Dr Olamide Dada
Dr Olamide Dada is a junior doctor who is passionate about tackling health inequalities and harnessing the strengths of a diverse medical workforce. She graduated from Cardiff University in 2021 where she completed her undergraduate medical degree. She then undertook the Foundation Priority Programme with a focus in Leadership in the Kent, Surrey and Sussex deanery. During this time she obtained a Postgraduate Certificate in Healthcare Practice with Leadership.
In 2021, Olamide led a rapid review with the NHS Race & Health Observatory into the accuracy of Pulse Oximeter readings for people from ethnic minority backgrounds. She led the team to develop a series of recommendations for national healthcare, regulatory and research bodies to address misleading readings. As a result, NHS England and the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency revised their guidance. The report subsequently led to a government review of medical devices and potential bias.
Olamide is the founder and chief executive of Melanin Medics, a national charity promoting diversity in Medicine and tackling differential attainment in undergraduate and postgraduate medical training. She has worked with a number of stakeholders including the BMA, NIHR, RCSE, DHSC and GMC. She is an alumnus of the Healthcare Leadership Academy and a fellow of the Institute of Leadership and Management. She has held a number of leadership roles, undertaken several quality improvement projects and audits and presented her work at national conferences. Olamide has been the recipient of multiple awards including the We are the City Rising Star in Healthcare 2020 award.
Reason for applying for the scheme
While many feel discouraged by the complex challenges posed by the wider healthcare system, Olamide feels empowered to make a change. Her personal ethos “Start where you are, use what you have and do what you can” has underpinned her medical career thus far. She believes that medical leaders can be powerful agents for change. The insight gained from working with patients directly, their exposure to inefficient services and disposition towards evidence based medicine can result in innovative methods being adopted to keep up with rapidly evolving population needs and a complex healthcare system. She desires to consistently use forward thinking to improve the standards of care provided for the benefit of the patient and the workforce and put forward solutions to strengthen the healthcare system.
Olamide recognised that the fellowship provides the opportunity to grow as a leader in her understanding of systems leadership, health policy and service improvement on a national scale. She looks forward to learning from healthcare leaders, collaborating with colleagues and experiencing a non-clinical working environment. She aspires to lead national streams of work focussed on addressing health inequalities and harnessing the strengths of a diverse medical workforce through strategy and believes that the fellowship will support her in achieving this.
