Alumni Profile: Dr Iqbal Fahmi
With a background in medicine, Dr Iqbal Fahmi expanded their expertise through the Healthcare Facilities MSc at the Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction, UCL.
Healthcare sustainability and infrastructure: a GP’s journey at The Bartlett, UCL
Graduating from Healthcare Facilities MSc in 2022, Dr Iqbal Fahmi explored the intersection of healthcare, sustainability, and infrastructure, gaining skills to design low-carbon, resilient healthcare systems for the future.
"With my background as a GP, it felt bizarre to continue my study at The Bartlett, which is popular among architects and engineers, but that is the most interesting part!
The course was unique because it was the only one in Europe. It's also part of the Bartlett Real Estate Institute (BREI), so half of the modules were about the fundamentals of real estate, such as capital projects, economics and financing, and building systems. Another half explored the health system and services, ranging from primary to tertiary care. Furthermore, I earned the skill set to design and manage environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable healthcare facilities by considering ESG (environment, social, and governance) aspects.
In the future, rapid changes, including climate, demographic, and technological changes, will affect healthcare provision. Therefore, health services must be able to adapt and be resilient to these changes. I decided to focus more on the environmental and climate change aspects of healthcare. Through my dissertation, I calculated greenhouse gas emissions from healthcare facilities in London and searched for solutions to overcome them. With GIS, I offered a potential method to provide less carbon-intensive and more accessible healthcare facilities. Special thanks to Dr Grant Mills, who was a fantastic supervisor.
My appreciation goes to the Indonesia Endowment Funds for Education, for sponsoring me and giving me the opportunity to expand my knowledge. I will be going back to Indonesia and I look forward to more opportunities and exciting discussions about healthcare sustainability in Indonesia."