Unaccredited health training institutions urged to register with Medical and Dental Council
The Medical and Dental Council (MDC) has asked all unaccredited health training institutions to take immediate steps to register with the council.
Advertisement
The Chairman of the MDC, Dr Eric Asamoah, who made that call, observed that the proliferation of unregistered health training institutions undermined the MDC’s mandate to ensure high standard of medical and dentistry practice in the country.
He was speaking at the induction ceremony of 266 newly qualified Physician Assistants and Certified Registered Anaesthetists in Accra last Saturday.
Dr Asamoah cautioned the public to stay away from those institutions, saying the products of such unregistered institutions would not be allowed to go through the certification process to acquire licences to practise as professionals.
“It is the duty of medical, dentistry and other related health professionals to protect the welfare and well-being of all persons, and this requires a high level of professionalism and ethical standards.”
“It is an offence for an unlicensed person to practise, a breach of which attracts a 10-year prison term,” he said.
‘Stay within your limit’
Dr Asamoah told the inductees, who were drawn from training institutions dotted across the country, to stay within their limit in the dispensary of health care services to the public.
“You need to know that you are going to the field to augment the expertise of medical doctors and other experienced professionals. So, stay within your limit. Stay away from cases that are beyond you so that you do not end up causing avoidable deaths,” he cautioned.
The MDC
The MDC is the statutory body established by law, Health Professions Regulatory Bodies Act, 2013 (Act 857), to secure the highest standards in the training and practice of medicine and dentistry.
Among the key functions of the MDC is to assess facilities and content of programmes for the training of doctors, dentists, and physician assistants offered by training institutions.
The council is also mandated to ensure that the pre-registration training of newly qualified doctors, dentists and physician assistants in accredited training institutions meets the required standards.
Professionalism
Dr Asamoah urged the inductees to be professional and diligent in their line of duty in order to ensure that quality health care delivery was extended to all people across the country.
“You are deemed to have mastered the core competencies and skills needed to provide quality health care. You need to put the skills you have acquired into useful practice wherever you find yourselves,” he said.
The Director of the School of Anaesthesia at the 37 Military Hospital, Dr Caroline Tettefio, urged the inductees to update their skills and competencies through continued research and learning in order to remain relevant.
Dr Tettefio further urged them to assess their strengths and limitations at all times so that they could ask for support from more experienced practitioners when the need arose.
She asked them to prioritise the health needs of their clients and to operate according to the requirements of the MDC.
A member of the MDC board, Dr R. Emil Larsen-Reindorf, urged all health practitioners and the inductees to treat their clients with respect.
He said that called for good communication skills and interpersonal relationship on the part of health practitioners.