The Ambrose Ehirim-Chidi Achebe Q & A Interview

Dr. Chidi Achebe, son of the literary icon, Professor Chinua Achebe, is a United States-based physician and was recently awarded the Martin Luther King Jr. Social Justice Award by Dartmouth College. In this interview he talks about his medical practice, his service to others, healthcare intervention, education, his mentor, his dad and lots more.

Excerpts:

Tell me a bit about yourself

I completed undergraduate studies in natural sciences, history and philosophy at Bard College; received an MPH from the Harvard School of Public Health, and an MD at Dartmouth Medical School and an MBA degree at Yale University's School of Management.

I also completed residency in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at the Texas Medical Center in Houston, TX. For a brief period, I served as Medical Director of the Whittier Street Health Center (13 months); and then served as Assistant Professor at Tufts University School of Medicine, Medical Director of Harvard Street Health Center before my appointment as the President and CEO of the Harvard Street Health Center.

Recently, you were awarded the Martin Luther King Social Justice Award from Dartmouth College. Tell me a bit more about your work that brought about this recognition.

I think the press release from our health center makes the point better than I could ever do: “After several years of work at various Boston health centers, Dr. Achebe now sees "the struggle against inequalities in health and health care for all vulnerable, underserved Americans, as the next stage of the Civil Rights movement;" and has dedicated his life's work to helping to solve the conundrum of health care inequity in America's health care system.

Dr. Achebe makes church calls, and speaks at youth summits, conventions, conferences, schools, barber shops - focal gathering areas where he can reach underserved patients - reminding the community of the value of health, preventive care, and the quality of service readily available at Harvard Street.

While expanding his unique implementation of “medicine without borders,” Achebe works as a passionate advocate for the global community through his writings that call attention to worldwide health concerns such as the HIV/AIDs pandemic and Prostate Cancer. His efforts have earned him a featured TV appearance on Basic Black; profile in the Boston Globe and AOL Black Voices, an interview on WUMB-FM's Commonwealth Journal (interviewed by the legendary Barbara Neely); and feature length articles in several international periodicals, journals, and newspapers.

Through his years of work, Dr. Achebe has become a leader in the battle for healthcare equality and serves on several boards and committees where he continues his passion to be at the vanguard of the quest to bridge disparities that exist in the health care system.”

Of all the things that you have done, which one stands out in your mind?

Service to others. My overall thrust in life is to be what my Dad; Professor Chinua Achebe calls a “servant leader.” Another great influence has been Robert K. Greenleaf whose classic work The Servant as Leader, an essay that he first published in 1970 is monumental in its influence on me. In that essay, he said:

"The servant-leader is servant first… It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply different from one who is leader first; perhaps because of the need to assuage an unusual power drive or to acquire material possessions…The leader-first and the servant-first are two extreme types. Between them there are shadings and blends that are part of the infinite variety of human nature."

So what aspect do you generally feel your services have done much in the community?

I feel that our work is ongoing. Our overall dream is community transformation that means that health care intervention has to work in concert with other strategies. Historically, most of the effective political, social and civil rights movements have required a myriad of interventions to be successful. Health Care should be seen as the nexus for not only bridging the disparities that exist within the society, but eliminating the long standing social pathologies such as low educational attainment and violence. Community Health Centers like Harvard Street Health Center can bring about this multi-purpose revolution with talent from different backgrounds that can play a critical role to this end. They can serve as vehicles for assessing and accurately communicating community perspectives and needs on the issue of health care disparities; as a clearinghouse for data and recognized authority on the issue; as a vehicle for educating and mobilizing large numbers of individuals and organizations to give leverage to initiatives relative to health care disparities; as a catalyst for community, business, and government involvement in the resolution of social pathologies such as community violence and crime, teenage pregnancy, etc. In addition health care centers can serve as magnets for adequate funding targeted at reducing health care disparities; and the establishment of a broad-based, statewide coalition of key stakeholders to monitor the implementation and impact of any Comprehensive Health Care Education and Violence prevention plans.

You are trained as an internist. And now you hold position as President and CEO of Harvard Street Health Center. Do you find it compatible with the administrative and technical aspect of your profession?

The fact that I hold business and public health degrees in addition to my medical degree is no accident. I was fortunate enough to be appointed a Medical Director very early on in my career – I was in my early thirties. I remember it made international headlines at the time! During my tenure, I realized that my financial/business knowledge was weak, so I decided to go back to school this time to get an MBA. I am not unique, at least in Boston, which you know is the pinnacle of Medical Science and Health Care in the United States- indeed in the world.

