Tertiary Fees Too Hefty For Ghanaians ― Medical Council

The Chairman of the Medical and Dental Council, Ghana (MDCG), Prof. Paul Kwame Nyame has bemoaned the rate at which tuition fees of some tertiary institutions―especially medical and dental schools have escalated over the years.

He therefore called on Parliament―the institution which fixes fees in government institutions to take a fresh look at the funding of medical and dental studies.

Speaking at the induction ceremony of newly qualified medical and dental professionals held in Accra, Prof. Nyame said, “The fees are hefty for average Ghanaians. But our history and culture should not permit us to reserve the profession for only those who can pay.”

“Government should make it possible for those who cannot pay for medical or dental school to go to school…they should be given awards or scholarships and be asked to pay for it over a certain period of time…they should be bonded to pay for it otherwise the people from my village cannot go to medical school,” he suggested.

The Induction

300 newly qualified medical and dental professional doctors were inducted into the MDCG at a colourful ceremony, yesterday and on Wednesday.

The induction was done in two batches owning to the large number of professionals who had successfully passed out.

125 were inducted on Wednesday while the remaining 175 were sworn in yesterday.

Prof. Nyame said, the swearing in of over 300 new doctors is the highest the council has recorded.

Such number he says, brings along challenges of placement in accredited institutions for housemanship.

“We pray for national progress to enable us absorb all products of the seven medical schools and the hundreds coming from schools abroad,” he said.

The charge

Despite the challenges that may stem up, Prof. Nyame admonished the newly inducted professionals to be honest, diligent, empathetic and patient as they move out to practice.

He also urged them to treat every patient with milk of human kindness, noting that the life or death of their patients depended on what they do or fail to do.

Reiterating the importance of a patient to doctors, the Deputy Minister of Health, Mr. Kingsley Aboagye Gyedu said health professionals must maintain high professional standards.

“Any keen follower of the healthcare sector would have noticed that recent media reportage is replete with claims of professional negligence, improper conduct and unethical behaviour by our doctors…the very people who swore the Hippocratic Oath,” this he said must not be the story in the near future.

The new professionals who were from seven Ghanaian Medical schools and others from the diaspora, swore an oath and promised to make the patient the first concern.

The new doctors will augment the current strength of about 6,459 doctors and doctors serving I various parts of the country.

By: Grace Ablewor Sogbey/ [email protected]