Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB)
| Photo Credit: MURALI KUMAR K
The COVID-19 pandemic changed the lives of many people in one way or another. This was especially true of healthcare workers. At the peak of the pandemic, after having to take up managerial tasks, some doctors decided to go a step further and pursue a management degree to bring in better administrative changes in the system.
The General Management Programme for Healthcare Executives (GMHE) at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) has helped many such doctors to climb into managerial positions. The ten-months programme so far had six cohorts of healthcare workers.
“The pandemic hit like a storm, and I found myself in the heart of the chaos—working in the Central War Room with the Principal Secretary of Health and Family Welfare. My days blurred into nights, juggling statistics, bed allocations, data compilation, issuing guidelines, and setting up oxygen plants. It was all hands-on deck, nonstop,” recalls Dr. Riyaz Basha, registrar, Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS).
He added, “At the peak of the crisis, most decisions were driven by data, with IAS officers at the helm. And while doctors were on the ground, the system needed more than just frontline warriors—it needed sharp, pragmatic administrators who could navigate bureaucracy. That realisation lit a fire in me. I wanted to manage at scale.”
This led him to join the GMHE to acquire the tools to align a workforce with the fundamentals of modern medicine. After finishing the course, Dr. Riyaz, who was the Deputy Registrar at the time, was asked to take up the role of the Registrar at RGUHS. He highlights three things that he learnt during his course – people management, finance and budgeting and brand building.
Today, he manages 1,000 institutions which come under RGUHS’s jurisdiction and oversees exams for nearly three lakh students across Health Sciences—ranging from Medical to Allied Health Sciences, UG and PG levels, Super-specialty, and PhD programmes.
Similarly, Dr. Anie Mathew, a general dentist with over nine years of experience and working in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) found herself thrust into the role of managing a team of over a hundred nurses, physicians, technicians and support staff when she was chosen to lead a COVID – 19 task force.
“The urgency of our tasks left little room for deliberation and every decision felt like a race against time. It was during those moments of chaos that I found myself wishing I had formal training in management operations—a blueprint to help me allocate resources, estimate staffing needs, and build a solid strategy rather than relying on instinct alone,” she said speaking about her decision to pursue the GMHE course.
Her interactions with her peers during the course steered the dentist towards neuro-rehabilitation. In her current role as General Manager of Operations at Svatantra Integrative Neuro Rehabilitation Centre, Dr. Mathew oversees a centre dedicated to post-stroke and neurological recovery.
Published – January 25, 2025 08:46 pm IST