Physicians share knowledge on emergency medicine

A day’s seminar to share knowledge and also disseminate research findings and outputs on the Medical Education Partnership Initiative Emergency Medicine project, was held in Kumasi at the weekend.

The programme, targeting emergency physicians, aimed at increasing the capacity for the provision of emergency medical care in Ghana and the West African sub-region in general.

The initiative, a five-year collaborative project between the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, University of Michigan, US, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons and the Ministry of Health, is designed to achieve the best of clinical outcomes for patients in emergency situation.

Dr Rockefeller Oteng, Lead Clinician for the project, speaking to the Ghana News Agency on the sidelines of the seminar, said the programme had since its inception provided Physicians at the KATH Accident and Emergency Centre with the expertise to deal with emergency cases effectively.

In addition, significant strides have been made in developing the next generation of local faculty to work alongside their counterparts from the University of Michigan for the training of more emergency personnel for the sub-region.

The project has so far benefitted physicians from Nigeria and Ethiopia.

Dr Oteng, a Fellow of the College, said new technologies borne out of comprehensive findings are being discovered in emergency medicine to help save the lives of patients in critical conditions.

Policy-makers, he said, should as such increase the enthusiasm in responding to the training needs of local medical personnel to build their capacity in the discharge of their duties.

The initiative, he said, ends this year, and that the working team would evolve measures to sustain the project to benefit the people.

Topics treated in the course of the seminar ranged from the Role of Research in Academic Medicine, Injury and Trauma-related Research, Electronic Medical Records Research to the Trial on Acute Management of Seizures.