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The Vice-Chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (), Prof. William Otoo-Ellis, has cautioned newly-sworn in doctors to live by the tenets of their ‘Hippocratic Oath’ because any action or inaction on their part could lead to permanent or irreversible consequences.

Without necessarily referring to the just-ended strike action by doctors for codified conditions of service, Prof Otoo-Ellis asked the newly-inducted doctors to appreciate the importance of the Oath and, thus value what society expects from them in their professional practice.


The Vice-Chancellor gave the caution at the 22nd KNUST School of Medical Sciences and the 4th Dental School oath swearing and induction ceremony in Kumasi on Saturday.

One hundred and sixty-eight medical doctors and 16 dentists were sworn-in in the presence of the president of the Ghana Medical Association, Dr Opoku Adusei.

The ceremony also marked the 40th anniversary celebration of the Medical School which has trained a total of 2,280 doctors since its inception while the Dental School has produced 42 dentists in four years.

Prof. Otoo-Ellis urged the young doctors ‘to be guided by the common humanity’, and urged them to help prosecute Ghana’s developmental agenda.

In-take and facilities
The Vice-Chancellor bemoaned the increasing number of brilliant students who would have loved to pursue the medical programme but are ‘bleeding in their respective homes’ because of limited facilities.

He said the capacity of KNUST to admit students in the health-related programmes was limited and thus, called for collaboration with all sectors to help the university complete the first phase of its Teaching Hospital project.

Charles Djugbah (in navy blue suit), receiving one of his eight awards from the president of the Ghana Medical Association, Dr Adusei Poku. Looking on are the Chairman of the KNUST Council, Kwame Saarah Mensah (left), and the Dean of the KNUST Medical School.

Pro Otoo-Ellis said when completed the teaching hospital would complement that of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital and thereby increase the in-take of medical students.

He said it was important for individuals, the private sector and government to buy into this vision rather than ‘sending our students to China and Cuba.’

The Vice-Chancellor’s call was also premised on the fact that KNUST has over the years served as a trailblazer in the field of science and technology education in Ghana and Africa with a very high reputation among the comity of higher education institutions across the globe.

Awards
A 24-year-old Charles Djugbah made history as the highest recipient of awards in the 40-year establishment of the Medical School.

Djugbah collected eight of the 15 awards including the Prof. Dr. Dr. Sir G. Wireko-Brobby and the Dr. Kwame Addo Kufuor awards at the induction ceremony.

The former student of St. Peters SHS made real his childhood dream to become a medical doctor as his parents and indeed the entire congregation gave him a standing ovation.

He told Daily Graphic his dream is to distinguish himself in the profession with some specialized training as he begins his two-year housemanship at the Komfo Anokye Hospital.

In the Dental division, Collins Donyinah Baffoe received four of the six awards while Addo Ofori picked two of the three subject awards.