Moments
CEO for one day, Sofia Ribeiro
Who said that doctors... sorry, I correct myself: that a female doctor could not be a good manager?
In the final years of my Integrated Master Degree in Medicine, I had the pleasant opportunity to become familiar with the field of management, both through the elective course in Hospital Administration and Management of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon, and through the executive positions I held in several national and international associations.
Therefore, it was with great interest and curiosity that I have always followed up and kept abreast of several personal and curriculum development initiatives for young people. Of those initiatives, I highlight the competition “CEO for one day” organized by newspaper Expresso and by the consultancy company Ray Human Capital. The competition aimed to select young people about to complete their undergraduate degrees to spend a day with the CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of a major Portuguese company. My liking of management and the fact that a FMUL student (Ricardo Andrade) had also been selected in the previous edition were two key factors that informed my decision to apply this year.
After several tests and face-to-face interviews, and only a few days away from my dreaded National Ranking Test, I finally received the final verdict: I had been one of the seven students selected to spend a day with one of the CEOs! Shortly afterwards, I found out that I was the only person to have been selected without a background in management, and that I would spend a day with Dr. Leonor Beleza, CEO of the Champalimaud Foundation.
About the day itself, I must say that my greatest expectations were totally exceed. At my reception at the Champalimaud Foundation, Dr. Leonor Beleza and her staff showed me all the areas, explaining in detail how it was possible to put such a “machine” up and running in record time. I was impressed by the truly futuristic and technological approach in the care provided to cancer patients, who are carefully followed up and nurtured at all moments in the Foundation.
The day was a glimpse of the world that I want to join. I know that it is relatively easy to implement such measures when funding is not a major problem, unlike, for example, the NHS. However, I cannot help thinking that I saw a number of measures that can inspire me for future clinical practice in Portugal, for whose modernization and growing efficiency I intent to contribute as a professional.
A few weeks following this experience and having fully reflected on it, I came to the conclusion that it had been very important to confirm what I had long suspected: my career will undoubtedly be related to management, preferably at the service of medicine. Alongside this certainty, the strong desire to offer my colleagues who are still attending medical school more opportunities to get in touch with this area grew upon me: I am currently finalizing my application to propose the study of another elective, focusing on management, and whose main objective is to give students basic tools they can use in their personal and professional lives.
Of course I could not end without expressing my utmost thanks to the entire team of Ray Human Capital, in particular its CEO, Ana Loya, for giving me this opportunity. Likewise, I offer a heartfelt thanks to Dr. Leonor Beleza for the fruitful day spent at the Champalimaud Foundation and for the wisdom she so graciously shared with me.
(photos: Nuno Botelho/Expresso)
Sofia Ribeiro,
Common Year Medical Resident
Central Lisbon Hospital Centre
sigmaserena@gmail.com
In the final years of my Integrated Master Degree in Medicine, I had the pleasant opportunity to become familiar with the field of management, both through the elective course in Hospital Administration and Management of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon, and through the executive positions I held in several national and international associations.
Therefore, it was with great interest and curiosity that I have always followed up and kept abreast of several personal and curriculum development initiatives for young people. Of those initiatives, I highlight the competition “CEO for one day” organized by newspaper Expresso and by the consultancy company Ray Human Capital. The competition aimed to select young people about to complete their undergraduate degrees to spend a day with the CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of a major Portuguese company. My liking of management and the fact that a FMUL student (Ricardo Andrade) had also been selected in the previous edition were two key factors that informed my decision to apply this year.
After several tests and face-to-face interviews, and only a few days away from my dreaded National Ranking Test, I finally received the final verdict: I had been one of the seven students selected to spend a day with one of the CEOs! Shortly afterwards, I found out that I was the only person to have been selected without a background in management, and that I would spend a day with Dr. Leonor Beleza, CEO of the Champalimaud Foundation.
About the day itself, I must say that my greatest expectations were totally exceed. At my reception at the Champalimaud Foundation, Dr. Leonor Beleza and her staff showed me all the areas, explaining in detail how it was possible to put such a “machine” up and running in record time. I was impressed by the truly futuristic and technological approach in the care provided to cancer patients, who are carefully followed up and nurtured at all moments in the Foundation.
The day was a glimpse of the world that I want to join. I know that it is relatively easy to implement such measures when funding is not a major problem, unlike, for example, the NHS. However, I cannot help thinking that I saw a number of measures that can inspire me for future clinical practice in Portugal, for whose modernization and growing efficiency I intent to contribute as a professional.
A few weeks following this experience and having fully reflected on it, I came to the conclusion that it had been very important to confirm what I had long suspected: my career will undoubtedly be related to management, preferably at the service of medicine. Alongside this certainty, the strong desire to offer my colleagues who are still attending medical school more opportunities to get in touch with this area grew upon me: I am currently finalizing my application to propose the study of another elective, focusing on management, and whose main objective is to give students basic tools they can use in their personal and professional lives.
Of course I could not end without expressing my utmost thanks to the entire team of Ray Human Capital, in particular its CEO, Ana Loya, for giving me this opportunity. Likewise, I offer a heartfelt thanks to Dr. Leonor Beleza for the fruitful day spent at the Champalimaud Foundation and for the wisdom she so graciously shared with me.
(photos: Nuno Botelho/Expresso)
Sofia Ribeiro,
Common Year Medical Resident
Central Lisbon Hospital Centre
sigmaserena@gmail.com