She said, “My advice is for you to have big dreams and plans, but throughout it all, do not forget the communities you each come from.”
The ACM President was speaking at 5th congregation of the College in Accra on the theme: “The Dilemma of the Newly Graduated Doctor in a Challenging Environment: Do I Stay or Do I Go?”
Prof Hesse said this was crucial as Ghana was still way below the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) recommendations for doctor/patient ratio despite having five public and three private medical training institutions with a couple more in the pipeline.
This follows the number of health professionals leaving the country in search of greener pastures.
Prof Hesse advised the new doctors who were nurturing the idea of travelling abroad to first practice and finish their Fellowship in Ghana and take advantage of opportunities elsewhere.
“You will remain blessed for having heeded the cry of your people who will then bless you daily with every prayer,” she stated.
The President encouraged the graduates to always remember the heart power as they delved into patient-centred care and strive for excellence in whatever they do.
“Remember your learning is lifelong. Critical thinking applied correctly and consistently with knowledge will enable you to excel and get noticed,” she said.
Prof Margaret Lartey, the Past Dean of the University of Ghana Medical School, College of Health Sciences, Korle-Bu, highlighting the history of the exodus of doctors in the 1990s, outlined low salaries, high cost of living, poor working conditions, infrastructural challenges among others, as some of the contributing factors and even persisted now.
However, she said, those who stayed to practice despite the challenges due to patriotism were able to improve the system, making Ghana a better place.
“They are the ones who keep the health sector running in both public and private, in clinical medicine and public health.
They can be found in regulation, policy, industry research institutions and international as well as regional organisations.” Prof. Lartey stated.
Setting an example of how the founders of ACM left the country and came back to establish a school which had benefited many, he urged them to value heart power and excel wherever they found themselves.
Emeritus Prof Stephen Adei, Former Rector of GIMPA, urged political leaders to do all they could to ensure that young professionals stayed in Ghana with ease.
“Being sold in haircuts is not the best for the young folks. We need better economic management, comprehensive development funding, making them global collaborations, as well as entrepreneurship education,” he added.
The fifth cohort of medical doctors makes 46 trained doctors from Accra College of Medicine.
GNA
