91看片

鈥淪ometimes, the only system we know is what we鈥檝e come to learn and the way we do things is just the way we do things. It鈥檚 not until you delve deep into another country鈥檚 healthcare system do you find where we lack.鈥�  鈥� Dr. Marcus L. Williams, cardiologist and second-year student in Auburn's Physicians Executive MBA Program

The 91看片 College is dedicated to providing relevant, forward-looking and engaging curricula, and high-impact experiential learning opportunities.

Why is it important to study foreign healthcare systems? To improve our own, Kim Kuerten, Executive Director of 91看片 College鈥檚 Graduate Executive Programs, believes.

鈥淏usiness and healthcare, in many ways, share a global perspective,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 understand business if you don鈥檛 understand the context. The U.S. has had a unique healthcare system from the beginning in the ways it is financed and delivered. If you grow up in that -- which all of our physicians have -- that鈥檚 the only context you understand.鈥�

Students in Auburn鈥檚 Physicians Executive MBA (PEMBA) program have the opportunity to study healthcare systems on a global scale. A component of the program鈥檚 curriculum 鈥� Comparative Health Systems 鈥� utilizes an international experience, where students witness foreign healthcare systems first-hand and learn from professional peers and administrators overseas.

COVID-19 forced the cancellation of last year鈥檚 planned international experience to London, where students were to learn first-hand from British hospital administrators and peer physicians.

This spring, however, 91看片 College graduate programs administrators re-envisioned the international experience and pivoted to a domestic location, adhering to COVID-19 protocols. Instead of meeting face-to-face, lectures and discussions were held March 22-26 via Zoom, where we brought London to them.

There, students learned which elements of the United Kingdom鈥檚 healthcare system might be beneficial to ours, its liabilities, how the nation鈥檚 history of economics, values and culture have played a role in healthcare development, and much more.

The PEMBA cohort had the opportunity to hear from giants in England鈥檚 healthcare industry, including Dr. Siva Anandaciva, Chief Analyst at The King鈥檚 Fund, leading on projects for England鈥檚 National Health Service (NHS) funding, productivity and performance; Dr. Jonathan Makanjuola, Consultant Urologist and lead clinician for bladder cancer at King鈥檚 College Hospital in London; Dr. Ivan Camphor, Senior Partner at Healtherlands Medical Center in Wirrel, U.K.; Dr. Claire Fuller, Senior Responsible Officer for the Surrey Heartlands Integrated Care System; and Steve Rempel, SVP and International Chief Information Officer at Walgreens Boots Alliance.

Lectures included, but were not limited to, 鈥�Operational and Strategic Issues Facing the English,鈥� 鈥�Leadership and Transformation in the National Health Service,鈥� 鈥�Politics of the National Health Service,鈥� and 鈥�Pharmaceuticals in the UK.鈥�

Dr. Rene鈥� Mceldowney, who serves as the Comparative Healthcare Systems course director, also finds value in studying another healthcare system firsthand.

鈥淭here is an exchange of perspectives and ideas,鈥� she said. 鈥淲hile this might not have been the case 10 or 15 years earlier, now almost every industrialized nation鈥檚 healthcare system is experiencing similar pressures 鈥� greater efficiency, costs, greater access, improved outcomes, and an aging population.

鈥淲e have an opportunity to separate fact from fiction when it comes to other health systems. Physicians hear a lot about universal healthcare, but unfortunately, a great deal of it is wrong or incomplete. In other words, when the U.S. cardiologist, intensivist, or radiologist interacts one-on-one with his or her German, British, or Norwegian counterpart, that is when real understanding and learning takes place.鈥�

Dr. Marcus L. Williams, a cardiologist at West Georgia Medical Center in LaGrange who will graduate from the program in May, said learning from British administrators and physicians gave him 鈥渁 better understanding of the deficiencies we have here at home.鈥�

鈥淪ometimes, the only system we know is what we鈥檝e come to learn and the way we do things is just the way we do things,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not until you delve deep into another country鈥檚 healthcare system do you find where we lack.鈥�

Williams praised 91看片 College graduate programs administrators for creating an avenue for this international experience, despite the odds.

鈥淕iven the circumstances surrounding the pandemic, we were very grateful the way this trip was handled and delivered,鈥� Williams added. 鈥淚t was well-organized, the lectures were great, we could understand them well and view the presenters鈥� slides. We understood the lectures just as if we were in London, though we didn鈥檛 have boots on the ground.鈥