KNUST School of Medical Science Surgery Department
The Department of Surgery of the School of Medical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, which also doubles as the Directorate of Surgery of Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), Kumasi, Ghana, has the following constituent subspecialties:
- General surgery
- Trauma and orthopaedic surgery
- Urology
- Paediatric surgery
- Plastic and reconstructive surgery
- Maxillofacial surgery
- Neurosurgery.
The aims/objectives of the Department are to:
a) Fulfill the general vision of the School of Medical Sciences through the pursuit of excellence in teaching, research and high quality service to the community. The training of doctors with high ethical, moral and social standards remains our goal.
b) Provide basic clinical training in all the subsepecialties currently available in the Department and expand training into other subspecialties currently available, such as cardiothoracic surgery, vascular surgery, endocrine surgery, and laparoscopic/minimally invasive surgery.
c) Provide postgraduate training in the various subspecialties through partaking in training young doctors to acquire the fellowships of the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons and the West African College of Surgeons
d) Provide advanced training for doctors throughout the country to upgrade their surgical skills using short term courses such the “Basic surgical skills and trauma management course” that has been running every year.
e) Promote the conduct of research to improve the quality of teaching and service to the community in which we serve.
At the moment, the Department can boast of nine (9) lecturers: one full professor, one associate professor, four (4) senior lecturers and three lecturers in the various subspecialties mentioned above. We also call on the services of some surgical specialists/consultants at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, who have not yet joined the medical school. There are also five visiting lecturers/professors to the Department every year.
The supporting staff is made up of two clerks, one senior research officer (all University workers); a messenger and a library assistant (both KATH employees).
RESEARCH WORK IN THE DEPARTMENT
- Breast cancer
- Aetiology of gastric outlet obstruction
- Gastric malignancies
- Prospective study of typhoid perforations of the bowel
- Buruli ulcer
- Epidemiology of trauma and violence in Ghana
- Colonic cancers
- Sigmoid volvulus
- Prospective study of causes of acute abdomen in sub-Saharan African hospitals
- Neonatal malformations
- Hirschsprung’s disease – latest forms of surgical management
- Prostate cancer
- Male infertility
- Priapism
- Cleft lip and palate deformity