By Eugenia Otenwaa
Accra, Aug. 16, GNA – The Medical and Dental Council (MDC) has inducted 925 newly qualified Physician Assistants (PA) into the medical and dentistry profession.
The PAs comprising Medical and Oral Health practitioners and Anaesthetics are expected to help improve healthcare and meet the changing health needs of patients.
Dr. Grace Ayensu, Deputy Minister of Health, charged the inductees to show high professionalism in their work devoid of negligence and unethical behaviours.
She said the government was reforming the Physician Assistant profession by shifting from direct post-secondary entry to a post-basic model, requiring applicants to have prior training and experience in allied health fields to ensure clinical exposure and maturity among trainees.
Dr. Ayensu said the government was also developing a programme for outstanding physician assistants with representative academic backgrounds to train further as medical doctors or dentists, aligning with national health workforce planning.
Dr. Divine Ndonbi Banyubala, Registrar of the Medical and Dental Council, said the qualified practitioners had received provisional registration, authorizing them to commence their pre-registration practice, commonly referred to as internship, across accredited facilities in Ghana.
“Today you transition from the sheltered environment of supervised learning to the realities of frontline practice, from today you bear primary professional responsibility for the lives entrusted to you, ” he said.
The Registrar said the PAs’ responsibility came with a great privilege and high expectations.
He therefore urged inductees to earn and sustain public trust through competence, compassion and integrity.
He warned that their professional registration was conditional and only valid at the facility they would be posted to, marking the beginning of supervised practice during which the council would assess their competence and readiness for full licensure.
Dr. Agyeman Badu Akosa, Chairman of the 11th Board of the Medical and Dental Council, urged the inductees to treat every patient with equality and dignity.
“Illness does not discriminate and all people deserve equal treatment regardless of their background.”
Dr. Akosah stressed the importance of recognizing and working within the limits of competence, noting that referring patients to colleagues when necessary was a sign of strength, not weakness.
He reminded the new practitioners that knowledge seeking was lifelong and encouraged them to be guided by honesty, openness, and equity and never discriminate against patients or abuse their trust.
The inductees were drawn from the Anglican University College of Technology, Nkoranza, Central University, Tema, College of Health and Well-being, Kintampo, School of Anaesthesia, 37 Military Hospital, School of Anaesthesia Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi, School of Anaesthesia, Ridge, Accra, Radford University College, University for Development Studies, Tamale.
The rest are Garden City College, Kumasi, College of Health, Yamfo, University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ho, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) School of
Health and Dentistry, Pentecost University, Accra, Presbyterian University, Agogo, University of Cape Coast Physician Assistant Programme, Cape Coast, and foreign-trained physician assistants.
GNA
Edited by Samuel Osei-Frempong