The University of Liberia Thursday, June 13, 2019, graduated 20 students from the Health Systems Leadership and Management program at the A.M. Dogliotti College of Medicine Campus in Congo Town, Monrovia.

The graduation is part of a build-up to this year, December 2019 Centennial graduation and was held under the theme “Building Resilient Health Work Force.”

The first batch of students was recruited from the John F. Kennedy Medical Center and the Redemption Hospital in New Kru Town. The graduates are currently working in the health system as executives, administrators, supervisors, and managers of health facilities, units or departments and went through three modules of vigorous training before graduation.

The graduates were taught to develop essential leadership and management skills, how to address critical system problems with evidence-based strategies as well as learning about the effective management and governance systems in hospitals.

“The training focuses on a team-based approach to strengthen and apply new skills through instructor and peer interactions,” Dr. Dahn stated.

“The training focuses on a team-based approach to strengthen and apply new skills through instructor and peer interactions,” Dr. Dahn stated.

She added that the value of the training is to institutionalize professional health workers in a “clean and competent working environment,” adding that it is “cardinal” to uplifting the country’s health sector.

Dr. Dahn furthered noted that the graduates of the programs are expected to successfully implement quality improvement project in their institutions and earn academic credit which they can apply in a master public health course of study at the University of Liberia.

Delivering the Keynote address at the program, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Country Director Dr. Desmond Williams lauded the UL and her implementing partners for the training.

Dr. Williams called on the 20 senior health practitioners to use the training provided by UL school of Medicine to educate and change other health facilities. According to him, human capacity building is significant in the fight to improve the health sector of Liberia.

“Being an inaugural class carries some responsibility, as you now have a lot to transform other institutions in Liberia. The strength of a health system depends on the development of the human capital,” Dr. Williams reminded.

Speaking earlier UL President Dr. Ophelia Inez Weeks extolled Dr. Dahn for successfully caring out the training, saying the HSLM certificate program is a giant step in transforming the country’s weak health sector.

The UL President also used the occasion to challenge UL leadership on the importance of working to improve the current status of the state-run university.

In a related development, the A.M. Dogliotti College of Medicine launched a new five-year strategic plan aimed at identifying the college goals, prospects, and challenges with a focus on the past, present, and future.