Bringing Diverse Experience to CBU: Meet Dr. Philip Eappen
Date Posted: Aug 16, 2022
If there was an award at Cape Breton University for the most well-travelled employee, Dr. Philip Eappen would be among the top contenders. In the last decade, he has travelled across 45 countries, and over the past couple of years alone, Dr. Eappen has taught in three different continents – Asia, Africa and North America.
A native of Kerala, India, Dr. Eappen recently accepted a role as Assistant Professor in Healthcare Management at the Shannon School of Business and will teach Healthcare Analytics, Organizational Behaviour and a final year Capstone project for Healthcare Management students. With a broad range of experiences behind him, Dr. Eappen is cherishing the opportunity to teach at CBU. “I am excited to train future doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals,” he says. “I also look forward to seeing many healthcare CEOs and leaders from my class.”
Dr. Eappen was attracted to CBU because the institution is growing at a rapid rate. Having previously lived in Ontario and taught at the University of Toronto (UofT), Dr. Eappen was enticed by a town like Sydney where traffic delays are less frequent and the pace of life is more enjoyable. He says he feels such an environment enables a person to be more productive.
“Sydney has been on my mind for a long time. Cape Breton is beautiful and Cape Bretoners are lovely and welcoming,” says Dr. Eappen. “My wife Figgi and I have already made some close friends on the Island, and we thought Sydney was the best place we could choose to raise our son Evan. Dean George Karaphillis, Dr. Katherine Jones, Jasmine Hoover and others at CBU have been very helpful from day one, and we haven’t faced any difficulty or challenges integrating into the society here so far.” While teaching at UofT, Dr. Eappen received great reviews from his students and hopes to bring his admired teaching style to CBU.
Dr. Eappen has visited some of the top health institutions in the world, which enhanced his knowledge in his field of expertise. “I have been to Harvard Medical School for an intensive teacher’s training program in 2017,” Dr. Eappen shares. “I also visited World Health Organization, Geneva, and the Center for Disease Control, Atlanta, in 2018 to understand more about healthcare operations globally. I was lucky enough to visit, compare and understand universal healthcare programs in Sweden, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and the United States of America in 2018 and 2019. Also, I have visited the United Nations, International Red Cross and International Organization for Migration, Geneva.”
Dr. Eappen’s educational background includes a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and a Master of Business Administration in Healthcare Management, after which he completed his Ph.D. in Healthcare Administration and an International Health graduate program at the Central Michigan University in the USA.
An innovator who likes to take up challenges and has a fondness for academic freedom, Dr. Eappen has many publications to his name, with one of his recent journals published in the Johns Hopkins Journal. He is also in the midst of publishing a book, which should be available in September of this year. We are honoured to welcome Dr. Eappen to the team at CBU.
Here are two recent journals published by Dr. Eappen: