January 12, 2023Bundoora Centre clinicians Ryan Hon, Physiotherapist, and Andrea Clarke, Community Compliance Leader, Community Therapy Services, have both been awarded a Safer Care Victoria (SCV) Fellowship.
The fellowship is a 12-month program to build health sector skill and capability to lead change, and improve healthcare quality and patient safety. Nine clinical fellowships were available for a yearlong secondment in 2023.
Fellows will develop skills and knowledge in improvement science, project management, human factors and systems thinking, incident review methodology, and leadership. Fellows will also lead a patient safety or quality improvement project by working within different branches of SCV to lead the full cycle of a key strategic project.
Ryan has been seconded to the Capability Development Branch Program as part of the fellowship.
“I am thrilled to be appointed as one of the nine fellows for this year’s program. But at the same time, feeling nervous about this new and exciting journey ahead of me,” Ryan said.
Ryan decided to apply for the fellowship following the successful implementation of the pilot Men’s Health Physiotherapy Service, and once he had a fair understanding the complexities of a healthcare system.
“Most importantly, I have learned that to enable an effective and safe healthcare delivery in a post-pandemic era, healthcare remodelling is necessary,” he said.
“I would like to see myself as a healthcare leader instead of a clinician. Leaders are like tea bags – you only know how good you are when you place yourself in hot water. If you want to be a good leader, or a good tea bag, you have to take the risk of landing in hot water occasionally. Hot water moments are moments of truth when you learn and grow as a leader.”
“I would also like to be in a position where I can inspire others to transcend conventional boundaries, creating positive transformations in Victorian’s accessibility to high quality care.”
On a personal level, Ryan hopes the fellowship will grow his self-confidence.
“I am fairly introverted myself, and articulating my own thoughts and opinions have always been a challenge for me,” he said.
“I believe this fellowship will provide me with the opportunity to optimise my personal growth and potential, particularly in self-esteem, self-confidence and self-actualisation. As Neale Donald Walsch said, ‘life begins at the end of your comfort zone.’”
“I am looking forward to meeting my peers and mentors in the program, embracing the challenges and opportunities that come my way, as well as forging new friendships and partnerships external to our organisation. I would also like to thank my Associate Director, clinical leaders, and past and present colleagues for supporting my application and shaping the person I am today.”
For Andrea Clarke, she is looking forward to gaining knowledge through the tailored learning program, and being able to apply the knowledge. As part of the fellowship, Andrea will be assigned to a health system improvement and safety project.
“I saw this as an opportunity to embrace something new, and to help me further develop my career. I feel very excited to have been accepted into the SCV fellows program,” she said.
“I am also looking forward to developing new networks within the wider health system. It is very exciting to have an opportunity to experience health system-wide improvement and to be able to bring that experience back to Northern Health at the end of the 12 months.”
Featured image: Andrea and Ryan.
