University
of Ghana Medical School Cries for Alumni Support
by
Nana Asirifi Twerebour II, Nkusuohene of Akyem Asafo
This
past summer, during my visit to Ghana, I presented medical books and computer
software that was donated by Pro Pharma Pharmaceutical Consultants to
Professor Ayettey, Dean of the University of Ghana Medical School (UGMS).
During
the meeting, the Dean expressed deep concern over the lack of support from
Ghanaian doctors living abroad, the overwhelming majority of whom received
their basic training at the school. He said that if there were more support
from Ghanaian doctors living abroad, UGMS could use modern information, and
communication technology to upgrade its teaching and instructional methods.
The
Dean wants to transform UGMS from a school that uses the traditional methods
of teaching and communication into one that uses modern information technology
and communication.
Prof
Ayettey's vision includes setting up a school with a capacity to admit 500
students for undergraduate and graduate studies in all areas of the medical
profession. He is looking forward with high expectation to the establishment
of a medical-education unit that would help evaluate courses, teachers, and
students. This would enable the school to improve and make courses relevant.
Standing in the way of
Prof Ayettey’s laudable plans are problems that threaten the very existence
of the school.
Sitting
atop of the list of problems is inadequate funding that translates into the
unavailability of adequate resources for nearly anything that a modern medical
school is supposed to possess.
In
1998, for instance, the school was given only 30% of its budget requirements.
The
school is still housed in temporary structures without research laboratories
and funds for research. With poor communication facilities at Korle-Bu, there
is very little inter-departmental communication.
The
staffing situation is no better, especially for disciplines such as Radiology,
Chemical Pathology, etc. Life is extremely difficult and nearly intolerable
for students who have to struggle for everything from life's basic necessities
to securing textbooks and other learning materials.
Alumni
support, a major source of finance for many a university in America and
Europe, is virtually non-existent for the school or any Ghanaian institution
for that matter. Dean Ayettey intends to cultivate alumni support in a more
purposeful manner in the coming years. To this end, an alumni office would be
established very soon. The alumni body could play a very significant role in
the funding of a Basic Science School and Graduate Program. Prof Ayettey is
optimistic that based on the good tutorship and guidance provided alumni
during their undergraduate years at UGMS, as a result of which many of them
are very successful in their fields of specialization, support would be
available when sought.
Clearly,
UGMS could use quite a bit of help from its alumni living and working abroad.
A great many of them are very successful professionals with annual incomes
that exceed $100,000. This write up is meant therefore to serve as an appeal
to our doctors to help their alma mater.
Dean
Reverend Prof A. S. Ayettey may be contacted through mail at P.O. Box
42367, Accra, Ghana. Tel: 666-987/8; Fax: 663062 E-mail: ayettey@ghana.com |
