GHS signs MoU with partners to boost medical training in Upper East

The Ghana Health Service (GHS) on Monday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Accra with two health training institutions to enhance the education and retention of medical specialists in the country.

The MoU, signed with the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons, and C.K. Tedam University of Technology and Applied Sciences, is expected to strengthen clinical progression for medical officers and increase the specialist workforce.

The education and training will first be piloted in the Upper East Region.

Professor Samuel Kaba Akoriyea, the Director General, GHS, said the MoU would improve health care delivery and ensure a satisfaction of conditions of service for medical professionals in Ghana’s health sector.

The initiative, he said, would serve as a collaborative effort to decentralise specialist medical training and strengthen healthcare education across the country.

“This programme represents a strategic move towards improving healthcare delivery and education by utilising existing GHS infrastructure and encouraging collaboration between healthcare and academic institutions to redefine the future of medical training in Ghana,” he said.

Prof Richard Adanu, the Rector, Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons, said the partnership would improve the training of medical students and increase the availability of medical specialists in the regions to ensure comprehensive care.

“Under the agreement, doctors who have completed their basic specialist training will undertake their advanced training at regional hospitals in the Upper East Region,” he said.

Similarly, beneficiaries will also provide clinical teaching services to C.K. Tedam University and upgrade to serve as lecturers or senior lecturers, clinicians and educators at the University.

Prof Adanu said the programme would be scaled nationwide when the piloting became successful.

“We envision a thriving partnership between the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health, where every hospital can serve as a centre for training medical students, without needing to convert each into a traditional teaching hospital,” he said.

Prof Albert Luguterah, the Vice Chancellor, C.K. Tedam University of Technology and Applied Sciences, expressed the university’s readiness to support the initiative and train more health professionals to become lectures.

Source: GNA