FHU matriculants urged to champion ‘Health-for-All’
The Founder and Vice-Chancellor of Family Health University, Prof. Enyonam Yaw Kwawukume, has urged 50 newly admitted medical students to embrace their role as future champions of “Health-for-All” through transformative education and compassionate service.
He stressed the importance of core values such as integrity, professionalism, inclusiveness, teamwork, lifelong learning, and compassion, describing them as essential pillars of medical practice.
Prof. Kwawukume urged students to see themselves not only as future doctors but as agents of change—embracing research and innovation, asking critical questions, using technology responsibly, and engaging communities with humility.
He reminded the matriculants that medicine is ultimately about standing beside people in their most vulnerable moments and treating every patient with dignity and compassion.
Delivering his address at the University’s Matriculation and White Coat Ceremony in Accra, Prof. Kwawukume described the occasion as the formal beginning of the students’ journey into the noble and demanding profession of medicine.
Preserving lives
He stated that by taking the Matriculation Oath and donning the White Coat, students were committing themselves to intellectual growth, ethical discipline, and professional responsibility in the sacred duty of preserving life and promoting health.
The matriculants being administered the matriculation oath
Focusing on the theme, “Pursuing Health-for-All through transformative health professionals education and training,” he stressed that access to quality health care remained a global challenge, particularly in low and middle-income countries.
"At Family Health University, we believe that achieving Health-for-All begins with transformative education.
This means training health professionals who are not only clinically competent, but also socially responsive, ethically grounded, technologically proficient, and community-oriented.
"It means we produce graduates who can work across disciplines, adapt to rapidly changing health systems, and respond effectively to both local and global health challenges," he said.
Addressing the ceremony, the President of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Dr Nsiah-Poku, urged the newly admitted medical students to recognise the critical role they would play in national development.
“You are entering a profession that sits at the heart of national development. Health care is not just a service; it is a pillar of productivity, security, and dignity,” he said.
Upholding integrity
The Dean of the Medical School, Dr S. Y. Oppong, urged the newly admitted medical students to embrace the ethical responsibility and human-centred values symbolised by the White Coat as they began their journey into medicine.
Tracing the origins of the ceremony to its formal introduction in 1993 at Columbia University through the vision of the Arnold P. Gold Foundation, Dr Oppong said the White Coat represented more than academic progress — it was a solemn commitment to human life, dignity, and service.
He emphasised that the white coat was a symbol of trust, accountability, and calling, adding that society entrusted physicians with competence, integrity, and compassion, and students must recognise the responsibility they carry toward patients, colleagues, and the institution.
