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CHS and Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons to roll out a new Joint PhD Programme

The College of Health Sciences and the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons (GCPS) on 11th June 2024, held a meeting to discuss interventions made by both parties to roll out a new Joint PhD fellowship programme in Medical Sciences aimed at improving health science education and training in Ghana.

Prof. Richard Adanu, Rector of the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons, explained that the new joint fellowship PhD programme will allow postgraduate doctors to earn a PhD in KNUST while completing their fellowship. He explained that doctors in Ghana spend six years in medical school, followed by four to five years of clinical specialization, hence the new joint PhD programme will run as a parallel programme to help Postgraduate doctors to complete it in a more efficient and quicker process.

Prof. Adanu emphasized that the new programme will help in producing doctors who can also earn a PhD in basic and clinical sciences, so they can teach medical students. This will improve the quality of research and teaching in Medical Sciences.

Prof. Richard Odame Phillips, a member of the committee set up by the College of Health Sciences (CHS) to engage with the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons stated that a lot of grounds work has been done and proposals are being reviewed to bring this new programme into fruition. He also affirmed that the College of Health Sciences is committed to putting in efforts to roll out the Joint PhD Programme and also foster a strengthened partnership with the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Also discussed at the meeting is the construction of a medical simulation center at the Boadi Medical Enclave. This center is a project that is part of the KNUST partnership with Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons. It will provide advanced training for medical students and professionals.