NINETY-EIGHT doctors of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) made up of 62 males and 36 females, passed out from the School of Medical Sciences (SMS) at a ceremony at the weekend.
The occasion which marked the 16th oath swearing ceremony of the SMS, brought to 1,398 the number of medical doctors produced from the SMS since 1982.
The Vice-Chancellor of the KNUST, Professor K.K. Adarkwa, urged the doctors to consider the plight of rural dwellers and accept postings to those areas without any conditions.
“It may interest you to know that your expertise will be better utilised and appreciated in less affluent communities than in your dream communities, Prof. Adarkwa told the graduating doctors.
Prof. Adarkwa said with the needed support from the government and stakeholders, the university hoped to expand its existing infrastructure and enrol more students into its programmes.
He said the clinical students’ hostel under construction at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital was about 80 per cent complete while the Faculty of Allied Health Sciences’ complex was also 50 per cent complete. The completion of these projects by the next academic year would enable the university to offer more applicants the opportunity to undergo training as health care professionals.
The Vice Chancellor said the intake of freshmen for the Human Biology Programme this year was 200, the largest ever, with 21 of them coming from less endowed schools.
The Provost of the College of Health Sciences of KNUST, Prof. Peter Donkor, stressed the need for medical practitioners to be guided by the ethical and legal considerations of their profession as the public became increasingly aware of their rights.
“As a college, we shall collaborate with the Faculty of Law to introduce a course in medical jurisprudence for all final year students in the various degree programmes to prepare them even better for the world out there,” he noted.
The Chairman of the Medical and Dental Council, Dr K.O. Adadey, expressed regret about the number of doctors who were guilty of improper professional conduct, and called for a change in attitude,.
He said the council was taking measures to check some of the wrong doings in the system and mentioned the institution of Continuing Professional Development Programme as one of the measures.
The Dean of the SMS, Prof. K.A. Danso, congratulated the graduating doctors and urged them to go out there to prove their worth.
Remarkably, the females took 10 out of the 12 prizes which were presented.
The awards included the ultimate, Ghana Medical Association (GMA) prize for the best overall student in the MB, ChB Final Part II, which went to Dr Esther Ofosu.
Among the other prizes was the Addo Kufuor prize for the best student in medicine, which went to Dr Dora Dapaah, while the Ben Baffoe-Bonnie prize for the best student in child health, was taken by Dr Esther Momade, and the Beatrice Biamah Wireko Brobby prize for the best student in Otorhinolarngology, won by Dr Ernestina Baidoo-Cudjoe.
The other female doctors who took prizes were Dr Akosua Sika Boateng for the J.W. Hiadzi prize, the best student in clinical examination in surgery, Dr Esinam Vittor for the Kurt Lennert Prize for the overall best student in surgery, and Dr Esther Selorm Botwe who won two prizes in obstetrics and gynaecology, and systemic pathology.
The only male to get a prize was Dr Emmanuel Ato Williams. He won the best student in community health, and best dissertation in community health.
The Minister of Women and Children’s Affairs, Ms Akua Sena Dansua, whose daughter was a prize winner, could not help but applaud ceaselessly as the names of the women were mentioned one after the other to climb the podium for their prizes.
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