Do Doctors Make Good Hospital Administrators?

Abstract

The above question has for ages been a subject of debate the world over. Obviously, when it was a question of small dispensaries or surgeries or in times when a hospital was a simple affair to run, a senior practicing doctor would also administer the hospitaL The problem began many decades ago in the USA. In Pakistan, the problem and challenges are different. Any service structure very quickly lines .up according to the power assigned to eachpost. This pOwer assignment has usually taken the shape of a salary grade allotted to a jo.b which may or may not b& in keeping with the job irnportaice vis-a-vistheultimate objective ofan institution, £ e.,delivery of patient care in case of medical institutions. It may take years. It may take generations. The problem is not that there is no just system or that a ready prescription of doctor-administrator versus aprofessional administrator is not available. The problem is not that we are backward or that there are many years to wait. Our problem is that we have not taken that first concerted step towards rationalizing our systems and institutions based on justice and spelling our przorztzes. Let us take that step.