Let’s face it, a doctor can become almost anything they wish to become once they leave clinical service but not anyone can become a doctor. In Malaysia, studying at a medical school might take about 4 to 5 years to complete. This is followed by two years of Housemanship where a doctor is attached to a government hospital for practical experience, followed by two more years of compulsory service as a Medical Officer with the government. The doctor is then given his/her Annual Practicing Certificate (APC).
It’s obvious that the process of becoming a doctor is a time-consuming and tedious one. Also, only the best and the brightest qualify to study medicine. Just add to that the rigorous teaching and training and the round-the-clock schedules doctors are on to obtain practical experience and you get the idea. In short, it takes a lot to be a doctor!
Being by nature intelligent and trained to be resilient due to a tough-being-put -through-the-wringer training, doctors can pick up any skills they set their hearts on. Dr. Ashswita Ravindran shares the obvious differences she noticed between her medical experience and the world of management. She believes that doctors who diversify like she did into a management role in private hospitals and other industries are going to celebrate an amazing quality of life. Here are her reasons why:
1. Medical school training is specialized and in many ways rigid, and the education obtained there is very technical. This specialized, rigorous learning is conducted often at the exclusion of other skills. Getting into the industry honed Dr. Ashswita’s written communication skills and she picked up other relevant skills as well which she feels has empowered her.
2. No matter what goes wrong in clinical service, it is ingrained into doctors that they are responsible for what happens. But when Dr. Ashswita transited into hospital management, she noticed that she was accountable only for her own actions. This was a welcome relief to her from the burden she felt while in medical training. It was as if a load had been taken off her shoulders.
3. In the hospital, a doctor’s pathway is pretty much set for him/her. First, they become medical students, then medical graduates, then House Officers, and then Medical Officers. Whereas in private hospital management, doctors have a selection of options based on their interests. Therefore, doctors as managers build their own pathways and are responsible for their own future. Good work performance is often well rewarded as well. What a breath of fresh air that must be for doctors.
Doctors in private hospitals could opt to specialize in management roles in various divisions such as business development, pharmaceutical services, regulatory services, claims division, medical affairs, medico-legal affairs, branding and communications etc.
4. Doctors in private hospital management often have the leeway to try new ideas and ways to see what might work best for a business development plan. They are given the room to be creative and to grow which, often results in higher productivity and greater creativity. This is certainly good news for private hospitals.
5. In private hospitals, doctors are not required to be Medical Officers before they move into management. In government hospitals however, a doctor is required to be one before they are approved for management roles. Often, the selection is made on the basis of seniority rather than merit.
It seems as if a whole new world opens up to doctors who choose to diversify into hospital management. But Dr. Ashswita laments that many private hospitals are hiring traditional managers rather than giving opportunities to doctors to serve in management capacities. She also thinks that a partnership of doctors and business managers running a hospital is the perfect union. She hopes private hospitals will give doctors the opportunity to show how their medical education and training can truly benefit the quality of service in their organizations.
