GOVT TO TRAIN MORE DOCTORS AT UDS (PAGE 18, DEC 14, 2010)

THE government will commit more resources to the training of doctors and other health personnel at the University for Development Studies (UDS) as a strategic measure to address the shortage of doctors and allied health professionals in the three northern regions.
This year, the government made available a total of GH¢209,000 to the UDS and the Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH) to cater for the cost of providing clinical training to students of the School of Medicine and Health Sciences.
The chairman of the Council of State, Professor Kofi Awoonor, made this known when he addressed the 11th Congregation of the UDS in Tamale last weekend.
He said in addition to the funding provided to the UDS, the government would also equip a number of district hospitals to serve as satellite clinical centres for medical students from the UDS.
He pointed out that already the TTH was undergoing a major rehabilitation and when completed, it would play a pivotal role in the training of doctors in the northern sector.
Prof. Awoonor noted that the growth of the UDS Medical School had been a “tortuous and trouble-ridden one” and that at a point in time, its future was uncertain.
“Today, the medical school has its roots fully entrenched in Tamale and the first batch of doctors trained completely by the UDS will graduate by the end of this academic year,” he stated.
The chairman commended the UDS for drifting from the traditional pedagogic training of its medical students and adopting the Problem-Based Learning (PBL) methodology.
This method of training, he noted, “will make the UDS medical students better equipped to handle the health problems of the people.”
In the estimation of the Vice Chancellor, Prof Haruna Yakubu, “the UDS Medical School has emerged from its troubled past. The school is on its feet now and strong and kicking.”
According to him, this would not have been possible without the support of the government and other partners, including the governments of Cuba and The Netherlands.
He said whiles The Netherlands Government supported the UDS to implement the PBL technique, Cuba was providing lecturers to the medical school under a special arrangement with the Ghana Government.
“Every two years, we receive doctors from Cuba, who are in various specialised areas, to teach our students in the School of Medicine and Health Sciences,” the VC explained, adding that this year the Cuban doctors would stay an extra year after the initial two years.
Prof. Yakubu mentioned that the medical school was still facing some problems, notably inadequate lecture halls and accommodation for students.
He said the construction of a 48-bed student hostel for the medical school had just been completed at the premises of the TTH and that some of the students had already moved into the facility.
“However, a majority of the students are still living in private rented houses and therefore, we are appealing to the GETFund to assist the school to construct lecture rooms and an additional student’s hostel,” he stated.
The VC expressed the UDS’ appreciation to the medical schools of the University of Ghana and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) for providing training to its medical students at the clinical level in the last 10 years.