Physician Health Assistants urged to accept postings to rural areas
The Pro Vice-Chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Professor Samuel N. Odai, has challenged physician health assistants to accept postings to rural areas where doctors are unavailable.
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“Apart from supporting medical doctors in hospitals in the urban areas, the physician health assistant will be even more useful in areas with health posts without doctors,” he told the graduating students of the Narh-Bita College in Tema.
Professor Odai was speaking at the sixth graduation ceremony of the college where 204 students graduated as Physician Health Assistants.
He encouraged the graduands to sacrifice a little for the sake of mankind, “for in a little while you shall receive the necessary recognition and reward.”
Exhortations
Professor Odai told the graduands that their graduation from the college with humble beginnings should spur them on to higher heights as “you become ambassadors and project a positive image of this institution.”
The Pro Vice-Chancellor reminded the graduands that the way was now open for them to contribute to the economy of the country and advised them to eschew overdependence on unavailable jobs.
“You may start by volunteering your services in hospitals even if you do not receive any form of monetary reward. This may be your opportunity to gain the necessary experience and skills that will pave way for bigger opportunities,” he advised the graduands.
Commendations
The President of the college, Dr Edward Narh, commended the teachers and administrative staff of the college for making the college one of the best health training colleges in the country.
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“What we see today is not the achievements of one person, but the total effort of the Narh-Bita community and associates. With steadfast and resolute mentality, we have kept together,” he said.
He commended the excellent performance of the students explaining that out of the total number of the graduating class of 2014, three had distinction.
Dr Narh announced that the college had been granted accreditation by the Nurses and Midwifery Council to start a two-year training in Midwifery, adding that the programme would commence next month.
Challenges
He said even though private health institutions played a vital role in the country’s health delivery system, “we are not getting the needed support and assistance from government as expected”.
“I want to place it on record that students from private health training schools are charged high fees when they go for clinical practice at government health institutions and there is also long delay in posting our graduates for employment,” he said.
Dr Narh, therefore, described the practice as unfair and at variance with the promises made under the Private Public Partnership (PPP) initiatives.
He, therefore, appealed to the Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Service to intervene to address those problems.