This is Dangerous

[picapp align=”left” wrap=”true” link=”term=medical+professional&iid=239766″ src=”0236/51d5f07e-2b87-485f-9b5f-1e6f774bd3ec.jpg?adImageId=8877895&imageId=239766″ width=”234″ height=”156″ /]Believe it or not, about 15,000 individuals working in the Saudi healthcare centers should not be working in the field at all according to this press release in Okaz (in Arabic). Some of them have fake certificates and some of them are not licensed to practice.

It seems to me that there are big flaws in the recruitment process followed by our health institutions. Given that we have a Saudi Commission for Health Specialties (SCHS) working in the field as a regulator for medical professions since 1992; you have to wonder what were they really doing all this time?

I do not claim to be totally aware of their regulations but I’ve heard their representatives talking on the radio and read some of their comments in newspapers and it seems that they are doing a good job; again, it seems! As I understand, every health professional has to undergo a written test in his/her field before being eligible for practicing in the field. And to renew the license, he/she has to go through certain training programs in addition to adhering to renewal tests again and again.

The fact of the matter that recruiting medical professionals is a one unique human resources practice that I am not sure our health institutions understand rather than follow. Background checks on experience and source of education becomes almost mandatory to any applicants in this field. Furthermore, the technique of interviews and tests should be unique to the profession that certainly requires certain skills and personalities to be able to practice it.

Someone could go further and argue that the acceptance process in medical schools or any health education institutions should be refined because it is almost obvious, it is not suitable for everyone, even if they have the highest grades in high school!!

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A Hospital Customer

[picapp src=”f/7/1/a/Swine_Flu_Threat_ee3a.jpg?adImageId=7063630&imageId=4696877″ width=”380″ height=”253″ /]

 

Visiting a hospital is an emotional experience. Let’s face it, nobody wants to be there. Just take a moment and think about what the word hospital will provoke in your mind; I am sure things like (pain, sickness, needles, and blood) should’ve come across your mind! From a marketing point of view, this is a disastrous situation.

So to overcome this internal image we all perceive about hospitals, many studies have been discussing the importance of servicescape design in changing such perception. Feel free to argue with me that hospitals are not only buildings and I will agree with you, they are not ONLY buildings, but a hospital building is a major part of the whole therapeutic experience.

A servicescape is a well known concept in the service businesses. Developed by Booms and Bitner back in the 80s, it refers to the physical environment where the service is taking place. They’ve argued that such environment should be designed in a way to facilitate the service encounter and improve the service delivery process. And by doing so, customers satisfaction with the provided service will increase.

Now let’s go local, I will be talking about my city; Jeddah. First and foremost, we have to admit that we have, up to some level, a pretty good healthcare. We have good doctors, state of the art medical equipments, and reasonable medical education in the country. But when we talk servicescape … mmm… sorry, not so much.

Most of the hospitals operating in Jeddah right now have been built decades ago, and from time to time, they are renovated by repainting the walls and rearranging the chairs! I can confidently argue that none of them have been designed with any psychological effects calculated. That’s why when visiting any hospital, you feel tensioned and under stress. Just look around you in the waiting room and check, a lot of people are nervous and frustrated; not only because of pain, but because they faced a hard time finding a parking spot outside, the receptionist was working as a robot, they could not find the clinic they are looking for and had to ask about directions several times. Or have you ever been admitted to a hospital or even visited a friend or a family member and tried to open the windows? How did you like the traffic noise? Or the empty land view with cats partying all night long?

I was talking about private hospitals above … public ones, do not get me started!! Now, have a look at the below video just to have a glimpse of how your mode might change in a ‘different’ designed environment (please note that I am not related to Hudas Designs in any way, I just liked their video!!)

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