EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES IN THE FIELD OF HEALTH SECTOR MANAGEMENT By Nirmala Andrade
Today, the healthcare and the health sector industry is one of the world’s largest and fastest growing industries. The lifestyle of the people specially the more affluent ones who lead an increasingly sedentary life contributes to a large extent to health problems. Additionally man’s dependence on technological gadgets, to aid him in his day to day living and working, right from the kitchen to the bedroom and more so at the work place, has aggravated his health problems. Lack of exercise on the one hand and rich eating on the other of foods that may not necessarily be the right diet, have increasingly contributed to health problems which begin at a very young age. Highly stressed jobs in the corporate world which depend on meeting targets and deadlines are the other factors which lead to health problems. For the youth ‘fast foods’ and ‘junk foods’ become the favoured and preferred foods, with even parents resorting to these ‘takeaways’ to satisfy the hunger pangs of their young ones, when there is not enough help or time to prepare healthy and nutritious meals as both parents today are mostly working and families are increasingly becoming nuclear. Scenarios like these increase the need for healthcare as well as open up opportunities for more jobs in the health sector industry. Long wait times for healthcare in affluent countries in the west like UK, USA, Canada etc; has made these people turn to countries like India for their health solutions where there are practically no ‘wait times’ for those who can afford to pay the price; and these prices are very affordable when compared to rates for the same treatment back home. In fact they get first world treatment at third world prices, with a holiday thrown in since many private hospitals are built on the line of five star hotels. We have tourists coming to Goa who combine a holiday with medical treatment. Example: tourists who avail of dental treatment has led to an increase in the number of dental clinics that cater to clientele specially in the coastal areas. We are very fortunate to have a management institute exclusively in the health sector and which is the first of its kind in the state of Goa. This is the Marian Institute of Health Sector Management which has behind it Fr Romuald D’Souza SJ as its advisor. He is the same person who began the Goa Institute of Management at Ribandar. With his rich and varied experience in the field of Management, the Institute is indeed blessed to have his expertise. The Marian Institute offers a 2 year residential post graduate (MBA level) programme in the management of the health sector, which includes pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, hospitals and health insurance. Presently based in Panaji at Mayfair, opposite Mushtifund High School, MIHM is a unique collaboration of entrepreneurs , academicians and practitioners from the health sector. The course offers a specialized programme with relevant content and multidimensional perspectives to train managers for the health sector. The managers are also made aware of their social and ethical responsibilities. The institute has excellent faculty who go out of their way in helping you, should you require personal guidance. The Director of the Institute Ms Sarita D'Souza comes with a rich experience in her field ‘Law’. In addition to her varied teaching experience, she was a core faculty member at Goa Institute of Management for over eight years and offers courses in Managing Legal Risks, Employee Relations and Employment Law, Health Law, Corporate Governance, Effective Negotiations and Decision Making. Curriculum: The Health Sector management programme of the Institute builds on the strengths of the core MBA curriculum and applies them to the unique elements and issues of the health sector industry. Some of the courses offered are Information Systems, Business Research Methodology, Financial management, Marketing of health services &Products, Health Systems, Organisational Behaviour, Human Resource Management, Health Law, Strategic Health Management etc The courses are designed to blend practice with theory and provide skills and concepts needed to meet the needs of the booming health sector industry. This year the summer placements for the internship project were the following: • Apollo Hospitals • Dr B. Nanavati Hospital Mumbai • Goa Medical College • ICICI Lombard • Ranbaxy Laboratories • Unichem Laboratories • Wockhardt Hospital • Wallace Pharmaceuticals The writer of this article is a student of the institute who has benefitted immensely from the course design and recommends it wholeheartedly to those seeking to make a career in the health sector industry. This article is written to create awareness that a specialized MBA level programme exists in the State and that Goans no longer need to travel and live away from the State to avail of such a course. In a couple of years time when the Institute has made its mark and it becomes difficult to get admission to these courses due to stiff competition, one will realise the opportunity that one lost. Today it is an opportunity that is available to the discerning mind within easy reach in the state. Admissions open till 4th July. For more information visit http://www.marianinstitute.in
