Lucien Leape Patient Safety Fellow - Update

Subhro Bhowmick's first month in Geneva

My first impressions of Geneva and the WHO Headquarters

I arrived in Geneva on 1st September 2019 afternoon. Geneva airport is a beautiful airport surrounded by mountains and the weather was quite pleasant as well. During immigration when I mentioned that I will be at WHO for 3 months, the Immigration officer appeared very impressed and asked me about my background. He was happy to note that I was the First Lucian Leape Patient safety fellow from ISQua and wished me good luck ahead. I took a train from the Geneva airport and reached Cornavin (city centre) where I stayed in a hotel overnight. Next day, I took a public transport bus to the WHO and reached its huge campus. The road to the WHO takes you through the United Nations building which a touristic place with several hundreds of visitors every day!! The WHO campus spreads across a few acres and is very green. On reaching the main building, I interacted with the security staff who after checking my credentials (letter from ISQua about the fellowship and communication from WHO) issued me a Badge for the next 3 months. It was a moment of pride for me to have the WHO badge around my neck. I thank ISQua for making this wonderful moment happen in my life. I was part of the WHO family!!!

Something that surprised me

I was surprised to find the flags of all countries in the world hanging from the ceiling at the ground floor of the WHO main building. It truly depicts the global culture of this world-class institution.

What I have learned in my first month

I was at WHO during a very exciting time. 17th September 2019 was declared as the First World Patient Safety Day (WPSD) by WHO and the Patient Safety Unit where I joined was organizing this event worldwide. I witnessed how global campaigns are run by the WHO involving all member countries. Many programs were arranged to observe the day which included Citizen awareness walks, training and symposiums of the health care professionals on patient safety along with lighting up of global monuments. On WPSD, we set up a counter on the ground floor of the main building and organized a quiz for the staff to help them understand the importance of patient safety in healthcare. There was huge enthusiasm witnessed among the staff and I thoroughly enjoyed interacting with everyone. The mobile application of Surgical safety checklist was launched by WHO and I attended it. Surgeons of international repute spoke on the utility of the Surgical safety checklist and discussed the road ahead. In the evening, I along with other members of the Patient Safety Unit attended the lighting up of water fountain (Jet d’eau) at Lake Geneva in orange colour and interacted with the public on the importance of patient safety. I will never forget this experience of being part of the organizing team for this global event. I completed 3 online courses on Project management at WHO, Leadership skills to become a good leader and Policy of Multidose vials use. I started working on a Newsletter development for the Patients for Patient safety network where all events observed across the globe on WPSD by patient support groups would be discussed.

My favourite moment

When the world-famous water fountain (Jet d’eau) of Lake Geneva lit up in orange colour on the WPSD evening. That moment, I felt as if patient safety has become a global topic of utmost importance and the Lucian Leape Patient Safety Fellowship could not have come at a better time for me.