Management Competencies in the Health Sector: Case of Zimbabwean Doctors in Matabeleland South Province

The Zimbabwean Health Sector had commendable management and was a top performer in the African Continent. In the mid 1990’s the country experienced a socio-economic collapse resulting in deterioration of the national health system. The weakening of the Zimbabwean health sector has mainly been attributed to the poor economic performance in the past two decades, however the contribution of management to the problem has not been analyzed. In the Zimbabwean context, all doctors have some management responsibilities that they are expected to deliver, because of shortage of the skilled health workers, often clinicians end up running medical institutions even in interim capacity. The aim of this study was to investigate current management competencies in the Zimbabwean health sector.An online questionnaire was used to assess the management competencies of 28 medical and dental practitioners in Matebeleland South Province. Furthermore, interviews were conducted with key informants in varying levels of the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MOHCC) Human Resource departments. Research findings revealed that most medical and dental practitioners have poor management competencies in running health institutions due to lack of training in management and administration in their undergraduate medical training and compromised various human resource processes. On this basis, it is recommended that training in management be incorporated into undergraduate medical training curriculums, the medical and dental practitioners’ council to work with professional bodies to implement current business management guidelines and the Health Service Board to collaborate with the Public Service Commission to revive management and administrative training programs for the MOHCC. Keywords: Management competencies, medical and dental practitioners, human resources, health management DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/12-14-05 Publication date:May 31st 202