College of Physicians and Surgeons inducts 294 new members, fellows
The Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons (GCPS) yesterday inducted 294 newly qualified members and fellows at its 19th annual general and scientific meeting in Accra.
The inductees were made up of 212 members, 40 fellows who have completed their training and passed the required examinations and 42 new fellows who have been elected by different faculties based on their qualifications, scholarship and contribution to the training of postgraduate doctors.
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Advice
The Rector of the GCPS, Prof. Richard Adanu, advised medical doctors to strive to pursue postgraduate training.
He said one of the main challenges facing the health sector was “the low percentage of doctors who pursue postgraduate training up to fellowship levels".
“Fellows are the ones who lead the training in medical schools and are also responsible for providing postgraduate medical training.
“If we think of national needs, then we can say that every Ghanaian deserves to be cared for by doctors who have achieved the highest level of qualification, and these are the fellows,” he added.
In that regard, Prof. Adanu said, the college had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Ghana Health Service and was in the process of signing another MoU with the Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG) to develop fellowship training programmes at regional hospitals.
Research project
He further said the college was part of a consortium of 14 research institutions that had been awarded a €4.2m research grant on adolescent health by the European Union, and that work would start on that project next year.
“To ensure that our trainees get the needed theoretical foundation for research, we have developed a modular basic research course for the membership level, which will start in February 2023, and an advanced research methods course at the fellowship level, which will also begin in June 2023,” he said.
Prof. Adanu further said the Cabinet had approved proposed guidelines for postgraduate medical training, and that their implementation would lead to some changes in admission for postgraduate training.
A Deputy Minister of Health, Alhaji Mahama Asei Seini, said although the GCPS had done a lot to increase the number of specialists in the country, the rate of producing more members and fellows did not match the growing healthcare needs of the country.
Partnership
The British High Commissioner to Ghana, Ms Harriet Thompson, said the British government's partnership with the GCPS was meant to help address four key areas — health workforce governance and leadership; strengthening of postgraduate medical training, decentralisation of postgraduate medical training in Ghana and deepening research capacity within the country's postgraduate medical education training.
An honorary fellowship award was confered on a German surgeon, Prof. Matthias Richter-Turtur, for his enormous contributions to the growth of the health sector in Ghana, including providing medical equipment for the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region.