GMA signs MoU to train medical oncologists
The Ghana Medical Association (GMA), Roche Product Ghana Limited, and the College of Physicians and Surgeons (GCPS), have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to train doctors in medical oncology.
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Under the agreement, four selected doctors will undergo a two-year residency training on medical oncology in Kenya for onward training of local doctors in the field. Per the agreement, the College of Physicians and Surgeons will sponsor the airfare of the four doctors, with the GMA covering their travel insurance and welfare, while Roche will take care of tuition fee and living expenses.
The partnership is also aimed at increasing medical oncologists in the country to reduce the number of people who have to travel from other regions to Accra for cancer care due to the lack of specialists in those regions.
Signing ceremony
The President of the GMA, Dr Frank Serebour, emphasised the commitment of the association not to only ensure the welfare of members, but also enhance the training of doctors.
He said in the long term, the trained doctors would help to establish a medical oncology faculty at the college where more doctors would be trained in that speciality. The Rector of the college, Prof. Richard Adanu, also said setting up a medical oncology programme at the college would help improve the care of cancer in the country.
He was optimistic that the initiative would lead to an increase in the number of oncologists across the country. Prof. Adanu added that the training programme would also create a collaborative environment for various practitioners in other aspects of oncology to deliver quality cancer care.
“We already have doctors who do the surgical part of cancer and others who do radiation, however, these doctors are going to be in charge of the medical side that gives the treatment, and they would all work together,” he said.
Prof. Adanu, however, indicated that after the training, the doctors would come under the existing Faculty of Internal Medicine at the college. “With the start of the training of medical oncology which we are placing under the faculty of internal medicine, I envisage that years down the road we might be looking at setting up a faculty of oncology,” he added.
The General Manager of Roche, Dr Kyothatso Motumi, expressed appreciation over the partnership, and said it aligned with their mandate to build on the healthcare ecosystem in the country.
Partnership
“We are very proud to be in partnership with GMA and the GCPS because it allows us to bring back into the community the skills that are deeply needed for the community,” she said.
For her part, the Medical Director of Roche, Dr Louisa Preko, expressed their commitment to see to the start of the programme. “When the doctors return, they will form the core faculty that is going to start the medical oncology training programme to train new specialists,” she said.