My mentor Dr. Gary Gottlieb – one of the most admired physician/business leaders in the country, and under whom I had the utmost privilege to study for a year during Business School – also holds both Medical and Business degrees; as do some others in Massachusetts and across the country. Dr. Gottlieb is the President and CEO of Partners Health Care (a Harvard university affiliated health system in Massachusetts that includes world class hospitals Brigham and Women’s hospital and Mass General Hospital, both in Boston). It should also be mentioned that several business Schools – Yale my alma mater, Duke and now Harvard business school have started a major focus on the health care segment of the American economy that makes up 16.9% of the GDP; in other words one of every six dollars spent in the US economy is toward health care related services, goods or products.

So my training is designed for my role and is consistent with what many experts think is a much needed ingredient to fix the ailing health care system and the US economy at large – medically trained individuals who also have a business background and are then prepared to bring to bear these myriad skills to the problems that plague the health system

Can you give me a rundown of day-to-day activities of those areas?

I do all the administrative work required of any Chief Executive – make sure the organization lives up to its mission and vision statements, help set company priorities and strategy, work and meet with the board, senior management, committees and serve as the face of the organization. I also help with fund raising and organizational as well as community development initiatives. In addition, my role requires that I make sure that the day to day activities of the organization run smoothly.

Which of those two aspects of your profession do you think consumes more of your time?

I am still in clinic 20 hours a week (which is equivalent to a half- time physician). On top of that I have the full time President and CEO position. So my week is usually a 60 hour week.

How is the Chinua Achebe Colloquium/Interview Series doing? Is it still vibrant doing what it is supposed to do?

It is going very well. A former United States ambassador to Nigeria described the annual gathering as “the best intellectual gathering focusing on Africa in the world.” The annual colloquium brings together an international group of scholars, officials from African governments, the United Nations, the United States, the European Union, and other organizations for two days of intense deliberation and exchange of ideas on the importance of strengthening democracy and peace on the African continent. The next installment later this year will be the fourth in the series.

On Nd'Igbo and the upcoming generation, what's your opinion about an evolving concept of the Igbo nation?

The role of Nd'Igbo has been monumental from the birth of Nigeria. The greatest of Nigeria’s founding fathers, in my opinion, were mainly those from the East – the great Zik being the most significant of the lot. The war destroyed a lot of what we had. I was born three days before the war was declared - at the very beginnings of the war- and so cannot pretend to know what transpired during those horrendous two and a half years. I, like millions of other Nd'Igbo, Nigerians, Africans, admirers of Professor Achebe’s work around the world, can’t wait to lay my hands on his new book on Biafra- There was a country: A personal history of Biafra due out this Fall, 2012.

The war led to a scattering of the Igbos across the world – much like to tribes of Israel. A new generation of Igbo leaders can be found now across the world, working diligently in every known intellectual, business, and political endeavor. The challenge is to de-emphasize mammon worship and bring about an intellectual renaissance that will permanently restore Igbo land, Nigeria? and hence Africa on a path to permanent, sustainable development.

On a Nigerian national state, what are your thoughts on what had erupted over the years, especially the series of civil unrests, the Islamic militants and things like that since the Fourth Republic?

What has befallen us is the destruction of the culture of excellence and meritocracy that Zik’s generation put in place. It has been replaced by what Dad has termed the cult of mediocrity. We are playing with our “tenth eleven instead of our first eleven”- if I may be permitted to utilize a soccer allegory. Nigerians have some of the best and brightest people on the planet. The West knows this because Nigerians have been given plum jobs in Western establishments. The culture of mediocrity has been encouraged because competing ethnic groups believe they will benefit in such an arrangement. No country has EVER made it under such a chaotic system – where incompetence and corruption rule and the lust of money pervades every activity. The very destruction of Nigeria – nothing works – is a result of this “slumming down” of standards – perfected by the military – and continued by their really unprepared, inept civilian cohorts. Everyone knows that terrorists can only strive in chaotic environments – look at Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Somalia etc. Unless Nigeria puts things right by placing into every conceivable position, the best and brightest Nigerians that can be found, it is doomed

Is the country heading toward the right direction and if not, what should be done?

Clearly not. Let me be clear about this: Nigeria must reestablish the culture of meritocracy that had an early death following independence. Nigerians must search, find and place the very best people in every conceivable public and private position as well as every level of government – local government, state, federal - or it will NEVER make it.

With a handful of business-related responsibilities, how do you account for your leisure time? What do you do?

I am grateful to GOD for my many blessing. I am blessed with a beautiful spouse and family- three wonderful boys. There is no greater blessing than the love of family… coming home after a long day’s work and hearing a greeting from your spouse and your boys running towards you yelling: “Daddy, Daddy.” That is enough to bring your blood pressure down. Thank God for our blessings.

Thank you.