Can education truly change the way healthcare is managed? We spoke with Dr Jolanta Sobierańska-Grenda, Minister of Health, and Łukasz Więch, Director of the MBA Healthcare programme at Kozminski University, about how managerial knowledge translates into leadership decisions, team building and long-term thinking about the healthcare system.
Our starting point is the university’s motto: “Education that matters.” What does education that truly makes a difference mean, especially in healthcare?
Jolanta Sobierańska-Grenda: For me, education is not a binder that ends up on a shelf. It is a set of tools that I can immediately use in my work. I remember an MBA class after which I ran a team meeting differently the very next day. That is the real meaning of learning: a change you can see in everyday practice.
Łukasz Więch: I would add that education that matters changes your perspective. Our MBA participants often say: we came for knowledge and leave with a new way of thinking. They move from “I have to do everything myself” to “I can build a team that will do it better than I could alone.” That is the biggest difference.
You both have extensive professional experience. What made you decide to pursue management education despite your demanding responsibilities?
JSG: I realised that the healthcare system does not function solely on regulations and financial indicators. People are the most important part of it: patients, doctors, nurses and everyone involved in the work of a hospital. To understand and lead them, you need the tools that management education provides. Without them, meaningful change is difficult.
ŁW: My turning point came when I began working in clinical research. I saw that medical knowledge alone was not enough. Processes, teams and communication all require managerial language and tools. Education became a condition for turning chaos into something that actually works.
What skills are most important in managerial practice?
JSG: First and foremost, trust in the team. I used to think a manager had to know everything best. Now I know that a leader’s role is to unlock the potential of others. The second thing is strategic thinking. Continuous education taught me to think not about the impact of decisions in six months, but in ten years.
ŁW: In our programmes the most important thing is not spreadsheets and charts, although of course they matter, but leadership skills. Graduates leave with greater confidence and openness to collaboration. One doctor who completed the MBA decided to apply for a hospital director position. He won. Later he said that without the programme he would never have dared to try. That courage came from belief in his own abilities and, to a large extent, from the competencies he had actually gained.
In the classroom you bring together doctors, economists and nurses. What does this diversity bring?
ŁW: It is a lesson in humility. Doctors see things one way, economists another. Only the conversation between them, sometimes difficult and full of differences, opens the door to new solutions. You can see it in every cohort. A group of specialists gradually becomes a team.
JSG: And there is also the awareness that everyone is working towards the same goal: the well-being of the patient. That perspective builds bridges. I remember the restructuring of a hospital where conflict had blocked change. Thanks to the tools I learned during the MBA, we began to talk about shared values. Only then did financial issues become solvable.
Is management education more an investment in the system or in personal development?
JSG: It is both. If a leader is calm, prepared and open, it shows in their decisions and in the quality of care.
ŁW: Exactly. A system is made up of people. If they develop, the whole system works better.
If you could leave our readers with one final thought, what would it be?
JSG: Education always pays off in decisions, relationships and the courage to change.
ŁW: And I would add: do not wait for the perfect moment. It will never come. Education is like a vaccine. The sooner you take it, the better prepared you are for the future.
