Published: 30 Aug 2016 Source: University Relations Office (URO)
Female graduands at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Medical and Dental Schools have set a record by sweeping most of the prizes at the 23rd Oath Swearing and the 5th Induction ceremonies.
Karim Fathia, Overall best student in Medicine
Ansong Louisa Kwakye, Overall best student in Dentistry
Out of fifteen (15) prizes, Karim Fathia, the overall best student in Medicine, took twelve (12) leaving the rest for her colleagues. Ansong Louisa Kwakye, the overall best student in Dentistry received five (5) out of the six (6) awards in the Dental School.
This year a total of nineteen (19) dentists and one hundred and seventy six (176) doctors comprising 78 females and 98 males were inducted. There were 16 foreign students from Nigeria, Benin, Burkina Faso and Pakistan. This brings the total number of medical doctors trained by KNUST to 2,394. Sixty-three (63) dental surgeons have also been trained since the pioneer class graduated in 2012.
Dr. Eric Asamoah, Chairman of the Ghana Medical and Dental Council and Dr. Yaw Adu Sarkodie, Dean of the SMS, led the new doctors and dental surgeons to swear the Hippocratic Oath.
Professor Kwasi Obiri-Danso, Vice-Chancellor, KNUST
Professor Kwasi Obiri-Danso, the Vice-Chancellor, hoped the new doctors would abide by the Hippocratic Oath they had sworn. He reminded them that they were products of one of the best Universities in the world – KNUST – and would forever carry this tag wherever they found themselves whether in public or private practice. Professor Obiri-Danso stated that having taken decades of hard work and sacrifice to build the KNUST brand, the newly trained doctors and dentists should enhance the brand image and never denigrate it. “Every action or inaction of yours will have consequences for all of us and I hope it will always be positive. Let fellow-feeling and a sense of patriotism permeate all your activities,” he added.
Dr. Appiah-Denkyira, Director, Ghana Health Service.
Dr. Appiah-Denkyira, the Director of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), noted that many health professionals are currently not enthused by the ethics of the profession, and this has culminated in much negligence which occurs almost every day in our health facilities. He therefore cautioned the new doctors to handle every patient with utmost care and to emulate their senior colleagues who exhibit a high sense of responsibility and professionalism in the discharge of their duties.
Dr. Appiah-Denkyira also revealed plans by the GHS to bring education to the doorstep of health professionals by partnering institutions such as the University of Ghana, University of Allied Health Science, and some health training institutions to decentralize the family physician specialist programme to the districts, and to run Masters and PhD programmes in the districts to help marry academia and practice in a bid to improve quality.
Dr. Kwame Saarah-Mensah, Chairman of Council, encouraged the new doctors to think of Ghana first in their practice. He stated that the development of the country was the responsibility of every citizen and that they should stay to help contribute to its development.