Implementation of a mentored professional development programme in laboratory leadership and management in the Middle East and North Africa.

Laboratories need leaders who can effectively utilize the laboratories' resources, maximize the laboratories'capacity to detect disease, and advocate for laboratories in a fluctuating health care environment. To address this need, the University of Washington, USA, created the Certificate Program in Laboratory Leadership and Management in partnership with WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, and implemented it with 17 participants and 11 mentors from clinical and public health laboratories in 10 countries (Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen) in 2014. Designed to teach leadership and management skills to laboratory supervisors, the programme enabled participants to improve laboratory testing quality and operations. The programme was successful overall, with 80% of participants completing it and making impactful changes in their laboratories. This success is encouraging and could serve as a model to further strengthen laboratory capacity in the Region.

Implementation of a mentored professional development programme in laboratory leadership and management in the Middle East and North Africa

Laboratories need leaders who can effectively utilize the laboratories' resources, maximize the laboratories'capacity to detect disease, and advocate for laboratories in a fluctuating health care environment. To address this need, the University of Washington, USA, created the Certificate Program in Laboratory Leadership and Management in partnership with WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, and implemented it with 17 participants and 11 mentors from clinical and public health laboratories in 10 countries [Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen] in 2014. Designed to teach leadership and management skills to laboratory supervisors, the programme enabled participants to improve laboratory testing quality and operations. The programme was successful overall, with 80% of participants completing it and making impactful changes in their laboratories. This success is encouraging and could serve as a model to further strengthen laboratory capacity in the Region

Les laboratoires ont besoin de directeurs à même d'utiliser les ressources internes de façon efficace, de maximiser leurs capacités à dépister les maladies, et d'oeuvrer pour le bien de ces établissements dans un environment de soins de santé en perpétuel changement. Pour répondre à ces besoins, l'Université de Washington [Etats-Unis], en partenariat avec le Bureau régional de l'OMS pour la Méditerranée orientale, a mis au point le Programme de certification en direction et gestion de laboratoire qui a été suivi par 17 participants et 11 mentors issus de laboratoires de santé clinique et publique dans 10 pays [Arabie saoudite, Egypte, Iraq, Jordanie, Liban, Maroc, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar et Yémen] au cours de l'année 2014. Conçu pour former les responsables de laboratoire aux compétences de direction et de gestion, le programme a permis aux participants de renforcer la qualité du dépistage et des opérations de leurs laboratoires. Le programme a été une réussite dans l'ensemble puisqu'il a été suivi jusqu'à son terme par 80% des participants et que ceux-ci ont ensuite pu mettre en place des changements réels dans leurs laboratoires. Ce succès est encourageant et pourrait servir de modèle afin de renforcer davantage encore les capacités des laboratoires dans la Région