Dr. Amaresh Rao, Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgeon and Unit Head & Head of Department at Nizam Institute of Medical Sciences, a government hospital in Hyderabad, joined the Advanced Management Programme for Healthcare at a point in his career when he was evaluating transitioning from public healthcare to private healthcare. In his career as government doctor and administrator, he had reached a point where he felt his efforts in making changes to the system he was part of were not creating the desired results. Dr. Rao says, “I came to the programme thinking it will help my transition to private healthcare. It did just the opposite and convinced me to stay back in public healthcare.”
He joined the AMPH thinking it will be a regular management course where the main focus will be quantitative courses such as finance, cost-accounting, healthcare economics, while the organisational behavior courses like personal leadership, change management, management of human resources will be ‘filler’ courses to balance the course load. During the programme and later, he released that these behavioral courses have had the biggest impact on his learning and have helped him grow as a leader.
Reliving his college days during the programme, he says, “I made wonderful friends at ISB. In professional circles, there is an undercurrent of competition sometimes but here was a class with people from diverse backgrounds that collectively wanted to raise the standard of the programme. Each of us are a brand ambassador of the AMPH.”
Dr. Rao feels the programme has taught him the concept of value. “As doctors, we are trained to be passionate about our work. But AMPH taught me the concept of value – value of patients, payers, providers, employers and self. Today, there is so much conflict between administrators and hospitals where the doctors feel unrewarded for their work. This programme helps bridge that gap.”
On a personal level, he feels, the learnings have been invaluable. The faculty at the programme helped him recalibrate his thinking and held a mirror for him to introspect. “I am thankful to ISB professors who have helped me realise my vision and learn how to evaluate my personality and identify what might work the best for me,” he adds.
“Whether you want to be an administrator, a clinician or just a good person, I strongly recommend the AMPH programme,” he signs off.
Brief Bio
Dr Amaresh Rao Malempati is a Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgeon (CTVS) and Unit Head & Head of Department at Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences, Hyderabad, Telangana. He completed his MBBS and MD from Government Medical College, Nagpur and later pursued MCh (CVTS) from Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology. He is an EC Member of the Indian Organization of Rare Diseases and encourages pharma/biotech companies to develop orphan drugs.