns, Corps members, immediate post-NYSC, early residency, and doctors who are below 10 years of graduation, irrespective of where they work.
Doctors above this level who want to be part of the basic course can also apply.
1. Limited spaces are available: Each course will admit a maximum of 40 participants.
2. Application forms can be accessed from the CMDA website at www.cmdanigeria.org
3. Participants will be chosen following a screening of applications and recommendations.
4. Application closes 4 weeks before the start of the training.
5. Admission letters will be issued to all participants.
6. Registration covers accommodation and feeding will be provided.
7. Each participant is expected to be present throughout the training.
8. Each training session shall offer 10 CPD Points to all registered participants.
Further Enquiries
For further enquiries, please contact The CMDA National Liaison Office, Hospital Chapel
Complex, National Hospital, Abuja;
08091533339
[email protected], [email protected].
IFEHL EXPERIENCES
IfEHL 23(01) Set
IfEHL 23(02) Set
IfEHL 19(02) Set
IfEHL 19(01) Set
