SINCE its establishment in 1992, the University for Development Studies (UDS) has resolved to make a difference in the training of graduates in various fields of endeavour.
The main vision of the university is to train professionals who have both academic and practical community skills.
In line with this, the UDS introduced very unique learning techniques, one of which is the Third Trimester Field Programme (TTFP), which is an intensive engagement and interactive process between students and communities during a period in each semester.
It enables the students to identify the developmental problems facing those communities and work together with the indigenes to formulate specific interventions to address them.
Twelve years after its establishment, the university has attained yet another milestone by introducing a medical training programme. The School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS) is currently situated on the Tamale campus.
Initially, the university took its medical students through the basics of Medical Science, which entitled them to a Bachelor of Science in Human Biology. Upon completion of the basics, the university then negotiated and transferred the students to the University of Ghana (UG) or the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) for them to undertake clinical training at either the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital or the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital.
Three years ago, the UDS went into collaboration with the Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH), which was in the process of being transformed into a fully-fledged tertiary facility, to offer clinical training to its medical students.
However, the university’s goal was not just to train doctors but also train doctors with a difference.
To realise that dream, the medical school introduced the problem-based learning (PBL) technique which ensured that health solutions were tailored in accordance with prevailing socio-economic challenges.
With the support of the Dutch government and other partners, the UDS successfully implemented that technique.
The first batch of 82 medical students using the PBL method of training was inducted to commence clinical training at the TTH some few weeks ago.
The induction ceremony was graced by a wide array of important personalities, including Naa Prof John Nabila, the President of the National House of Chiefs, who is also Chair of the SMHS Governing Board, and Dr Abdulai Salifu, the Chairman for both the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the UDS Governing Council.
The Dean of the SMHS, Sir Dr Edward Gyader, described the induction as significant, since “it marked the process to produce a new crop of doctors who will stand tall in the international community of medical practitioners.”
He said the first batch of medical students who commenced their clinicals at the TTH were in their senior clerkship and expressed hope that soon the university would produce its locally trained doctors.
“We had to learn, painfully, how to train students in the clinical setting with meagre human and material resources. This group of medical students enter into clinical training with a better prepared faculty and hospital,” he added.
Dr Gyader acknowledged the support of the Ghana Medical and Dental Council since it commenced and noted that the school was still faced with some teething problems, notably inadequate human resource.
He mentioned, for instance, that the medical school needed some paediatricians and appealed to tutors in senior medical schools to accept to teach at the UDS, promising them great careers ahead.
The Vice-Chancellor of the UDS, Prof Yakubu Haruna, described the PBL methodology as “a student-centred, interdisciplinary and community-oriented approach to learning”.
He commended the governments of Ghana and The Netherlands for their support in kickstarting the PBL methodology at the UDS, noting in particular the NUFFIC project, which contributed to the requisite human resource and equipment for the programme to set off.
Prof Haruna said the medical programme was very dear to the university and mentioned that efforts were being made to tackle the challenges facing it.
He mentioned, for instance, the construction of three lecture halls on the premises of the TTH to facilitate the training process.
The VC also commended the government for initiating the refurbishment of the TTH, noting that the speedy completion of the project would facilitate clinical training and provide efficient health care for the country, particularly the people of the north.
With the enthusiasm being shown by the UDS towards promoting excellence in medical training, one can only hope that the university’s management sustains its efforts to enable it to break new grounds in medical practice.
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