Lebanese Ministry of Information
Prepared by: Rima Abd El Samad
Ministry of Information
Lebanese Directorate of Studies and Publications
Overview
The 1st Public Health Policy and Management (PHPM) Program under the International Public Health Management Development was organized by the Department of Community Medicine & School of Public Health – Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, from 1st to 5th October 2018, and sponsored by the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, under Indian Technical & Economic Cooperation Program (ITEC).
The main goal of the five-day program that took place in the Conference Hall, Hotel Parkview – Chandigarh, was to strengthen the health system by acculturation of effective ideas and policies and to share the knowledge and skills required in the historical perspective of health system in India and its dynamism and evolution.
The course succeeded in providing participants with a good and useful theoretical basis on how to approach various health issues and allowed them to apply this knowledge through practical exercises, group work and study tour. The program organizers delivered detailed books about the program, hospital administration, the Indian culture and Natural beauty in Chandigarh, as well as documents and presentations to introduce and explain each topic, in order to assist participants who are interested in acquiring further information on the subjects.
The course was well-structured, insightful, educational, rich in content and provided an excellent opportunity to network with others from different countries and cultures. It helped in better understanding the health system in India and the process of developing national action plan and implementation of the health system, leadership and management.
The group work and the ice breakers were interesting and useful. Group discussions and presentations were eye-openers on many health issues and potential solutions. Case studies based on concrete examples were excellent and provided an opportunity to share ideas in a small group and to learn what others were doing and thinking about the same problem. Two days activities (meditation, yoga, exercise, etc) added spices to the experience.
In general, logistics and organization were impressive. The Indian hospitality, the reception and the cultural night added a lot of value to the overall experience. The field visit was interesting, inspiring and well-organized as it was useful to see the implementation of health programs in clinics, mobile clinics and hospitals. However, the time for field visit was a bit short to allow detailed discussions. More time for field trips should be considered for future courses or training.
Although all communications were in English, the dialogue and level of interaction between the lecturers, organizers and participants, were great.
The goals of the course matched the participants’ expectations, as they found it interesting and informative. They appreciated the interactive teaching approach that encouraged personal opinions and experiences to be shared within the group. They also asked for more programs, training courses and follow-up workshops to be conducted, and they said they would recommend it to their colleagues.
The ideas and skills on Public Health Policy which I learnt from the program: – Health policy framework. – Agenda setting and policy implementation. – Human Resources in Health Policy. – Policy Analysis/Management and leadership in health policy.
Strength and suggestions for improvement
a. Most useful aspects of the course: 1. Is interesting, informative, and rich in content 2. Allows networking with colleagues in the field from different parts of the world 3. Provides a good opportunity to exchange experiences with others from various cultural backgrounds 4. Shares real life case studies to learn from 5. Encourages team work and spirit 6. Supports theories with field tours to see practices on the ground which helps expand knowledge and gives hands-on experience 7. Uses good materials 8. Is well organized 9. Gives importance to participants’ feedback and opinion
b. Areas of improvement: 1- To dedicate more time for field tours and practices 2- To allow more time to explore the country and its cultural aspects as part of the overall experience
Action plan
This is the list of things I’ve done for this program:
http://nna-leb.gov.lb/ar/show-news/369878/30- 17?fbclid=IwAR0uk42uC64QRMqlkX4vKC9Fu02MBUQNQCJyDg95P r5MG75xCZF1GUvYViQ# (in Arabic) Ministry of Information – National News Agency (NNA).
6 http://www.ministryinfo.gov.lb/30005?fbclid=IwAR1ri41Jfj6qxGDDMA u2DXVS5joK_xvVkksz1oqJhBgRR9sxusQiQ4hTDGU#.W8i3SHllwN8. facebook (in Arabic) Ministry of Information – Lebanese Directorate of Studies and Publications.
This report (in English) Ministry of Information – Lebanese Directorate of Studies and Publications.
List of actions for implementing my ideas and skills: – Dissemination of reports, information and ideas on the site and the group of the Lebanese Directorate of Studies and Publications – Ministry of Information/Lebanon and different social networking platforms, groups and sites (within three month). – Sharing this valuable experience with my director, manager, head of departments, colleagues and with Public Administrations.
A significant milestone that I will accomplish in a month time by April 5th, 2019:
– Sharing information and ideas acquired from this experience in the workplace in order to improve productivity and efficiency in the fields of management, agenda setting and leadership.
General Information
Location and period of the program The program was for five days from 1st October to 5th October 2018. It has been scheduled at Conference hall, Hotel Parkview, Udyan Path, Sector 24B, Chandigarh, 160023.
Attendance and program participants The course was attended by 29 individuals coming from 17 countries: Cambodia, Mauritius, Palestine, Trinidad & Tobago, Philippines, Oman, Sierra Leone, Kenya, Nigeria, Sudan, Lebanon, Ghana, Vietnam, Slovak Republic, Mongolia, Azerbaijan and Bangladesh.
The participants were divided into 5 groups with 5 – 6 participants per group. They were randomly rotated from one group to other on daily basis to maintain a dynamic cohort for inculcate peer learning and promote professional as well as social networking among them.
Program details and cultural event The program started every day at 9:00 am and ran till 5:00 pm in the evening. The program included one and a half day study tour visit on 3rd October and 4th October 2018, wherein the best practices and innovations were appraised by various experts and administrators with the intent of replicating them in their own country settings in unison with the middle and senior level program managers. This was seen to assist them in effectively managing the existing and emerging public health challenges for overall strengthening of health systems.
Every day, there was a half an hour session for reflection on the previous day sessions. A cultural evening event was organized on 4th of October evening from 6:30 pm until 10:00 pm where all the participants interacted informally with each other and showed their hidden talents. All invitees wore their local traditional attire for the event.
The last day was devoted to collect feedback on the program in terms of effectiveness and planning the next steps. The course ended with a simple closing ceremony and distribution of certificates to the participants.
PHPM contests Various contests like Selfie, Slogan writing, Taglines, Posters, eIPHMDP, Cultural Performer award etc.. were organized during the program and winners were awarded a certificate.
Social media The pages of the program on social media are:
Facebook https//:www.facebook.com/Iphmdp.pgi/
Twitter: IPHMDP
Whatsapp: Group
Finally, it was really a rewarding experience. It was pleasant to work with this team closely and I learnt a lot from this course. I wish them a lot of success in all their future professional activities.
