Master in Hospital and Healthcare Administration Program Launched in Rwanda

Rex Wong,
GHLI Director of Hospital Strengthening

As part of the Human Resources for Health (HRH) program in Rwanda, GHLI and the National University of Rwanda School of Public Health (NURSPH) officially launched the country’s first Master in Hospital and Healthcare Administration (MHA) program earlier this year to address a severe shortage of trained hospital managers across Rwanda’s health system. The MHA is a 2-year executive program for hospital senior managers. After over 3 years of planning and curriculum development, the first teaching block began on the 27th May 2013 and finished on 21st June 2013. GHLI faculty and staff teamed up with NURSPH faculty to teach a total of six courses, included strategic problem solving, leadership, governance and strategic management.  

Our students included 30 district hospital administrators, one director of nursing and one accountant. The feedback and course evaluation results from students were extremely positive. Despite some language challenges, the students were very engaged and participatory. They were willing to share their hospital stories – successes and challenges, efforts and struggles. Some students even volunteered their time after class to provide tutorial to others who were struggling with English. It was a very encouraging teaching experience.  “It has been very exciting to witness the evolution of this MHA program and to work with these ambitious students whose aim is to lead and govern high quality healthcare institutions,” said Zahirah McNatt, GHLI program director.  “The MHA doesn’t only offer students an additional degree, it offers them a place to discuss, analyze, and problem solve with their peers.” 

All students now have returned to their own hospitals to apply what they have learned in the first teaching block.  They will identify a current problem currently in their own hospitals, set a clear objective, conduct a robust and systematic root cause analysis and create implementation strategy. We are all looking forward to hearing about their field work during mentoring site visits and in the next teaching session in October.