Implementation of a mentored professional development programme in laboratory leadership and management in the Middle East and North Africa

Abstract

Laboratories need leaders who can effectively utilize the laboratories' resources, maximize the laboratories'capacity to detect disease, and advocate for laboratories in a fluctuating health care environment. To address this need, the University of Washington, USA, created the Certificate Program in Laboratory Leadership and Management in partnership with WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, and implemented it with 17 participants and 11 mentors from clinical and public health laboratories in 10 countries (Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen) in 2014. Designed to teach leadership and management skills to laboratory supervisors, the programme enabled participants to improve laboratory testing quality and operations. The programme was successful overall, with 80% of participants completing it and making impactful changes in their laboratories. This success is encouraging and could serve as a model to further strengthen laboratory capacity in the Region.

What do we mean by individual capacity strengthening for primary health care in low- and middle-income countries? A systematic scoping review to improve conceptual clarity

“…For example, Citraningtyas et al [ 29 ] built knowledge to enhance mental health workers’ understanding of how to provide assistance to children and adolescents in disaster affected areas in Indonesia. Strengthening of skills as the sole domain tended towards strengthening leadership and management skills among supervisors [ 30 , 31 ]. In the 18 studies which measured skills alongside knowledge, capacity strengthening was conceptualised as both increases in content knowledge and observed practice, over a range of topics ranging from health promotion [ 32 ] to disease surveillance [ 33 ], and infection control [ 34 ].…”

“…Change in knowledge was also assessed using subjective, self-report measures (n = 9), most commonly determined by asking individuals whether they had perceived a change in knowledge as a result of a capacity strengthening intervention. Two studies measured skills alone, one using a subjective measure [30] and the other using an objective measure [31]. For the most part, skills were measured directly through observation or practice assessment (n = 11), but in some cases, the acquisition of skills through practice was inferred from the acquisition of knowledge [58,65,66].…”

Improving laboratory quality and capacity through leadership and management training: Lessons from Zambia 2016–2018

“… 21 However, there are limited formal leadership programmes available. 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 To address this gap, the Certificate Program in Laboratory Leadership and Management 28 was developed in 2013 at the University of Washington in consultation with global laboratory practice experts. The goal of the Certificate Program is to build a scalable professional development programme aimed at building the leadership and management skills of laboratory staff in supervisory positions.…”

A Competency Framework for Developing Global Laboratory Leaders

“…Although much progress has been made in the development of leadership competencies in the field of health worldwide (11, 12), limited attention has been paid to laboratory leaders specifically. This lack of specialized training for laboratory professionals in the areas of leadership and management has been well-articulated (13, 14). Several initiatives have been launched, but these only partially address the identified gaps (13, 15–18).…”

“…This lack of specialized training for laboratory professionals in the areas of leadership and management has been well-articulated (13, 14). Several initiatives have been launched, but these only partially address the identified gaps (13, 15–18). These initiatives also identify the need for a comprehensive, competency-based framework that provides the foundation for training and education of laboratory leaders globally.…”