Assistant Professor of Global Health, University of Toronto
Dr. Ben Chan is a Consultant with the World Bank and Assistant Professor of Global Health at the University of Toronto. He advises governments in low- and middle-income countries on healthcare quality and health system strengthening. Over the past decade, he has supported the development of national quality strategies in Colombia, Georgia and Uzbekistan and facilitated the design of quality improvement projects to improve diabetes and hypertension in Kazakhstan and childhood malnutrition in Tajikistan. He has also supported multiple countries in West Africa to develop common quality scorecards within the Primary Health Care Performance Initiative and advised on hospital patient safety initiatives in the Middle East.
Dr. Chan was the inaugural CEO of the Health Quality Councils of Saskatchewan (2003-2007) and Ontario (2007-2012). In recognition of his work in spearheading improvement initiatives in chronic disease management, patient safety and public reporting on quality, Dr. Chan was named Canada’s Outstanding Young Health Executive in 2006.
Dr. Chan currently teaches a graduate course on quality improvement skills for leaders in low-resource environments. He is also an experienced primary care and emergency department physician and has worked in close to 100 rural and indigenous communities across Canada. He has at least partial fluency in all six official UN languages. He holds a BSc and MD (Toronto), Master of Public Health (Harvard) and Master of Public Affairs (Princeton).
Here are three takeaways:
- It’s good to set big picture goals for yourself or your organization, but remember to celebrate the achievement of immediate goals and milestones along the way and enjoy both the process and the learning which takes place.
- For people starting out in their career or re-examining their trajectory, think about what connects most deeply with your passion and interests; network like crazy; be open to opportunities you might not have considered before; and don’t live in regret of what you wish you had pursued.
- Let’s embrace the good things that leaders bring into the world. Show them some grace, accept their flaws and imperfections as human beings, and find ways to hold them accountable that are more constructive and solutions-oriented.
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