A 32-year-old overseas Filipino worker in Dubai was named one of the Top 100 healthcare leaders in the emirate.
Dan Lester Dabon, chief executive officer and founder of DLD Healthcare Consulting Service, was conferred with the Top 100 Healthcare Leaders Award by the International Forum on Advancements in Healthcare (IFAH) recently held at the MGM Grand Hotel, Las Vegas, USA.
“I feel so honored because I had the opportunity to represent my advocacy on a global platform while carrying the badge of being a dignified millennial Filipino,” Dabon said in an interview with GMA News Online.
Dabon started out as a nurse assistant in the United Arab Emirates at the age of 21. He advocated for healthcare quality, risk, and patient safety at the age of 23.
The Filipino nurse said his goal is to slowly administer change in the paradigm to internationalize the healthcare standards, especially in the Philippines.
He added he will focus on knowledge sharing and information transfer approaches to prove that "a healthcare system is not just made for business but to actually ensure that a world-class patient experience is provided for.”
His years of working in the UAE also gave him an extensive experience which served as his inspiration to open his own healthcare consulting service company in the Philippines.
Dabon was the only Filipino included in the list and was also considered the youngest as most of the IFAH award recipients were in their 50s, GMA reported.
"It took me a decade to work on something I didn't dream of becoming one. Salamat Ama! #ParaSaPilipinas #PilipinoAko," Dabon said in a Facebook post.
Dabon is also currently a risk management officer at a government-owned organization in Abu Dhabi.
He earned his nursing degree at Brokenshire College in Davao City in 2010. In 2018, he finished his master's degree in Science in Healthcare Management at the Swiss Business School in Abu Dhabi.
The Top 100 Healthcare Leaders are awarded by IFAH for their valuable insights on the challenges and developments in the health care sector.