295 Physician Assistants inducted into MDCG

Prof. P.K. Nyame (inset) administering the induction oath to the newly qualified Physician Assistants

The Medical and Dental Council of Ghana (MDCG) yesterday inducted 295 newly qualified Physician Assistants (PAs) into the council, with a charge on them to exhibit high standards of professionalism and conduct in their various fields.

The inductees made up of Medical, Oral Health and Anaesthesia Assistants were drawn from 14 universities and other foreign health colleges in Ghana.

Newly qualified Physicians taking the Oath

The Chief Director, Ministry of Health, Alhaji Hafiz Adams,who gave the charge at the induction ceremony in Accra yesterday,said in keeping up with the high regard that society had for healthcare professionals, they were expected to act accordingly.

“Often, the allure of specialised knowledge and success, if not properly managed, tend to result in bloated egos or inconsiderate conduct and may make one lose his humanity – the capacity to care,” he added.

Alhaji Adams emphasised that recent media reportage on “professional negligence, improper conduct and unethical behaviour” by health professionals was completely unacceptable, given that as practitioners, they swore oaths to serve people in their most vulnerable states.

To address that, he said, in accordance with the ministry’s focus on issues of “professional and institutional accountability”, the council must delimit the areas of practice that were appropriate to the level of training of all registered practitioners.

The Chief Director said the ministry acknowledged the paramount importance of upholding ethical best practices to enhance healthcare delivery across the nation and commended the council for its effort in proposing amendments to pertinent sections of part II of the Health Professions Regulatory Bodies Act, 2013 (Act 857) to safeguard the public interest by upholding the highest standards in medical and dental training and practice.

He expressed the ministry’s resolve to expedite the consideration of these amendments at the parliamentary level, by the end of the first quarter of 2024, saying “through this concerted effort, we aim to further elevate the standards of healthcare delivery, fostering a healthier and more equitable society.”

The Registrar of the Medical and Dental Council, Dr Divine N.Banyubala, urged the newly inducted PAs to be aware of their responsibility, knowing that their transition from “yesterday’s students to professionals today” implied that human lives were now being directly entrusted in their care.

“Inductees, what this means is that from today, a greater responsibility in the care of the patients will be laid at your feet as you take the role of frontline professionals. This role literally includes the responsibility to decide between life and death.”

“It is therefore, important that having met the basic training requirements, the Medical and Dental Council which supervised your basic training, formally admits you into the profession, registers you and regulates your pre-registration practice commonly referred to as Housemanship,” he added.

Dr Constance Addo-Yobo, Member of the Dental Board for her part, cautioned the newly inducted PAs to work within the scope of their mandate and not depend on the internet for knowledge, since not everything on the internet was worth consuming.

BY VIVIAN ARTHUR